David Simmonds

We, the California People, might be a factor in significantly reducing the power and wealth of the Mexican drug cartels. How could that be? Well, California, mired in a fiscal budget crisis (way-to-go, Ahnold) that won’t go away, will be voting in November on whether to pass Proposition 19,  the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. This would ” will legalize various marijuana-related activities, allow local governments to regulate these activities, permit local governments (but not the state government) to impose and collect marijuana-related fees and taxes, and authorize various criminal and civil penalties”. It would also pretty much take care of that budget problem pronto. Recent polls show it at about having a 50/50 chance of passing (Dems favor, GOP opposes).

But maybe, more importantly, passage would be a staggering blow to the cartels, who derive about 70% of their income from pot. Here’s an explanation of how that might work on this Newsweek web site:

http://www.newswek.org/2010/07/17/how-legal-pot-could-harm-the-cartels.html?from=rss