Just Say "Oh, Alright"

Over the weekend, Matt and I met up in Astoria (the Athens of New York City) for one of our regular intellectual discourses. Matt had NetFlixed "Super High Me," a documentary about weed and all things people do better stoned (take the SATs, read minds, do stand-up comedy about being stoned). We watched and enjoyed and discoursed.

Throughout "Super High Me," the filmmakers keep a tally of how many medical marijuana dispensaries there are in Los Angeles. At the start of the film I think there are around 90 and by the film's end they're up to 300 or so. It's legal in California to grow, sell and buy weed as long as you've got the right paperwork. The Feds, though, are all the time breaking in with unsigned warrants and bogarting the stash, arresting the "pharmacists" and harshing the vibe. Well, no more. Attorney General Eric Holder has almost-but-not-quite vowed to end the DEA raids on medical marijuana dispensaries and stop the harassment of the poor, poor souls who need reefer relief. Holder's cryptic response to whether DEA raids would continue: "What the president said during the campaign ... is now American policy."

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first international ban on a drugs (the International Opium Commission of February 26th 1909) the Libertarian but usually a bit more socially conservative Economist is calling for an end to drug prohibition, saying "the least bad policy is to legalise drugs."

Now that Spring Breakers are being warned away from Mexico on account of the murderous, kidnapping, meth-snorting acid-bathing drug lord banditos, American hero Michael Phelps gets high and gets off, AMC's hit series Breaking Bad has humanized a meth chef, and Pineapple Express made $87 million and the economy is tanking for lack of spending, maybe the stars are aligning for legalization? Is there money in the stimulus package for grow lights? Is this the green economy Barry keeps promising? California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (fun name to say out-loud) and I certainly hope so. In California alone:

"Despite its illegality, marijuana is said to be the state's largest cash crop ($14 billion), ahead of vegetables ($5.9 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion).

Tax collectors estimate that Ammiano's proposal would produce $1.3 billion in new tax revenue for Sacramento."

So my question is: Do we give the rest of the country a chance to catch up, or do we all move to Cali now?

Also, I want this illustration from The Economist article on a t-shirt: