A Greener California?

Drugs?  No thanks, I'll stick to white wine and mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I've never really gotten the whole draw to marijuana, but  apparently it makes my Jamaican gardener's life far more tolerable.   Many say pot is harmless, but when you've seen people's lives just dragged into the gutter from addiction to it, no one can convince you it's not an addictive, motivation-annihilating substance.   But for those people who have handed their lives over to a bong, it's clear to me, that if it weren't weed, it would be tequila, vicodin, febreeze, or anything they can get their hands on, that would serve the purpose of alleviating how they feel unaltered.   So, if it's not weed's fault, why not legalize it here in California and tax the snot out of it?  Right now the government isn't making any money on illegal purchases of the stuff, so why not try using the legal, carefully regulated sale of marijuana to dig our state out of the deep, dark financial hole we're in?  Face it, pot has been around for a long time and probably isn't going anywhere, so my Terminator, why not capitalize on it and balance that budget already? Makes a lot more sense to me than further cuts to education, or another $80 million cut from programs for abused and neglected children.   What about jobs?  Cannabis is an emerging industry that could provide California with more than just ultra-chilled out morons, it could solve real fundamental problems for our state.  NEVER thought I'd be arguing that!