Should California Legalize Marijuana?

A California lawmaker is causing a stir with his contention that his state should legalize marijuana for recreational use. (FYI: Medical marijuana has been legal in California since 1996.)

"I'm a martini guy myself," Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who introduced a bill to legalize pot in the state this week, said at a press conference. "But I think it's time for California to…look at this in a truly deliberative fashion."

According to Ammiano, there are numerous benefits to his proposal, which would allow adults over 21 to grow, buy, sell and smoke pot. For starters, Ammiano claims that the move would cut drug use amongst teens, lower the costs of policing the state for marijuana and raise more than a billion dollars a year for California in the taxes and fees that would be gained from marijuana regulation.

Ammiano's bill has its supporters, including Aaron Smith, policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project California, who notes in a statement, "It is simply nonsensical that California's largest agricultural industry [pot growing is said to be a $14 billion dollar a year industry in the state] is completely unregulated and untaxed."

San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey, who has previously expressed his support for the decriminalization of pot, is also in favor of the bill.

Detractors include Calvina Fay, executive director of Save Our Society From Drugs. "This would open another door in Pandora's Box," she tells The Los Angeles Times. "Legalizing drugs like this would create a whole new set of costs for society."

Where do you stand on this issue? Is pot a harmless drug that should be available to adults like alcohol is? And are the financial benefits of legalizing pot worth factoring into the decision?