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California should vote yes on Proposition 19 to legalise marijuana

Weed use has long been an accepted part of Californian folklore, and the state accounts for 14% of marijuana sales in the United States, with an estimated $14billion worth of illegal trade revenue every year. And this in a state with a projected budget deficit of over $40billion. Now California is being asked to vote on Proposition 19, new legislation which would legalise use and possession of marijuana in certain situations.

Officials hope that legalisation will allow them to turn marijuana into the new alcohol or tobacco; regulated and taxed to the point where it will generate an estimated $1.4billion annually for the state’s depleted coffers. But Prop 19 would influence far more than California’s bottom line. With law enforcement, school moms, employers, growers, health officials and even the Mexican drug cartels who control California’s marijuana trade all weighing in with support or vehement opposition. Should California embrace it’s hipster hippy side? Can marijuana save California, or will it signal a slow decline into oblivion? What will the rest of the nation thinkand can California justify the legalisation of a substance which has been accused of destroying lives, sucking ambition and exacerbating mental health issues?