Group proposes joint solution to budget crisis

California’s historic budget crisis in could be snubbed out if a pro-marijuana group has its way. The Marijuana Policy Project proposes to close the state’s multi-billion dollar deficit by legalizing and taxing the drug.

Marijuana prohibition is a failure, suggests the Marijuana Policy Project’s Dan Bernath. It fails to reduce drug use in the country or the violence associated with it, he says. The trade associated with the drug is the problem, and Bernath suggests using as a model the government’s laws for alcohol and tobacco.