[Kevin]

With state budgets seeing their lowest points in many years, some people in government are looking to legalizing marijuana.

State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill that would regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis. All these activities are illegal under federal law, which probably would not be affected by state legalization, which also is unlikely for the present.


Ammiano says taxes and other fees associated with regulating pot could put more than a billion dollars a year into state coffers at a time California really needs the money.

With the legalization of marijuana, states could save millions in tax money not enforcing these laws any longer. Also not putting none violent criminals in jail anymore could add to those savings.

So, what are your feelings on these issues? Do you think other drugs should be lumped along with weed? Do you think we should go the route of say, Amsterdam and anything that is natural is tolerated?