The United States is currently eleven months away from the 2016 election and a lot of heat has already fallen upon the Sean Parker Initiative in California, the “Adult Use of Marijuana Act” (AUMA) from activists. It’s normal, though, serious debate and exchanges are necessary to make sure all key points are reached. California definitely has a lot of points to discuss. In addition, California is a very important state in the fight for marijuana legalization, which means the points need to be discussed now.
However, the debates over legalization in California need to remain realistic. There is nothing more upsetting than when people protest the legalization with false facts, or plain lies. Faulty arguments are typically one of these three: legalization does not legalize enough, it creates crimes, or life will be worse after legalization for pot heads.
However, all three of these arguments are false. “It doesn’t legalize enough” was an argument used over half a decade ago beginning with protestors in California. Another similar argument opponents proposed was that “nobody could grow in a 5’ x 5’ garden.” Those arguments can be refuted by the Sean Parker Initiative; with the Sean Parker Initiative, people would be able to grow six plants in their homes. In Oregon, people get to grow four plants and in Washington, people could grow none. Therefore, the initiative is even better than what conditions are at in successful states.
The initiative also helps concentrates. The Sean Parker Initiative makes the possession of four grams of concentrate legal. In Oregon, the amount is an ounce and in Washington it in seven grams. At the moment, by California law, the possession of any concentrate may result in a year in prison and/or a $500 fine. So for the people who claim that it is “not enough legalization,” the difference is tremendous.
The final argument is that legalization “creates new crimes.” As long as the Sean Parker Initiative has been around, there have been punishments that are listed for acts such as public smoking ($100 fine), possession for sale ($500 fine), or manufacturing without a license (3, 5, or 7 years and a $50,000 fine). Also, this would actually reduce crime by taking an entire industry out of the black market.
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