You both continue to argue that jail time for drug abusers is costing too much tax dollars and is impairing the economy, but you don't realize that marijuana abusers don't get much jail time at all. Don't forget offenders are fined too; this also helps make up the lost revenue.
In Pennsylvania, one first offense (provided its not a large amount of weed) possession of weed gets the offender put on probation; second offense, as long as the offender has 30 grams or less, they get 30 days Incarceration; more gets a year (this being aimed at drug dealers). This is considered a misdemeanor.
Since this is about CA, look at some of the statistics on them, since they are much more eased and the ones suffering economical right now.
An offender caught with 28.5 grams or less had committed a misdemeanor, gets NO jail time, possible probation an a minimum of a $100 fine. Those stats look pretty economically prosperous if you ask me. They get a whole 10 days of jail time if they have it on schoolgrounds. :I More than that they get a big 6 months in jail, and a $500+ fee. All offenders have a possibility of being put on probation; some get the option of spending less time in jail and more time on probation.
The only true cost of a person being on probation is the cost of the probation officer, but because probation officers are tax paying residents, and they arent unemployed, its actually an economical advantage of having people placed on probation. The legalization of weed would reduce job openings in law enforcement and probational services; economically damaging.
The argument that legalization of marijuana would reduce crime is also false; you like to compare it to alcohol so much, let's continue to do so. Alcohol, a legal substance, has led to the following crimes: causes family disputes, rape, robbery, reckless driving, and murder. With it being legal, its more accessible and more crime possibilities are at hand. There is certainly more crime to come about with the use of weed, due to its psychological adversaries. Beyond that cost deficit, as I have mentioned before, the smoking of weed will also cause an increase in medical bills. Smoking ANYTHING, weed, cigarettes, catnip, oregano, ect., is unhealthy for the lungs, brain, and overall body. It DOES cause lung problems and it can lead to cancer; those aren't false facts that can be denied. It also does cause susceptibility to infection and virus, as well as deformities and asthma. As stated before, tax payers paid $50,000 for me to be treated for a single severe asthma attack; compare that to the price it most cost for the other 15 million Americans with asthma, and you have quite a costly situation on your hands; weed smoke does trigger and cause asthma. Furthermore, if you look into the number or asthma cases, its gone dramatically up since the increased use of tobacco products. You adults are irresponsible careless people, that don't care if your kids suffer medical problems for the rest of your life because at least you got to get high. (This sarcastic jab doesn't pertain to all adults, but it does go for a huge number of the ones that smoke tobacco and weed) Even my mom smoked the entire time she was pregnant with me. No surprise I was asthmatic since birth.
Research as proved the weed use in pregnant women has negatively effected the baby's development, most commonly in the brain and lungs (how convenient... arent those are the same organs weed most frequently effects???) It caused behavior changes and slower development of visual perceptions and language comprehension.
As with alcohol and cigarettes, legalizing weed makes it more accessible to minors. Children are curious and most often are able to obtain alcohol and cigarettes through their parents, whether they know or not. When my brother started smoking, it was through stealing cigarettes from my parents or finishing off the butts of my parent's cigarettes that he found in ash trays. Many kids steal alcohol from their parents as well. Some can say that with better parenting this can be avoided but the fact is that if the parents obtain it and its in their house the children can just as easily obtain it, regardless of the quality of parent they are. Any time you make something legal, you make it more accessible to children.
If you want to keep arguing economical advantage, even though FW and I have both listed several reasons why it won't be that helpful to the economy, then you can question yourself more so. Even if you use the drug responsibly, there will always be abusers and as long as its legal you are enabling those abusers. Those abusers will always have an effect of their children, their families and themselves. Is it really worth the health of fetuses, babies, and children who aren't at all at fault for the abuse they are exposed to just for you to get legally high once in a while?