The Honorable Jackie Speier

Congresswoman
Washington D.C. Office
211 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Ms. Speier:

I am sure you are aware of the new Control and Tax Cannabis 2010 Initiative
proposed by Tom Ammiano, although, I am not sure of your position on the
proposal. It would be wonderful to know. I am a senior at Middle College High
School in San Mateo, and I am straight edge, but I advocate the use of
marijuana by responsible people who are older than me, such as my
coworkers. I know several people who smoke “weed” and I dislike how young
people can get a hold of it with so much ease. I sometimes go to the city and
can smell it walking down the street, which is kind of disgusting, given that I
greatly dislike the smell; people should smoke in their own homes, where
they don’t bother anyone. Legalizing marijuana would at least hinder youth’s
ability to access marijuana so easily. Legalization would also allow people
safety from “bad trips” that can be caused by smoking a lot at one time.
Legalization would allow California’s government to set a serving size-type
label for the marijuana sold. Stopping prohibition would also free up some
space in jail since 8% of the population there are in because of marijuana
offenses. Furthermore, our government could save itself about $10,400
dollars per marijuana arrest or about $178 million per year. Also, Non-violent
drug offenders don’t deserve to be jailed or imprisoned for any offense, for as
quoted from the Opposing Viewpoints Series,” the appalling conditions and
practices in many of our penal institutions can do more damage to a young
person, than his use of marijuana”; especially for a drug that is less addictive
than two that are legal: caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco or nicotine. According
to the Control and Tax Cannabis 2010 website, If marijuana were to be taxed
and legalized, California would gain $1.4 Billion in tax revenue to provide
more funds for “jobs, public safety, healthcare, parks, roads, transportation,
and more”, and we would save approximately $200 million if we didn’t arrest,
prosecute, or imprison non-violent marijuana offenders. Also, $12-18 billion
more could be made from “spin-off industries” such as coffee houses or
tourism. Furthermore, anywhere from 60,000 to 110,000 new jobs could be
created giving workers $2.5 – 3.5 billion in total wages each year. California is
currently faced with an estimated $24 billion dollar budget deficit, it could be
almost eliminated by taxing and legalizing marijuana; for, we would bring in a
grand total of about $13-19 billion in marijuana tax revenue, which would fix
our deficit in the next few years (Ca. Budget overview – L.A. Times). I hope
that from my letter, you derive a new interest in the marijuana question, and
– if you have not already – arrive at the conclusion that supporting the
initiative will help California. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Amanda M. Labrado
761 Easton Ave.
San Bruno, Ca 94066
04/26/2010