Marijuana in California

Alexander Cockburn on marijuana in California:
There are 32 people serving life sentences in California on a third-strike marijuana conviction. In 2008, 1,499 were in prison on marijuana convictions; in 2007, 4,925 in county jails. (Nationally, between 1990 to 2005, there were 7,200,000 marijuana related arrests – 1 out of every 18 felony convictions.)
The age of Obama saw Attorney General Eric Holder tell the federal DEA to give low priority to harassment of valid medical marijuana clubs in states – fourteen so far, plus Washington, D.C. – that give marijuana some form of legality. Remember, in the U.S.A., there is federal law and there are state laws. Federal law trumps state law, but it’s still up to the U.S. attorney general to decide on priorities in enforcement. On March 25, 2010, California officials announced that 523,531 signatures – almost 100,000 more than required – had been validated in support of a state initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed, no small fiscal allurement in budget-stricken California. (Many growers, zealous not to get on the wrong side of the IRS and the state tax board, declare “agricultural” revenues in some form dependant on the creativity of their accountant or lawyer. After all, to get a bank loan, a college loan, you need a healthy looking returnh. The feds and the state are happy to take the money and, as a rule, not to ask questions. The state utility, PG&E, is similarly happy to rake in large sums from growers using huge amounts of power to run their indoor grow lights and electric fans.