WEST PALM BEACH, FL - Like it or not, marijuana is a fact of life today. Like alcohol, some people use it; others don't. Alcohol became a cash-cow for the country with the end of Prohibition.
Would it work with marijuana, making money to bail out financially strapped counties and states?
A local politician wants to see how the numbers stack up it's no secret plenty of Americans use marijuana. In many places it's still against the law even for medical purposes.
The Obama administration is changing that leaving it up to the states to decide. Even further, decriminalizing "social marijuana" could be a boon for cash-strapped states and counties.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson wants to study the numbers. He said, "There's so much to be said for number one decriminalizing for a small amount of marijuana and number two to look into it as to whether or not you should have it federally as legal and if it's tied to revenue like you do for alcohol and that would be a great boon to the economy of the united states."
Aaronson does not waffle when it comes to the debate over medical marijuana. "Medical marijuana, to me, is a no-contest thing. I mean it's a no-brainer. People cannot suffer the way they suffer when doctor say using marijuana for medical purposes will alleviate the strains and stresses and pain that they have and I think that anyplace that doesn't allow people to be able to use marijuana for medical purposes is doing an injustice to many, many people who are suffering today."
Far from endorsing decriminalization, Aaronson wants to find out if it would financially viable. “If we don't go ahead and put people in jail, the sheriff's department doesn't have to arrest them, the courts don't have to listen to them, the state attorney doesn't have to prosecute them and we don't have to incarcerate them which costs the taxpayer money."
Aaronson believes Florida should move forward and, at the very least, legalize the use of medical marijuana.
