Prop 205 Arguments You Might Have Missed

Prop 205 Arguments You Might Have Missed

Even though the elections are over, did you really pay attention to what you were voting for? There is a very high chance that you stayed informed during the presidential election so you were able to vote for the best suited candidate. But what about what was on the ballot in terms of the local laws that will effect our everyday lives? While there was a lot of talk about Prop 205 the months leading up to the final vote, all people really knew about Prop 205 was that it would legalize recreational marijuana.

Voting is now over and unfortunately no one can change their selections. If you were wondering what you voted for or against when you were checking off the box for Prop 205, here were the biggest arguments made for and against passing this legislation:

Arguments For Prop 205:

• All efforts made to prohibit marijuana have been relatively futile, so legalizing it recreationally will have results in lower arrests of marijuana related crimes.

• The money that has been put towards the prohibition of marijuana has been wasteful and ineffective, as these efforts have not shown any correlation with lowing the use of recreational marijuana in teens or adults.

• If your employer requires that you have to be substance-free in order to keep your job, those regulations and requirements will not change. However, if your employer does not require drug testing, you are free to use recreational marijuana at no expense in keeping your current employment.

• A 15% tax on recreational marijuana would go to support educational programs, and especially lower levels of education such as K-12 and preschool programs.

Arguments Against Prop 205:

• Marijuana comes in edible forms, so children will mistake them as candy or other sweets. Therefore, legalizing marijuana becomes a public safety issue for children.

• There is no immediate way to determine if marijuana can be found in someone’s system, such as a breathalyzer for determining someone’s BAC. Therefore, people will be driving under the influence which inevitably puts others, including that specific person, at a higher risk while on the road.

• Regulations will not be handled by the state governor, meaning that a whole new department will have to be created towards implementing and regulating rules. This means paying more money for further governmental power.

Images used under creative commons license (12/5/24). Photo by Ndispensable on Unsplash.