Legalizing Weed to Help the Economy

I keep seeing stories about legalizing marijuana as a way to help the economy, you know, by taxing the weed. It seems like a good idea to me, I mean, I don't think it will work but at least it forces the idea of legalization into the semi-mainstream media. A number of politicians have proposed legalizing pot as a way to raise money for their states. Of course, marijuana is illegal under Federal law so any legalization in individual states would likely result in some dicey law enforcement scenarios.

According to the state of California's tax collector a $50 tax on retailers on an ounce could result in $1 billion in tax revenue for the state and that doesn't take into account a sales tax on buyers which could result in hundreds of millions more in revenue. Plus, think of the money saved on investing, busting, and putting small time dealers and users in jail.