Marijuana tax touted as solution to California mess

Desperate times lead to desperate measures.

Such is the case in California, where lawmakers are struggling to close a $26.3 billion budget deficit.

An advocacy group has come forward with an ad campaign offering to pay what they say could be more than a billion dollars in taxes.

The rub? They would pay it on legalized and regulated marijuana.

The Marijuana Policy Project ads, which several television stations refused to air, features a retired state worker who started using medical marijuana after multiple strokes three years ago.

"Instead of being treated like criminals for using a substance safer than alcohol, we want to pay our fair share," said the retired worker, Nadene Herndon of Fair Oaks.

The group has a point about the relative dangers of alcohol and marijuana, and an argument can be made that too many of the legal system's resources are used prosecuting marijuana offenses instead of more serious crimes.

But few if any diseases are better treated with marijuana than some other, legal medication.

And, inviting as a billion dollars in taxes might be, legalizing another mind-altering drug would doubtless cost society much more than that in lost production and social services.

Like all other states, California needs to deal with its budget crisis through fiscal responsibility, not grasping at some quick-fix back-door solution. In times like these, we need all the clear-headed thinking we can get.