IIRC Oregon passed a medical marijuana law and the Bush Administration invoked some federal statute saying they’d prosecute any doctors who prescribed marijuana thus effectively trumping Oregon’s law.
So much for republicans embracing state’s rights.
We passed statewide legislation on medical MJ but never on legalizing in completely. As far as I know, it is not officially legal anywhere in the state but it is defacto legal in a lot of counties and municipalities because the police are told to make it their lowest possible priority. My town passed a law that did just that.
One big problem I see is that even if Obama rolls over for this like he did on medical marijuana, what happens if he loses in 2012 and the new President decides to enforce the federal law?
California would now be dependent on that tax money, an entire infrastructure would be set up for delivery, and it would almost take a federal army to disband it. I see that being a nightmare scenario.
Well, sometimes it takes a nightmare scenario to force change, like California considering the ramifications of Federal law enforcement interrupting its revenue stream and getting the balls to tell the federal government to fuck off. Then the onus shifts to the president to confront the nightmare scenario of having to send in federal troops. That was a hard enough call when it was to enforce something noble, like making sure black kids could be educated. Sending them in to harsh someone’s buzz is a rather less sympathetic goal.
And the best-case result is to drop the whole vapid “war on drugs” thing, reinforcing as it does the twin problems of crime and poverty.
I think it would be interesting. I’m interested in what change would happen at the California border cities.
The border cities to California are mainly small cities with fast food and gas stations with a few motels. I’m sure people stay in the motels of Blythe, CA because they want to be in Los Angeles the next day and decided to drive past Phoenix heading west on the 10 freeway.
On I 40, Needles, CA could be an interesting stopping point.
It would also be interesting to see how Yuma, AZ is affected. Yuma is right at the CA/AZ border, but the population and motels are mostly on the AZ side.
I 15 would also be interesting. Legal marijuana on the CA side and legal gambling on the Nevada side.
Lake Tahoe, CA/NV would probably have a nice little tourism boost.
I can almost guarantee you would have a place that was on the border with gambling on one side of the room and legal weed on the other 
Poker in the front, smoker in the rear.