Stoners, libertarians and anyone with real cultural talent in California must be feeling joyful.

On Feb. 23, Assemblymen Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced Assembly Bill 390, which, if passed, will legalize the recreational use, sale and taxation of marijuana.

Before I go any further, let’s get the cliché, repetitive arguments out of the way: it’s harmless, it’s tolerated, it’s no big deal. Such an issue will need a strong argument with real facts rather then a person’s opinion. And no, the word “dude” will not be used in every sentence.

Ammiano’s biggest case is that marijuana is a profitable industry. If it were legalized and taxed, it could help rebuild the state economy by creating much-needed new jobs.

Already there are communities in Northern California where medical marijuana farming is the biggest source of revenue. In some towns, it is two-fifths of the economy.

The legalization would boost their revenue and bring in funds to the state government. At the same time, it will establish new jobs needed to combat the rising unemployment rate.

Ammiano’s argument is supported in a report released in 2005: “The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition,” published by the Department of Economics at Harvard University.

Five hundred economists have supported the report, including Milton Friedman.

Since 1972, Friedman has argued that legalizing marijuana would reduce crime and remove a pointless burden on local law enforcement. California prisons are already overcrowded due to individuals charged with marijuana-related crimes. It should be noted that Friedman is one of the most influential economists of the modern age and has been awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.

Another strong, yet surprising, opponent of the prohibition of marijuana is the late conservative intellectual William F. Buckley Jr. In the last years of his life, Buckley strongly attacked the prohibition in the National Review, referring to it as an expensive mistake that has caused more harm then the actual product itself.

If one were to look into the history of the prohibition of marijuana, one would realize that this war on drugs has been a lie from the beginning. Marijuana was tolerated in America until the 1930s, when an opportunist politician named Harry Anslinger waged a crusade using racist propaganda and demonization of entertainment figures.

Fiorello LaGuardia, mayor of New York City, fought back by commissioning the first real study of marijuana with the LaGuardia Committee. However, the war has continued ever since.

We have just ended an eight-year error and it’s time to make the needed progression into a better society. It is ridiculous to continue prohibiting marijuana when leading intellectuals and Nobel Prize-winning economists have argued the futility of such policy.

If Assembly Bill 390 doesn’t pass, we will know that promise of change was just a dream.

Hence, all we can do is sit back and watch the world burn. And no, you won’t get high off the fumes.