Associate Dean Amar Comments on Marijuana Initiative for Chronicle
Associate Dean Vikram Amar commented on the California initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use for the San Francisco Chronicle. Whether or not the measure is passed by state voters in November, Associate Dean Amar said, marijuana would still be illegal under federal law, making it all but impossible for the initiative to raise the $1.4 billion in state tax revenues proponents claim.
"The state can't possibly make as much money in taxes as some people estimate," Associate Dean Amar stated. "It can't raise the money unless people report the income, and if you do that you are serving yourself up to the feds, and you could go to jail for a long time."
Vikram Amar, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Law with the UC Davis School of Law, is a national authority in the fields of constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal procedure, and remedies. His biweekly column for FindLaw.com, a leading provider of online legal information, centers on his expertise in constitutional law.