At the beginning of this month, I had a blog entry looking at whether legalizing marijuana would save the California economy. The Marijuana Policy Project is pushing for the drug to approved, claiming it will really do great things for the state's appalling budget.

And so the debate continues with Associated Press reporting that the booming medical marijuana trade might point to legalizing the drug for general use. California is the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use, treating everything from allergies to insomnia.

Associated Press reports: "Since the state became the first to legalize the drug for medicinal use, the weed the federal government puts in the same category as heroin and cocaine has become a major economic force. Pot in California props up local economies, mints millionaires and feeds a thriving industry of startups — stores that sell high-tech marijuana growing equipment, pot clubs that pay rent and hire workers, chains of for-profit clinics that specialize in medical marijuana recommendations.

Now experts claim that taxing the drug could bring in $1.3 billion annually.

And what would be the costs of legalizing the drug? Quite apart from questions of whether marijuana is harmful. Writing in the Atlantic Monthly, Daniel Indiviglio says we need to look at the potential costs. "What about productivity?,'' Indiviglio writes. "A joint-break in the office isn't exactly going to have the same ramifications to productivity as a cigarette-break. Although snack machine profits will certainly soar. I'm not saying that there wouldn't be fiscal benefits for any state through taxing marijuana. Obviously, there would be. I'd just love to see some honest estimates of the costs involved too. That way, we can accurately evaluate whether those benefits truly outweigh the costs."

These are desperate times. Legalizing dope might a desperate solution for a state where the problems threaten to drag down the rest of the economy. Can California smoke its way to recovery?