For the second year in a row we have an opportunity to let the Obama administration know what ideas are most important to us. Last year ending marijuana prohibition was the number one idea on change.org’s top 10 “ideas for change in America” list, but it currently sits out of the money in fourth place. Let your voice be heard and vote to end marijuana prohibition once and for all (voting ends March 12).

Meanwhile, the cultivation of marijuana in Mexico rose 35% in 2008 to nearly 30,000 acres, according to a report released by the U.S. State Department.

These latest numbers confirm that the only thing an increase in the amount of marijuana seizures by the DEA will do is force more marijuana to be grown by gangs in Mexico, lining the pockets of drug cartels, and further fueling the bloodshed along our border and in our respective countries.

When is the U.S. government going to realize that they will never eliminate the demand for marijuana? There is only one real solution to this crisis: tax and regulate marijuana.

What these numbers show—despite what organizations like PDFA might twist them to say—is that our current marijuana policies have clearly failed to reduce teen marijuana use, and a different approach is necessary. Right now, teens have easy access to marijuana because it is unregulated and controlled exclusively by drug dealers who do not check IDs.

The solution, therefore—as readers of this blog have heard time and again—is quite simple: Tax and regulate marijuana, so that it can be sold only by licensed merchants who would be required to check IDs and would face harsh penalties if they failed to do so. A similar approach has enabled this country to drastically reduce teen cigarette smoking over the past two decades. It’s also worked overseas. In the Netherlands, for example, marijuana is sold in regulated establishments to adults who must show proof of age. As a result, according to a 2008 World Health Organization survey, the overall rate of marijuana use in the Netherlands is less than half what it is in the United States. Additionally, only 7% of Dutch teens have tried marijuana by age 15. In the U.S., as many as 20.2% of teens have tried marijuana by age 15, according to government estimates.

If this country is serious about keeping marijuana out of the hands of teenagers, we need to accept the simple fact that prohibition does not work. Regulation does.

According to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration use among people 50 and older who report using marijuana in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent in 2002 to 2.9 percent in 2008. Marijuana use among 55- to 59-year-olds has more than tripled during that same time period (1.6 percent in 2002 to 5.1 percent in 2008).

Among the group of seniors who now use marijuana is 67 year old Perry Parks, a retired Army pilot who suffers from crippling pain from degenerative disc disease and arthritis. He has tried all sorts of prescription drugs, but found little success. However, he found relief two years ago after using something he tried in college, marijuana. He says by using marijuana he realized he “could get by without the narcotics,” referring to prescription painkillers. Parks says he is now “essentially pain free.”

Will the nation’s 78 million baby boomers stand up against the status quo one last time and lead the effort to end this country’s failed war on marijuana? We sure hope so.

Asm. Ammiano’s 2009 marijuana reform bill, A.B. 390, was approved in the Assembly Public Safety Committee last month but did not advance further due to legislative calendar constraints. This year’s bill, A.B. 2254, is expected to receive hearings in the next couple of months.

Stay tuned as this bill progresses. We’ll definitely have our plates full out here in California, as we work on this legislation and build public support for reform in a year when the state’s electorate will be voting on the Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative.

Well, I have a better idea for how Utah could bring in new revenue and keep kids in the classroom at the same time.

If Utah really wants to rake in the big bucks, the state should tax and regulate marijuana, the nation’s largest cash crop. Doing so would produce untold millions in new tax revenue and save millions more in reduced law enforcement costs. Marijuana is already pervasive in our society, and right now the only people making a profit from it are criminal drug dealers.

Sure, the idea might seem extreme for some in Utah, but is it any more crazy than sacrificing the education of the state’s young people?

This call for sensible marijuana reform comes just days before public hearings will be held by the state’s Marijuana Prohibition Study Commission, which was set up by the state Senate last year to study the cost of marijuana prohibition in Rhode Island. Last week, a bill to change the penalty for possession of marijuana from up to six months in jail to a civil fine was introduced into the state House, where nearly half of the representatives signed on as co-sponsors.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that President Obama chose to ignore marijuana reform questions. The questions posed to him were selected by YouTube, which decided not to present the highest ranked questions to the president. This post has been changed to correct that inaccuracy.

YouTube’s CitizenTube forum concluded today with questions about ending marijuana prohibition receiving the most votes, by far. Yet, the questions about marijuana prohibition were not presented to the president this afternoon.

Last year, when marijuana reform questions topped the “Open For Questions” forum operated by the White House, the president did answer them — albeit without serious consideration to the issue. It’s unfortunate that YouTube would shelter the president from something that’s obviously on a lot of people’s minds.

Ending marijuana prohibition is not a fringe issue. Not anymore. The polls are showing rapid increases in support for reform nationwide (46% of Americans think small amounts of marijuana should be legal, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll), and at least three states are considering legislation or ballot initiatives to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the coming years. This issue will be addressed in a serious way, and it’s regrettable that YouTube would shy away from it.

California’s Tax Cannabis 2010 campaign announced today that they have submitted nearly 700,000 signatures to qualify their initiative for the November 2010 ballot. The initiative seeks to make personal possession (up to 1 oz.) and cultivation (up to 25 square feet) legal for adults 21 and up. The proposal also gives cities and counties the option to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana sales.

Supporters only needed to collect 433,971 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Submitting such large raw numbers makes the chances very good that this bold measure will be placed before California voters in November.

Here is MPP’s entry:

You can visit the site to vote and help our question be one of the few chosen by Obama for a live YouTube event next week. Click here to help us demonstrate the importance and popularity of this issue.