Schwarzenegger stirs debate on legalizing marijuana

Bill Clinton tried it in college — but didn't inhale.

Barack Obama inhaled.

"Frequently," he once quipped. "That was the point."

Bob Dylan sang about it: "Everybody must get stoned."

Weed, pot, grass, doobie, Mary Jane – whatever you call it, there is no mistaking the pungent smell of burning joints or their impact on California culture for decades.

But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opened a new front for discussion this week, saying that while it's not time to legalize pot, he's willing to talk about it as a revenue-raising measure.

The off-the-cuff remark by the well-known governor of the nation's largest state has sparked fresh debate about whether societal attitudes are shifting as 1960s hippies move beyond middle age.

Read this story on sacbee.com

This story was originally published May 9, 2009 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Schwarzenegger stirs debate on legalizing marijuana."