November 2, 2010 is the date of the mid-term elections. It’s also a date that may signal the beginning of a major change in our drug laws. While fourteen states and DC have enacted laws legalizing medical marijuana, if Proposition 19 passes in California, it will be the first U.S. state to legalize the drug.

Legalizing marijuana appears to have broad support in the state, with 51% to 56% of Californians surveyed in various polls saying they favored making marijuana legal for social use and taxing the sales proceeds to help bail out the cash-strapped state.

Those supporting the measure assert that banning marijuana has contributed to an increasingly deadly underground economy run by brutal drug cartels that have cost billions in scarce law enforcement resources and made criminals out of countless law-abiding citizens. Those opposed to the measure worry about increased drug usage and impaired driving crashes and say the social costs far outweigh the money it would bring in.

Under the initiative, simple possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, currently a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $100 fine, would be legal for anyone at least 21. It also would be lawful to grow limited amounts in one’s own home for personal use. While sales would not be legalized outright, cities and counties could pass laws permitting commercial distribution subject to local regulations and taxes. Retail sales would still be limited to an ounce for adults 21 and older.

Despite our decades long battle against the cartels and traffickers, the U.S. still has some of the highest rates of drug use in the world, and more than a quarter of its prison inmates are behind bars for drug-related offenses. Mexico’s U.S. backed war on drugs has left more than 28,000 people dead since December 2006. Recently, former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Mexico should consider legalizing the production, distribution and sale of drugs in order to “break the economic structure that allows the mafias to generate huge profits in their business.”

It is truly ironic that government budget deficits largely created by anti-drug politicians may lead to the legalization of marijuana in California. And its passage may spearhead a national movement toward decriminalizing the drug in states across the country.