* Rich Whitney says we could raise a lot of money by legalizing marijuana…

The Green Party candidate for governor says Illinois should legalize and tax marijuana, but his opponents disagree.

Green candidate Rich Whitney says Illinois could bring in about $300 million a year by taxing marijuana.

I’m not sure how he got to his $300 million figure, but it’s probably close enough for government (or campaign) work. Apparently, 5.74 percent of Illinoisans used marijuana in the past month, according to this site. There are about 13 million people in Illinois, so the numbers work out to 746,200 folks. That’s a bit more than $30 per month per consumer. Not much at all. Of course, because marijuana is illegal, pot dealers don’t check identification. Not all of those users are adults. So the rate per consumer would be a bit higher.

Bruce Bartlett looks at the history…

During the 1890s and the early part of the 20th century, there was a powerful national campaign to abolish smoking that was no less intense than the drive for Prohibition.

A key reason the campaign ultimately fizzled out in the 1920s was the government’s need for tobacco tax revenues, especially after alcohol tax revenues dried up. The Republicans’ cuts in income taxes in the 1920s also increased the federal government’s dependence on tobacco tax revenues, which rose from 4 percent of federal receipts in 1920 to 11.2 percent in 1929. The onset of the Great Depression, the concomitant fall in income tax revenues, and the inelasticity of demand for cigarettes caused tobacco revenues to rise to 20.7 percent of all federal receipts by 1932.

In the end, revenue needs trumped sumptuary considerations in the cases of both alcohol and tobacco. This raises the interesting question of whether revenue considerations will drive reform of the laws against illegal drugs.

It should and it ought to. Adults ought to be able to choose what they put into their own bodies without being threatened with confinement in a steel cage with murderers and other mean, ugly, nasty people.

Either way, we ought to have this debate. It sure beats talking about nonsense like this…

The Democratic Governors Association is dubbing seven GOP gubernatorial nominees “Christine O’Donnell Republicans” in an attempt to portray them as outside the mainstream and unelectable.

In a conference call Wednesday, DGA Executive Director Nathan Daschle tagged Dan Maes in Colorado, Tom Emmer in Minnesota, Bill Brady in Illinois, Carl Paladino in New York, Nathan Deal in Georgia, Rick Scott in Florida and Paul LePage in Maine as the most extreme candidates gracing the top of ballots this fall.

The DGA spent $2 million trying to paint Brady as an extremist over the summer. It failed miserably.

* Back to the Greens and Rich Whitney. He has a new Internet promo video up that will bore you to tears…

Yeah. That’ll work.

* Statewide roundup…

* State Waves Add to Democrats’ National Woes

* News-Gazette: Public’s patience has worn thin

* Candidates use others to boost or deflate image

* Union deal sparks ethics ado in Illinois gov’s race

* Quinn ad blasts Brady for not owing income taxes

* PJ Star: Quinn making it easy for his GOP opponent

* Lieutenant governor nominees question whether office should exist

* Sheila Simon talks education

* Election 2010: Robin Kelly vying for state treasurer

* Higher fees bring boost for state

* Quinn: No authority to pick up errant parolee

* Health care in Ill. depends on council, election

* Health adviser says ‘law is the law’

* Ill. High Court to Ponder Candidate’s Party Selection

* Former DCFS administrator faces federal fraud charges

* Counties face dire straits all over the state

* Appliance retailers offer one-day deal

* Lawmakers split on AFSCME deal impact

* SJ-R: Quinn’s deal with AFSCME bad for state

* Spotlight on Governor Quinn’s Educational Budget Cuts