Legalize marijuana and prostitution to cut the budget

of legalizing both prostitution and marijuana as a way to raise revenue and
shrink the state's current $41 billion deficit.

Both pot smoking and prostitution are very popular "sins" that, if legalized
and taxed, could generate millions or even billions in extra revenue for the
state, said David Lazarus, financial columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

The unconventional ideas to tax prostitutes and pot have become increasingly
plausible as the financial crisis looks more and more like the Great
Depression, Lazarus said.

Many of Lazarus's financial industry colleagues have praised the proposals,
though there is more support for the marijuana side than the prostitution
side.

The only way these ideas could ever come up for decision before voters is as
ballot measures. The idea as it applies to marijuana might pass by a slim
margin, Lazarus predicted, but the prostitution tax would likely be thrown
out.