Proposition 19

It looks like a ballot measure to legalize marijuana in California has failed. Proposition 19 would have made it legal for adults of drinking age to possess up to 1 ounce of pot, as well as to grow and smoke the drug in private, and would have authorized local governments to tax its sale.

Billionaire financier George Soros is spending $1 million to support a California proposition that would legalize marijuana for recreational use. In a opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, he wrote that the measure would be "a major step forward."

Marijuana legalization proponents can see a day when the marijuana market looks like the alcohol industry. There would a range of quality among the products offered. And there would be taxes assessed -- perhaps even heavy taxes.