Legal Marijuana, the time is now.

CALIFORNIA -- A new television ad from a group called "Marijuana Policy Project" is calling on California lawmakers to legalize marijuana in order to help solve the state's budget crisis. The media ad buy was for television time in the state's largest media markets. It makes the argument that California government's fiscal disaster could be helped if the state legalized and then taxed marijuana. "Taxes from California's marijuana industry could pay the salaries of 20,000 teachers. Isn't it time?" a proponent in the ad. The ad comes from the marijuana policy project, a Washington-based group that advocates for the legalization of marijuana. Just such a bill has been introduced in the state legislature by San Francisco Democrat Tom Ammiano. "I just think you are going to see a coming together here what i call the perfect storm, political will, populous support. So that we may in fact have some very beneficial legislation," says Ammiano. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called the commercial a distraction to the real order of business, reforming California's budget system. "To say all of a sudden lets legalize marijuana because we can make some money, I think it's the wrong direction to go," Schwarzenegger said Wednesday. In fact backers of the media campaign admit the real objective is to use the issue in California to stimulate a debate in Washington.