I don't agree at all with your claim about voting, but even accepting it arguendo, voting to (and california has propositions so you vote directly on many things) legalize marijuana has clear benefits. You don't have to fuck around with stupid prescriptions (I have a serious illness: I don't think pop tarts taste good), and the cops can't hassle you about it.
That said, you can pretty reliably vote a democratic ticket in California and get the last bad option.
> voting to (and california has propositions you can vote directly on many things) legalize marijuana has clear benefits.
You're conflating the legalization of marijuana, which obviously has clear benefits to many individuals, and the individual act of voting for the legalization of marijuana, which does not have much clear benefit.
> you can pretty reliably vote a democratic ticket in California and get the last bad option.
That's a perfect example of my claim about the irrationality of voting. People often identify with a party, and vote party lines. That's a far cry from actually being educated about each candidate or issue, which plenty of polls demonstrate is rare among voters.
> Also, CA has vote by mail.
That's nice, but the physical process of voting is only a tiny part of the individual cost. Most of the cost is educating yourself by researching issues and following the actions of candidates, which most people (even voters) do not do.
That said, you can pretty reliably vote a democratic ticket in California and get the last bad option.
Also, CA has vote by mail.