I'm probably the only leader of a registered political party in Victoria who admits to occasionally smoking marijuana.

Statistically, more than one-third of candidates running for election on Saturday have used marijuana at one time or another. The same would be true for current members in the Victorian Parliament.

In this respect I'm no different from the other 450,000 Victorians who regularly enjoy a smoke or a vape. So why are we still living like pariahs, under threat of heavy fines and even jail sentences, for indulging in such a relatively harmless and widespread practice?

In 2010-11, Victoria gave 5570 of its citizens a criminal record, simply for possessing marijuana for their own use. We gave another 1574 a more severe criminal record for selling marijuana to the nearly half a million Victorian smokers who want it. It's a disgrace. Just ask the parents of these kids if they deserved a criminal record for getting stoned. Victoria has the highest arrest rate for possession of cannabis of any state in Australia. We pursue dope smokers far more vigorously than we chase cocaine users.

But more than that, it's just a dumb way to try and regulate a drug that is, by all accounts, less dangerous and costly than alcohol. Just think of how much it costs the taxpayer to maintain this huge prohibition scheme on such a popular social tonic. We should be following the lead of four US states who have legalised recreational marijuana. Victoria could raise $250 million a year through a 30 per cent excise tax on the product, similar to that now in place in Colorado. We have roughly the same population as Colorado, and last year Colorado raised $291 million in taxes on recreational marijuana. By regulating this product we can control who buys it, who sells it, where it is sold and what is sold.

In Colorado the revenue raised from marijuana is largely used for education – and the use of marijuana by minors has fallen since regulation was introduced.

In 2010-11, between $750 million and $1.5 billion was spent on recreational marijuana in Victoria. This money will be spent by consumers every year no matter how many more millions the government spends on trying to stop it. It's an unwinnable war. So if I'm elected to State Parliament on Saturday, I'm going to introduce a Private Member's Bill to tax and regulate recreational marijuana.

Fiona Patten is leader of the Australian Sex Party and a candidate for the upper house region of Northern Metropolitan.