Speaking on Jay Leno's Tonight Show Monday Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gloated over the defeat of California's marijuana-legalization effort, saying his signing of a bill to turn pot smoking into something “like a speeding ticket” helped bring Prop. 19 down.

“No one cares if you smoke a joint or not,” the governator said.

Prop. 19 would have fully legalized possession of up to an ounce of pot (at least on a state level) for the 21-and-older crowd. But some folks were concerned about language that would have left regulation of taxes and sales up to cities, towns and counties.

“Proposition 19 went a little bit too far, I think,” Schwarzenegger said. “And it was written badly.”

“Propositions don't die because you know the idea's bad,” he said. “It just dies because it's written wrong.”

Sounds like there's hope for another legalization attempt in 2012.

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