southcitymom
Well-Known Member
Who wouldn't? Answer: No one.
Can Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy?
- Thread starter Buzz Mills
- Start date
Who wouldn't? Answer: No one.
Buzz Mills
New Member
I think there will be at least a few states, that legalize marijuana, during this downturn in the economy, and depending on how long it lasts. (I think it will last 5 years, and the upturn will be, oh, so slow).
Oregon apparently, presently, has some legislation, in hand, to do just that.
Oregon apparently, presently, has some legislation, in hand, to do just that.
Buzz Mills
New Member
California Might Legalize Marijuana
How can the government raise funds in a recession? One way is to turn an illegitimate business into a legitimate one, and then tax it. Our largest state in the nation is considering doing just that, Time reports:
Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale a move that could mean billions of dollars for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity milk and cream which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.
The proposed legislation might generate more tax revenue in other ways, too. There is economic evidence that drug prohibition shifts people who would otherwise be legitimate businesspeople into the lucrative black market (see my previous post explaining this in more detail here.) So California would not only be able to tax the sale of marijuana. There would also be many other new entrepreneurial endeavors to tax, as would-be drug dealers start legitimate businesses.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/risky-business/2009/03/16/california-might-legalize-marijuana.html
How can the government raise funds in a recession? One way is to turn an illegitimate business into a legitimate one, and then tax it. Our largest state in the nation is considering doing just that, Time reports:
Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale a move that could mean billions of dollars for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity milk and cream which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.
The proposed legislation might generate more tax revenue in other ways, too. There is economic evidence that drug prohibition shifts people who would otherwise be legitimate businesspeople into the lucrative black market (see my previous post explaining this in more detail here.) So California would not only be able to tax the sale of marijuana. There would also be many other new entrepreneurial endeavors to tax, as would-be drug dealers start legitimate businesses.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/risky-business/2009/03/16/california-might-legalize-marijuana.html
MissieMt
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I have seen many peoples lives ruined by drugs-and even more ruined by alcohol. Not a single one of those lives were ruined by the use of pot. I say-bring it on. Desperate times call for (what some would see as) desperate measures.
Buzz Mills
New Member
Attorney general signals shift in marijuana policy
WASHINGTON (AP) Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a change on medical marijuana policy Wednesday, saying federal agents will target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state law. That would be a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law. "The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law," Holder said in a question-and-answer session with reporters at the Justice Department.
Medical marijuana advocates in California welcomed the news, but said they still worried about the pending cases of those already in court on drug charges. California law permits the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, though it still is against federal law.
Holder did not spell out exactly who no longer would face the prospect of raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration. But he was quick to add that law enforcement officers will target anyone who tries to "use medical marijuana laws as a shield" for other illegal activity. "Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people, organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that's inconsistent with federal and state law," the attorney general said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iHs5ki4JKUS8Q5APCcU3bAjKv5TgD970OUT81
WASHINGTON (AP) Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a change on medical marijuana policy Wednesday, saying federal agents will target marijuana distributors only when they violate both federal and state law. That would be a departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which targeted medical marijuana dispensaries in California even if they complied with that state's law. "The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law," Holder said in a question-and-answer session with reporters at the Justice Department.
Medical marijuana advocates in California welcomed the news, but said they still worried about the pending cases of those already in court on drug charges. California law permits the sale of marijuana for medical purposes, though it still is against federal law.
Holder did not spell out exactly who no longer would face the prospect of raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration. But he was quick to add that law enforcement officers will target anyone who tries to "use medical marijuana laws as a shield" for other illegal activity. "Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people, organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that's inconsistent with federal and state law," the attorney general said.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iHs5ki4JKUS8Q5APCcU3bAjKv5TgD970OUT81
Buzz Mills
New Member
This reminds me that one of these days, soon, I need to become licensed to possess medical marijuana.
Buzz Mills
New Member
Community Policing Defines Nominee to Lead Drug Office
As Seattle Police Chief, Kerlikowske Is Known for Pragmatism
Ten months after R. Gil Kerlikowske became Seattle's police chief, two of his officers arrived at the home of JoAnna McKee, where she ran a co-op giving medical marijuana to patients and teaching them to grow their own. Neighbors, the police told her, had been complaining. Soon, a "cease and desist" order was tacked to her door.
But instead of shutting down the Green Cross Patient Co-Op, Kerlikowske's director of police-community partnerships made a suggestion: Move it from her West Seattle house to a commercial area. She found a nearby storefront, and under Washington state's medical marijuana law, people could once again bring doctors' orders to get relief from pain. "The police could have come in here like gangbusters," McKee said. "But they didn't. It was a case of let's see whether we can work this out so everybody could get what they want."
That episode the summer of 2001 typifies the approach to illegal drugs that Kerlikowske, nominated by President Obama to lead the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, has displayed during nearly nine years as Seattle's top law enforcement officer. In a city with greater tolerance for drugs than much of the United States, he has seldom bucked the prevailing local sentiment. Seldom, though, has he been out front.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032302861.html?hpid=topnews
As Seattle Police Chief, Kerlikowske Is Known for Pragmatism
Ten months after R. Gil Kerlikowske became Seattle's police chief, two of his officers arrived at the home of JoAnna McKee, where she ran a co-op giving medical marijuana to patients and teaching them to grow their own. Neighbors, the police told her, had been complaining. Soon, a "cease and desist" order was tacked to her door.
But instead of shutting down the Green Cross Patient Co-Op, Kerlikowske's director of police-community partnerships made a suggestion: Move it from her West Seattle house to a commercial area. She found a nearby storefront, and under Washington state's medical marijuana law, people could once again bring doctors' orders to get relief from pain. "The police could have come in here like gangbusters," McKee said. "But they didn't. It was a case of let's see whether we can work this out so everybody could get what they want."
That episode the summer of 2001 typifies the approach to illegal drugs that Kerlikowske, nominated by President Obama to lead the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, has displayed during nearly nine years as Seattle's top law enforcement officer. In a city with greater tolerance for drugs than much of the United States, he has seldom bucked the prevailing local sentiment. Seldom, though, has he been out front.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032302861.html?hpid=topnews
cynsational
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If its all about generating income and taxes, then legalize prostitution too. That would generate sales tax and the government could charge license fees. It would cut out the criminal element.
Buzz Mills
New Member
Obama says "NO" to legalization of marijuana!!
Buzz Mills
New Member
DEA raids pot dispensary in SF
03-25) 22:05 PDT San Francisco -- Federal agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco Wednesday, a week after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder signaled that the Obama administration would not prosecute distributors of pot used for medicinal purposes that operate under sanction of state law.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic at 1597 Howard St. in San Francisco's South of Market district mid-afternoon. They hauled out large plastic bins overflowing with marijuana plants and loaded several pickup trucks parked out front with grow lights and related equipment used to farm the plants indoors.
The dispensary had been operating with a temporary permit issued by the Department of Public Health. "Based on our investigation, we believe there are not only violations of federal law, but state law as well," DEA Special Agent in Charge Anthony Williams said in a prepared statement.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/25/BA5B16N9LR.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
03-25) 22:05 PDT San Francisco -- Federal agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco Wednesday, a week after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder signaled that the Obama administration would not prosecute distributors of pot used for medicinal purposes that operate under sanction of state law.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic at 1597 Howard St. in San Francisco's South of Market district mid-afternoon. They hauled out large plastic bins overflowing with marijuana plants and loaded several pickup trucks parked out front with grow lights and related equipment used to farm the plants indoors.
The dispensary had been operating with a temporary permit issued by the Department of Public Health. "Based on our investigation, we believe there are not only violations of federal law, but state law as well," DEA Special Agent in Charge Anthony Williams said in a prepared statement.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/25/BA5B16N9LR.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
Buzz Mills
New Member
Top 5 Strains of Marijuana
Different strains of marijuana will produce different types of high. This makes it difficult for pot smokers to consistently find good marijuana. The next time you toke up, you probably will want to consider one of these 5 strains of marijuana.
5. Purple Haze Marijuana - Purple Marijuana aka Purple Haze Marijuana has lovely purple buds on this plant give it a special taste and smell. It is a powerful strain with sativa overtones. It is a very hardy plant and can be grown outdoors in the worst climates. Its ancestors are Holland's Hope crossed with Skunk#1. A powerful high quality sativa marijuana odour.
4. Big Bud - Big Bud is Winner of the Cannabis Cup in 1989 as a best marijuana strains. A must for the grower with high ambitious intentions, The yield of this indica marijuana strain is legendary, producing massive buds with gigantic leaves. The smoke is smooth and the high is very strong. Will produce the best yield than any other plant in the same space. Usually the lower branches collapse under the weight of the buds. One of the world's finest marijuana strains.
3. Super Skunk Weed - Super Skunk is a beefy original Skunk #1 strain. Matches the potency of the hashish you find in Amsterdam coffee shops. World famous for it's skunky sweet smell, super tasty flavour and muscular high. One of the easiest of the white strains to grow. This pot gets sold and smoked even before it gets a chance to dry. Flowers in 8 to 10 weeks.
2. Northern Lights - Northern lights marijuana has big broad leaves and large crystal covered buds. Experience a strong hash taste to best describe northern lights marijuana. This is not a big plant growing to about 1.5 m outdoors and a little bigger indoors. Northern lights marijuana seeds are good for the indoor growers. It's a classic plant being one of the most smoked and grown in Holland. You owe it to yourself to check out the finest buzz!
1. White Widow - The white widow marijuana strain is considered perhaps the best cannabis in the world. The buds always have so much THC on them that it is hard to see the green color of the bud at all. The high is super extreme and the taste uniquely divine. Winner of more Cannabis Cups and Pot Awards than any other kynde. On the top of all Dutch coffee shop menu's (usually the most expensive!) A must for anyone who thinks they are a smoker. Buy white widow marijuana seeds.
Different strains of marijuana will produce different types of high. This makes it difficult for pot smokers to consistently find good marijuana. The next time you toke up, you probably will want to consider one of these 5 strains of marijuana.
5. Purple Haze Marijuana - Purple Marijuana aka Purple Haze Marijuana has lovely purple buds on this plant give it a special taste and smell. It is a powerful strain with sativa overtones. It is a very hardy plant and can be grown outdoors in the worst climates. Its ancestors are Holland's Hope crossed with Skunk#1. A powerful high quality sativa marijuana odour.
4. Big Bud - Big Bud is Winner of the Cannabis Cup in 1989 as a best marijuana strains. A must for the grower with high ambitious intentions, The yield of this indica marijuana strain is legendary, producing massive buds with gigantic leaves. The smoke is smooth and the high is very strong. Will produce the best yield than any other plant in the same space. Usually the lower branches collapse under the weight of the buds. One of the world's finest marijuana strains.
3. Super Skunk Weed - Super Skunk is a beefy original Skunk #1 strain. Matches the potency of the hashish you find in Amsterdam coffee shops. World famous for it's skunky sweet smell, super tasty flavour and muscular high. One of the easiest of the white strains to grow. This pot gets sold and smoked even before it gets a chance to dry. Flowers in 8 to 10 weeks.
2. Northern Lights - Northern lights marijuana has big broad leaves and large crystal covered buds. Experience a strong hash taste to best describe northern lights marijuana. This is not a big plant growing to about 1.5 m outdoors and a little bigger indoors. Northern lights marijuana seeds are good for the indoor growers. It's a classic plant being one of the most smoked and grown in Holland. You owe it to yourself to check out the finest buzz!
1. White Widow - The white widow marijuana strain is considered perhaps the best cannabis in the world. The buds always have so much THC on them that it is hard to see the green color of the bud at all. The high is super extreme and the taste uniquely divine. Winner of more Cannabis Cups and Pot Awards than any other kynde. On the top of all Dutch coffee shop menu's (usually the most expensive!) A must for anyone who thinks they are a smoker. Buy white widow marijuana seeds.
Buzz Mills
New Member
President Used Marijuana but Mocks & Dismisses Legalization
(EUGENE, Ore.) - So... Mr. Obama doesn't think that legalizing cannabis (marijuana) is a good idea and we aren't going to go there? Huh. I can't say as I'm shocked. I will say that I am disappointed. In an online "townhall" Thursday, March 26, the President responded to an online query about legalization: "With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?"
The reason he tackled this question is because the online community keeps asking it. Mr. Obama's answer to the question was only mockish and dismissive: "There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation," he said. "And I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a popular question. We want to make sure it's answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy. All right." But, as any student of drug policy knows, pot's Prohibition is based solely on racist fantasies and never has science or social sense been a factor. The banning of cannabis actually is codified racism and xenophobia, which of course makes it very much a civil rights issue. Pete Guither over at Drug War Rant has an excellent primer, Why is Marijuana Illegal?
I advise anyone under-educated on the subject read it. I'm not sure if the President realizes that he is now engaged -- whether he likes it or not -- in the discussion about legalizing cannabis and that his dismissal will not go unchallenged. And well it should be challenged. Just recently the President made this declaration: "Promoting science isn't just about providing resources, it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," Obama said. "It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march282009/obama_legalize_3-28-09.php?message=1#comments
(EUGENE, Ore.) - So... Mr. Obama doesn't think that legalizing cannabis (marijuana) is a good idea and we aren't going to go there? Huh. I can't say as I'm shocked. I will say that I am disappointed. In an online "townhall" Thursday, March 26, the President responded to an online query about legalization: "With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?"
The reason he tackled this question is because the online community keeps asking it. Mr. Obama's answer to the question was only mockish and dismissive: "There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation," he said. "And I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a popular question. We want to make sure it's answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy. All right." But, as any student of drug policy knows, pot's Prohibition is based solely on racist fantasies and never has science or social sense been a factor. The banning of cannabis actually is codified racism and xenophobia, which of course makes it very much a civil rights issue. Pete Guither over at Drug War Rant has an excellent primer, Why is Marijuana Illegal?
I advise anyone under-educated on the subject read it. I'm not sure if the President realizes that he is now engaged -- whether he likes it or not -- in the discussion about legalizing cannabis and that his dismissal will not go unchallenged. And well it should be challenged. Just recently the President made this declaration: "Promoting science isn't just about providing resources, it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," Obama said. "It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march282009/obama_legalize_3-28-09.php?message=1#comments
Buzz Mills
New Member
More states move toward allowing medical marijuana use
Some states are moving to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in response to the Obama administration's decision to limit prosecutions of sick people or caregivers who use or dispense the drug.
Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that his agents will seek criminal charges only when both state and U.S. laws are violated. That signaled a shift from the Bush administration, whose agents raided several centers that dispense marijuana in California, where state law permits its medical use. Twelve other states also allow medical marijuana, but U.S. law prohibits its use for any reason.
"The change in the federal government's attitude ... speaks volumes," says New Hampshire state Rep. Evalyn Merrick, a Democrat. She is the author of a bill that would legalize medicinal use of marijuana if approved by a doctor. It passed the state House on Wednesday, 234-138. Merrick, a cancer survivor who once got relief from nausea by smoking pot, pushed a similar bill three years ago, but it failed. This year it is getting a warmer reception, and now heads to the Senate.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-25-pot_N.htm
State by State Marijuana Laws
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516
Eleven states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington -- have passed laws exempting patients who use cannabis under a physician's supervision from state criminal penalties.
Some states are moving to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in response to the Obama administration's decision to limit prosecutions of sick people or caregivers who use or dispense the drug.
Attorney General Eric Holder said last week that his agents will seek criminal charges only when both state and U.S. laws are violated. That signaled a shift from the Bush administration, whose agents raided several centers that dispense marijuana in California, where state law permits its medical use. Twelve other states also allow medical marijuana, but U.S. law prohibits its use for any reason.
"The change in the federal government's attitude ... speaks volumes," says New Hampshire state Rep. Evalyn Merrick, a Democrat. She is the author of a bill that would legalize medicinal use of marijuana if approved by a doctor. It passed the state House on Wednesday, 234-138. Merrick, a cancer survivor who once got relief from nausea by smoking pot, pushed a similar bill three years ago, but it failed. This year it is getting a warmer reception, and now heads to the Senate.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-03-25-pot_N.htm
State by State Marijuana Laws
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4516
Eleven states -- Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington -- have passed laws exempting patients who use cannabis under a physician's supervision from state criminal penalties.
Buzz Mills
New Member
In California's Marijuana Truce, a Troubling Gray Legal Area
Marijuana advocates were not the only ones overjoyed when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that he was ending federal raids on medical marijuana facilities unless they are in violation of both state and federal laws. In budget-strapped California, for one, taxpayers are grateful. There, the fed crackdowns, which had continued despite the end of the state's own raids, got in the way of upwards of $100 million in revenue from medical marijuana sales taxes in 2007, according to Americans for Safe Access (ASA), an advocacy group for prescription pot.
The federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is estimated to have spent more than $10 million from 2005 to 2007 on raids on California dispensaries alone. (Twelve other states have legalized medical marijuana.) Legal costs are almost impossible to calculate in the Golden State. "I suspect it's well above $10 million and that doesn't even take into account the fee for the time it's taking me to defend these cases. The government doesn't have to pay for that, but it's certainly an expense," says Joe Elford, staff attorney for the ASA . "It's the beginning of the end hopefully, and it will save the taxpayers millions if not tens of millions of dollars." He estimates that $500,000 is spent on the prosecution and incarceration of each individual facing charges. (See pictures from classic Hollywood stoner cinema.)
However, though enforcement on the state and federal level may now be virtually the same in the affected states, a large legal gray area remains. "They've only begun to scratch the surface on this," says Dale Gieringer, California coordinator for NORML, a group lobbying to legalize marijuana. "They're going to have to change the whole treatment of marijuana under federal law because you can't just have a law laying around and say, 'well we're just not going to enforce it in this case' and leave it like that. If they don't change the law there are going to be issues for years to come."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1888172,00.html
Marijuana advocates were not the only ones overjoyed when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that he was ending federal raids on medical marijuana facilities unless they are in violation of both state and federal laws. In budget-strapped California, for one, taxpayers are grateful. There, the fed crackdowns, which had continued despite the end of the state's own raids, got in the way of upwards of $100 million in revenue from medical marijuana sales taxes in 2007, according to Americans for Safe Access (ASA), an advocacy group for prescription pot.
The federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is estimated to have spent more than $10 million from 2005 to 2007 on raids on California dispensaries alone. (Twelve other states have legalized medical marijuana.) Legal costs are almost impossible to calculate in the Golden State. "I suspect it's well above $10 million and that doesn't even take into account the fee for the time it's taking me to defend these cases. The government doesn't have to pay for that, but it's certainly an expense," says Joe Elford, staff attorney for the ASA . "It's the beginning of the end hopefully, and it will save the taxpayers millions if not tens of millions of dollars." He estimates that $500,000 is spent on the prosecution and incarceration of each individual facing charges. (See pictures from classic Hollywood stoner cinema.)
However, though enforcement on the state and federal level may now be virtually the same in the affected states, a large legal gray area remains. "They've only begun to scratch the surface on this," says Dale Gieringer, California coordinator for NORML, a group lobbying to legalize marijuana. "They're going to have to change the whole treatment of marijuana under federal law because you can't just have a law laying around and say, 'well we're just not going to enforce it in this case' and leave it like that. If they don't change the law there are going to be issues for years to come."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1888172,00.html
Buzz Mills
New Member
The Decriminalization Of Marijuana
1. The government can't afford to continue to prosecute casual users of marijuana.
2. The government has no room at the inn, and can't afford to continue to imprison marijuana users.
3. During these trying times, Law Enforcement doesn't have the manpower to enforce laws against casual marijuana use.
4. Any tax money derived from the sale of marijuana is sorely needed.
California Lawmaker Sees Tax Revenue in $14 Billion Marijuana Crop
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano Proposes Tax and Regulate Legislation
At a news conference in today in his home district, San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano announced the introduction of a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the state of California. Advocates cheered the commonsense proposal, which comes during an historic economic crisis and just after one of the toughest state budget negotiations on record.
With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense. This legislation would generate much needed revenue for the state, restrict access to only those over 21, end the environmental damage to our public lands from illicit crops, and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to more serious crimes, said Ammiano. California has the opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact a smart, responsible public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana.
Marijuana is Californias number one cash crop, according to federal estimates, worth double the states vegetable and grape crops combined or about $14 billion a year. The Ammiano legislation would create a regulatory structure for that market similar to that for beer, wine and liquor: it would regulate taxed sales to adults while barring sales to or possession by those under 21. Estimated annual revenue from fees and sales and excise taxes under the proposed regulations runs into the billions of dollars. Marijuana already plays a huge role in the California economy. Its a revenue opportunity we literally cant afford to ignore any longer, said Stephen Gutwillig, California state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. Its time to end the charade of marijuana prohibition, tax the $14 billion market, and redirect criminal justice resources to matters of real public safety. Assemblyman Ammiano has done the state an enormous service by breaking the silence on this commonsense solution.
1. The government can't afford to continue to prosecute casual users of marijuana.
2. The government has no room at the inn, and can't afford to continue to imprison marijuana users.
3. During these trying times, Law Enforcement doesn't have the manpower to enforce laws against casual marijuana use.
4. Any tax money derived from the sale of marijuana is sorely needed.
California Lawmaker Sees Tax Revenue in $14 Billion Marijuana Crop
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano Proposes Tax and Regulate Legislation
At a news conference in today in his home district, San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano announced the introduction of a bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the state of California. Advocates cheered the commonsense proposal, which comes during an historic economic crisis and just after one of the toughest state budget negotiations on record.
With the state in the midst of an historic economic crisis, the move towards regulating and taxing marijuana is simply common sense. This legislation would generate much needed revenue for the state, restrict access to only those over 21, end the environmental damage to our public lands from illicit crops, and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to more serious crimes, said Ammiano. California has the opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact a smart, responsible public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana.
Marijuana is Californias number one cash crop, according to federal estimates, worth double the states vegetable and grape crops combined or about $14 billion a year. The Ammiano legislation would create a regulatory structure for that market similar to that for beer, wine and liquor: it would regulate taxed sales to adults while barring sales to or possession by those under 21. Estimated annual revenue from fees and sales and excise taxes under the proposed regulations runs into the billions of dollars. Marijuana already plays a huge role in the California economy. Its a revenue opportunity we literally cant afford to ignore any longer, said Stephen Gutwillig, California state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. Its time to end the charade of marijuana prohibition, tax the $14 billion market, and redirect criminal justice resources to matters of real public safety. Assemblyman Ammiano has done the state an enormous service by breaking the silence on this commonsense solution.
As a CA State employee, I say legalize weed AND prostitution and collect on the millions of dollars in parking tickets owed to the cities. But don't penalize state workers simply because, well...we are state workers.
My check has been tapped into to the tune of about $400 a month by Awful Arnold's quick solution of putting state workers on a mandated furlough. I have dedicated 24 yrs of my life to the State of CA and I will not be happier than the day our incompetent governor is out of that office for good. He should stick to acting and leave politics to his in-laws.
What upsets me, is that welfare recipients, some of which are not legal residents (and it's not just people from Mexico like many think. CA is the new Russia) get vouchers for free state ID cards and driver licenses, Section 8 which is reduced rent, EBT cards which are debit cards that have a cash and food debit amount added monthly. Drug users commonly trade the food voucher amount at half price for cash to get dope. For instance, if the amount on the card for food is $200, a drug user will accept $100 in cash and/or drugs in trade. They will either go to the grocery store with the dealer or give the dealer the card to go themselves and buy groceries while the users are at home in their brand new $30 month, rent reduced 4 bedroom home getting high on their drug of choice.
LEGALIZE WEED, END THE STATE FURLOUGH!!! YOU GOT MY VOTE!
My check has been tapped into to the tune of about $400 a month by Awful Arnold's quick solution of putting state workers on a mandated furlough. I have dedicated 24 yrs of my life to the State of CA and I will not be happier than the day our incompetent governor is out of that office for good. He should stick to acting and leave politics to his in-laws.
What upsets me, is that welfare recipients, some of which are not legal residents (and it's not just people from Mexico like many think. CA is the new Russia) get vouchers for free state ID cards and driver licenses, Section 8 which is reduced rent, EBT cards which are debit cards that have a cash and food debit amount added monthly. Drug users commonly trade the food voucher amount at half price for cash to get dope. For instance, if the amount on the card for food is $200, a drug user will accept $100 in cash and/or drugs in trade. They will either go to the grocery store with the dealer or give the dealer the card to go themselves and buy groceries while the users are at home in their brand new $30 month, rent reduced 4 bedroom home getting high on their drug of choice.
LEGALIZE WEED, END THE STATE FURLOUGH!!! YOU GOT MY VOTE!
Buzz Mills
New Member
If we could only get Arnold to do something about the flood of illegal immigrants, still coming into California.. The cost of illegal immigrants in CA exceeds 15 billion dollars a year.
Buzz Mills
New Member
California CBP Nabs Toilet Paper Shipment Containing Tons of Marijuana
Otay Mesa, California - Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa cargo facility detained a commercial truck driver after they found almost 10,800 pounds of marijuana in the tractor-trailer rig he was driving Wednesday afternoon, March 25, officials announced today. CBP officers encountered the 37-year-old Tijuana man at about 3 p.m., when he drove into the port from Mexico in a 2000 Freightliner tractor-trailer with cargo manifested as toilet paper and was referred for a more in-depth inspection.
While the tractor-trailer rig was at the dock in the secondary inspectional area, a human/narcotic detector dog alerted to the odor of narcotics emanating from the front wall area of the trailer. Officers found 1,080 wrapped packages of marijuana valued at about $6.5 million hidden within a false front wall compartment in the front of the trailer.
The driver, a registered participant in the Free Secure Trade (FAST) program, was arrested by special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to await arraignment in federal district court on drug smuggling charges. The conveyance and narcotics were seized by CBP. Although the driver was registered in the FAST program, the shipment and conveyance were not and did not enter through a FAST lane at the port of entry. His participation in the FAST program has been terminated. The FAST program is a Border Accord Initiative between the United States, Mexico, and Canada designed to ensure security and safety of trans-border commercial shipments at cargo ports of entry. Eligibility for the FAST program requires participants (carriers, drivers, importers and southern border manufactures) to submit an application, agreement and security profile. The FAST program allows known low risk commercial cargo shipments to received expedited border processing at cargo ports.
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4953&Itemid=2
Otay Mesa, California - Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Mesa cargo facility detained a commercial truck driver after they found almost 10,800 pounds of marijuana in the tractor-trailer rig he was driving Wednesday afternoon, March 25, officials announced today. CBP officers encountered the 37-year-old Tijuana man at about 3 p.m., when he drove into the port from Mexico in a 2000 Freightliner tractor-trailer with cargo manifested as toilet paper and was referred for a more in-depth inspection.
While the tractor-trailer rig was at the dock in the secondary inspectional area, a human/narcotic detector dog alerted to the odor of narcotics emanating from the front wall area of the trailer. Officers found 1,080 wrapped packages of marijuana valued at about $6.5 million hidden within a false front wall compartment in the front of the trailer.
The driver, a registered participant in the Free Secure Trade (FAST) program, was arrested by special agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to await arraignment in federal district court on drug smuggling charges. The conveyance and narcotics were seized by CBP. Although the driver was registered in the FAST program, the shipment and conveyance were not and did not enter through a FAST lane at the port of entry. His participation in the FAST program has been terminated. The FAST program is a Border Accord Initiative between the United States, Mexico, and Canada designed to ensure security and safety of trans-border commercial shipments at cargo ports of entry. Eligibility for the FAST program requires participants (carriers, drivers, importers and southern border manufactures) to submit an application, agreement and security profile. The FAST program allows known low risk commercial cargo shipments to received expedited border processing at cargo ports.
http://www.imperialvalleynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4953&Itemid=2