California Assemblyman on Financial Crises: Legalize it!

[Kosar_For_President]

@mr.-t said:

Hey, the government dosn't like competition.

Tax revenue from the timber industry is the real reason marijuana was made illegal. As the 2nd fastest growing plant on Earth (next to seaweed), hemp can be used easily and quickly for many uses. Which at the time (early 1900's) it rivaled the timber industry. At that time, timber was the second most tax revenue for the US. That is not the case anymore, a lot comes from Canada. I called it about 5 years ago, as the price to produce timber gets higher and higher, the US will look at ways to become more "green". No pun intended. I see several states legalizing it within the next 5-10 years.

Not only would it create tax revenue, but it would not put the stoners who sit on their couch, watch re-runs of Mama's Family and eat some HoHo's in jail. Thus, freeing up taxpayer money for people in jail for non-violent crimes.

[Westside Steve]

@kosar_for_president said:

No they would just need some education to become a horticulturist. That's a good thing.

There has never been a death related to weed usage (ON IT'S OWN). EVER

Yeah I suppose the druglords would go back to school and be horticulturists.

BTW I don't care how many die from it or not.

I'm just saying you'll need to replace the revenue stream.

Same as if everybody stopped driving drunk,

I doubt safety is at the root.

Profit is.

WSS

[Kosar_For_President]

@westside-steve said:

Yeah I suppose the druglords would go back to school and be horticulturists.

BTW I don't care how many die from it or not.

I'm just saying you'll need to replace the revenue stream.

Same as if everybody stopped driving drunk,

I doubt safety is at the root.

Profit is.

WSS

LOL, Drug lords? You think everyone that deals pot and goes to jail is a drug lord? You're watching too much TV there. A drug lord or drug baron is the term used to describe a person who controls a sizable network of persons involved in the illegal drugs trade. The kid growing 10 plants in his closet and sells it to his friend is not the problem, yet he goes to jail for a year over it. 1/2 of the weed in this country is grown locally and sold in small amounts. Which by definition, are not drug lords.

Believe me, if your a drug lord you already are a horticulturist (or have them on staff) and know how to grow weed, lol.

[Westside Steve]

@kosar_for_president said:

LOL, Drug lords? You think everyone that deals pot and goes to jail is a drug lord? You're watching too much TV there.

I think there is a HUGE amount of money being made in the trafficking of marijuana.

Not big; not large...

HUGE.

The guys who are raking that money in aren't going straight.

You think?

Also if you add up attorneys costs fines federal anti dope money drug clinics treating "addicts" you may find other revenue sources.

Maytbe tou're listening to too many Grateful Dead records....

WSS

[mz.]

@inspecta said:

but 50 for an an ounce tax is pretty steep.

It really isn't, 'spec. It's only $6.25 tax on an eighth, which equates to only a little more than sales tax in California. CA dispensaries aren't charging any sales tax at the moment...

[Chicopee John]

@westside-steve said:

I think there is a HUGE amount of money being made in the trafficking of marijuana.

Not big; not large...

HUGE.

The guys who are raking that money in aren't going straight.

You think?

Also if you add up attorneys costs fines federal anti dope money drug clinics treating "addicts" you may find other revenue sources.

Maytbe tou're listening to too many Grateful Dead records....

WSS

I came across a show just last night that focused on a huge Marijuana tycoon who was moving up to $50M per week back in the 1980's. He was careless enough to leave his notebook, along with financials, in a Denny's restaurant and that was the way he got caught.

I was stunned about his life style when his business was full throttle.

FWIW, I don't smoke the stuff and always looked at this to be a political - not health - issue.

Is smoking a joint any worse than drinking a six pack of Piels? I think not.

Legalize it, regulate it, tax it.

[Chicopee John]

Hartford Courant Editorial February 23, 2009

Change Course On Pot Laws

DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA • Fines, legal medical use both make sense

Are Olympic champion Michael Phelps or Super Bowl hero Santonio Holmes going to jail for using small amounts of marijuana? Probably not. In which case, neither should anybody else.

Massachusetts overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure last year making possession or use of an ounce or less of marijuana a civil infraction that carries a $100 fine. In other words, it's not a crime. Two New Haven lawmakers, Sens. Toni Harp and Martin Looney, have proposed a similar law here. They note that the state is facing a major budget crisis and that committing police, court and prison resources is, as Ms. Harp put it, not a good use of the people's money.

A Harvard study found that Massachusetts police spend about $30 million a year on arresting and investigating low-level marijuana users. There is no similar study in Connecticut, so it is hard to draw a parallel, but clearly some significant resources go into marijuana policing, prosecuting and imprisoning.

Also, current laws have a disparate effect on urban offenders because of "enhanced sentencing zones" near schools. Virtually the entire city of Hartford is in enhanced sentencing zones.

Laws have also been introduced this year to allow sick people to obtain marijuana with a doctor's permission. Some cancer patients use the drug for pain control or to alleviate the nausea caused by chemotherapy; AIDS patients use it to battle the "wasting" associated with the disease; and some studies have shown it to be an effective treatment for glaucoma. The General Assembly passed a medical marijuana law in 2007, only to have Gov. M. Jodi Rell veto it.

The idea that patients have to break the law to control their symptoms and suffering is wrong. To date, 13 states have legalized medicinal marijuana use. This is a matter of compassion.

It is time to do something different. The 35-year war on drugs has been prohibitively expensive and largely a failure. The New York Times recently reported that the Mexican marijuana trade is more robust than ever.

Recreational drugs should not be made legal, but it may be time to think of the drug problem in public health terms and focus on treatment, education, safety and harm reduction. If we cannot keep marijuana and other drugs out of the country, as is clearly the case, then we need to find the best way to live with them.

Do you agree? Or disagree? Make your opinion count with a Letter to the Editor: www.courant.com/writeletter

[choco]

mz. said:

It really isn't, 'spec. It's only $6.25 tax on an eighth, which equates to only a little more than sales tax in California. CA dispensaries aren't charging any sales tax at the moment...

or...a 12.5% tax rate....on the most expensive kind of pot currently sold. if the same tax is applied to mexican dirt weed....well, its considerably more.

you cannot tax it so high as to remove the economic viability of it.....otherwise, people will do what they always do...make a cheaper alternative.

[mz.]

@choco said:

you cannot tax it so high as to remove the economic viability of it.....otherwise, people will do what they always do...make a cheaper alternative.

True, but 12.5% isn't too high IMO.

[choco]

no offense, but since you dont smoke.......

[PBJ]

We are all assuming that prices for the good stuff will stay the same as they are on the street now, but if it is legal to grow the prices will change. I think then the taxes really wont seem so high when the price might actually be lower than it is now.

[Westside Steve]

@pbj said:

We are all assuming that prices for the good stuff will stay the same as they are on the street now, but if it is legal to grow the prices will change. I think then the taxes really wont seem so high when the price might actually be lower than it is now.

You can grow the best shit for almost nothing.

How you gonna sell or tax it?

At least beer making is complicated and not all that cheap.

WSS

[mz.]

@choco said:

no offense, but since you dont smoke.......

Who are you talking to?

[osusev]

Its a ridiculous concept anyways to criminilize a supply and demand problem anyways. Tax it and regulate it.

As for Steve's statement of REAL criminals are not going to stop being criminals that is completely true. There is of course the other factor and perfect example.... Alcohol prohibition and the Mafia.

The Mafia had to move to OTHER illegal streams of income because legal taxed alcohol was not worth it anymore. Perfect example of turning street thugs into multi billion dollar empires and bordering countries (Canada) into net exporters of a highly profitable supply and demand based commodity that will never go away.

The more people come to grips that altered states is something some humans will always crave and some will become addicted to maybe they will stop with the RetardED concept to criminalize this very basic problem.

The U.S. generates billions a year in tax revenue for alcohol alone..... it is a huge business for each state. If humans are going to do it anyways we might as well regulate and tax it to bring in positive revenue and cut down on the cost of housing prisoners and prosecuting it.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Tanks OSUSEV, I surely likes my buzz! Just had a half gallon of Mad dog with a few joints of weed with angel dust mixed in! I'm glad all you folks think it should be legal! Party on!

[osusev]

Diehard I dont agree with the use of most drugs, hell I dont take aspirin or anything else for that matter I just live with minor discomforts.

This is not my personal opinion of a moral imperative but rather a pragmatic cost analysis of a supply and demand/enforcement issue. We cant stop demand or supply no matter how you legislate it, criminilzing it just enriches the wrong social group and puts an enormous law enforcement(unending/unwinnable) problem. The costs to house and investigate and prosecute criminal legislation is prohibitive and not effective anyways.

IF people are going to use it anyways at least find a way to tax them in order to pay for rehab/admin/reeducation etc facilities to manage the problem.

The current way increases violent crime and cost to enforce something that is impossible to eradicate or control/put a unbearable cost on society the other way is to accept natural human tendancies and monetize enough funds to deal with the problem.

Its not rocket science and we already have U.S. Historical precedence and systems to prove monetizing solutions as well as examples of how criminal enrichment dissapates to nominal levels... Alcohol prohibtion.

[PBJ]

Making something illegal because a small amount of people will abuse it is ridiculous. Get back to us when there is a case of anybody dying solely due to marijuana use.

[Mr. T]

@diehardbrownsfan said:

Tanks OSUSEV, I surely likes my buzz! Just had a half gallon of Mad dog with a few joints of weed with angel dust mixed in! I'm glad all you folks think it should be legal! Party on!

watch out for Bats

[Kosar_For_President]

@pbj said:

Making something illegal because a small amount of people will abuse it is ridiculous. Get back to us when there is a case of anybody dying solely due to marijuana use.

Amen

[AdaM]

@hiwaygal said:

Or we can let all those federally subsidized "farms" (that don't grow a damn thing) start producing a cash crop.

I'm all for the legalization of marijuana for MANY reasons.

Plus... just think of how good its gonna smell driving through farm country with corn on your left and bud on your right...