Devils advocate; Prop19 does not exempt cannabis medicine from taxes

August 22nd, 2010 | By Reverend

This is the statement I often get from opponents of Prop 19.

“Proposition 19 does not exempt patients from taxes”

My answer:

If Proposition 215 doesn’t already do that, then Proposition 19 won’t change anything.

Medical marijuana is already technically taxable in California.

At present only a portion of the state’s 200-plus medical cannabis dispensaries pay sales taxes. In principle, medical cannabis is subject to sales tax under current Board of Equalization rules, which exempt only drugs dispensed in licensed pharmacies by a physician’s prescription. However, many patients’ groups contend that sales tax shouldn’t apply to non-profit cooperatives and collectives.

http://thebleak.com/MedicalMarijuana/420/?tag=proposition-215

So that is a reason for another new initiative.  If people want marijuana to not be a taxable substance for patients, then they need to step up to the plate and make that happen.  Because medical marijuana, unless prescribed via a pharmacy with DEA drug scheduling, etc, is not presently exempt from taxes.  So again, Prop19 doesn’t change Prop215.

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Ron Paul – Legalize all drugs

July 28th, 2010 | By Reverend

This is from last year, but it’s a goodie.  Ron Paul says legalize all drugs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpgWAAmVwDM

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How harmful is marijuana?

July 26th, 2010 | By Reverend

I often get anecdotes from people “well even if you can’t die from marijuana, it does cause car accidents”.

I have to revisit this topic, because that anecdote leads to a good point.

To the best of my research less than a few dozen people died in car accidents while driving and high on marijuana. 
But here are some facts to consider when thinking about the harm of marijuana.

1. Marijuana metabolites stays in your system for longer than 30 days after you have smoked it, yet the high only lasts for 2-3 hours if smoked.

2. Just because they were found with marijuana in their system, it doesn’t mean that they were high on marijuana and could have possibly been using prescription medication, alcohol, or other drugs.  Alcohol is responsible for approximately 39% of all car accidents in the USA.  Reference

3.  Cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year.  But I don’t hear many people complaining that cell phones should be illegal.   Reference

4.  Aspirin kills approximately 7500 people per year, and my youngest child can walk in to any store and buy aspirin without an ID or credentials.  Reference

5.  With marijuana you can not overdose, it’s scientifically impossible.  Reference

Now I think people don’t like statistics because they can lean one way or the other depending on how someone puts the numbers together.  I fully understand.  Which is why I am giving personal testimonies from experts, see the links next to the 5 points above.

Also this is a video that I have shown in the past.  This was a study done on a marijuana user while driving intoxicated and while driving sober.

Marijuana clearly didn’t impair his driving after a very large joint. Which would explain why so few people die in car accidents from being stoned.

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Informants and blood thirsty police, not a good combo

May 14th, 2010 | By Reverend

Story from the Daily Audio Stash

I’ll tell you something about these “informants”.  Usually, they are a neighbor, or an enemy of some sort that are looking to cause someone problems.  They are not a reliable source of info, they are people with an agenda, looking to cause someone problems.  That is why the testimony of an informant is not enough to obtain a search warrant.  How these search warrants get issued based on the testimony of an informant is beyond me!

On the flip side of that.  Dealers in the black market who have a problem with someone will label someone a “snitch”, and cause someone a bunch of problems, and sometimes even death.   

This hearsay, on either side of the issue is unreliable and cruel.  Unless there is PROOF, ignore the bullshit.  We need to hold these cops accountable!

California to legalize marijuana? Petition says it will be on the ballot.

January 31st, 2010 | By Reverend

I would be so absolutely grateful and humbled if California legalized marijuana!
I am so pessimistic about these things.  I fight, and I hope that freedom and liberty prevails!
For some reason it just seems to simple and too smart all at the same time.  It will confuse voters, because I feel like they expect something complex and full of a bunch of bullshit.

Legalize pot,

• The police win; less non-violent criminals to have to deal with so they can focus on more serious crimes.
• The parents win, because marijuana will be kept and sold in a secured and adult environment.(right now more teenagers smoke marijuana than smoke tobacco.  Same with alcohol and pot.)
• Of course the tax payers win, because there is another great stream of jobs and tax money in a legal market.
  Instead of importing hemp from China, Australia and Canada we could produce and process it here.  That would create a lot of jobs.  Americans wear a lot of hemp these days, even though it’s more expensive than other fabrics.
• Taking money away from the black market and infusing our community in a positive way would be good for everyone (except maybe the cartels and such)

We need to make sure that cannabis stays legal to grow under our current medical marijuana laws.  But I would love to see complete all out legalization of marijuana for adults.   As long as these adults are allowed to grow marijuana.
I support legislation that promotes these intelligent and sensible ideas that groups like NORML, MPP, and REASON are all promoting.

On the NORML Daily Audio Stash I heard a lot about how there are over 1 million children selling marijuana.
Legalization will run the black market out of business, just like with tobacco and alcohol.
Lower prices, ,more taxes and the community benefits from the taxes and has no need to spend billions criminalizing a harmless plant that has many medical benefits!

California proposes to legalize with TV Ad campaign and over 700,000 signatures from NORML:  http://slu2.com//00

This is from the Stranger:  http://slu2.com//z

Washington activists also filed an initiative that would legalize marijuana. But unlike California’s ringleader who “bankrolled a professional signature-gathering effort,” the campaign leaders in this state are planning an all-volunteer campaign and having a hard time even accepting online contributions.

While we have been doing business in point of sales, we have spoken with many banks.  Bank of America assured us that they would support our clients who run medical marijuana dispensaries!  
We have more information in the forums here at xCannabis.  Emerald POS has it’s own category.

::  Link Shortening Services from SLU2.com ::

When a town in Utah does something very noble!

June 18th, 2009 | By Reverend

This is history by about 8 years now, but back in 2001 the little town of 400 people in Utah named “Big Water” passed an ordinance that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana to a $10 fine (under 1 oz), and possession of paraphernalia a $5 fine.

The motive behind this says mayor Willie Marshall “Our ordinance made justice affordable for everybody,” said Marshall. “Let the punishment fit the crime.”

Under Utah law, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, as well as a six-month drivers license suspension. Under state law, paraphernalia possession nets the same maximum six months and $1,000. According to a newspaper article about this situation that can be found at this link:  http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/215/bigwater.shtml

I agree with Mayor Willie Marshall, and even though I think a $10 fine is too much for a victimless crime, I believe his intentions were in the right place, and I think you will find the city of Denver Colorado agrees, where it is legal (no fines) for adults to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Ruining people’s life forever, putting a misdemeanor on their record which denies them the ability for scholarships, military service, working at certain jobs, etc..  for a victimless crime is insane.  A $1000 fine for possessing a plant that has never killed anyone in all of history?
This would be like making drinking from a drinking fountain a misdemeanor punishable with jail time and a $1000 fine.  Based on harm, and social impact, marijuana is no more of a threat than drinking water!

Bravo to this courageous mayor and this courageous city council.  It’s only too bad that these ordinances were later repealed, and that at least one officer is recorded and reprimended for threatening the city council members.

Utah Highway Patrol Officer Nathan Giles blew up at local officials, Marshall said, in an account whose broad contours were confirmed by regional Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Lynn McAfee. “Once the police heard about this, they hit the ceiling, the Kane County sheriff and the Highway Patrol were just enraged,” said Marshall. “They do a lot of intimidating people into letting them search their cars. But Officer Nathan Giles was especially bent out of shape. He came in and yelled at the town clerk. ‘Who’s the dope-smoking son of a bitch who wrote this ordinance?’ Giles yelled. And then he made threats. ‘All hell is going to break loose in Big Water,’ he told her,” Marshall said.

Two weeks after the ordinance passed, UHP started harassing members of the entire town of Big Water:

“ On December 7, two weeks after the ordinance was passed, the town was hit with an “enforcement blitz” by Highway Patrol and Kane County Sheriff’s officers. “They were ticketing everyone for anything,” said Marshall. “They had a half dozen Highway Patrol cars out there pulling people over for no seat belt, failure to signal, anything they could think of.”

Which was confirmed by Lt. McAfee of the Utah Highway Patrol.

But this wasn’t the end of it, and as you guessed, this all has to do with police funding and getting revenue from these so-called crimes.

But Giles wasn’t done. “Then he went over to the water board office, where one of the council members works, while on-duty and in uniform and started arguing with her,” Marshall said, “telling her the ordinance was unconstitutional, that we had to repeal it, that the Highway Patrol could just stop writing tickets in our town, basically threatening to cut off a source of town funding. Not that we’re a speed trap,” Marshall quickly added. “Giles was very threatening and his behavior was very inappropriate.”

This is Utah life under a huge microscope in relation to the ‘drug war’.  No drug war equals no police funding.  It’s not about harm reduction, it’s about revenue!

This isn’t a war on drugs, this is a war on the American people!

Another Reference from a local newspaper:  http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/880574/Big-Water-axes-controversial-laws.html