NORML Breaking News: California Assemblyman Introduces Legislation To Tax And Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol
Mon, Feb 23, 2009 2:55 pm
Source: norml.org
Speaking at a landmark press conference today, California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced comprehensive legislation to tax and regulate the commercial production and sale of cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol.
“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”, Assemblyman Ammiano said. “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.”
The proposal is the first marijuana legalization bill ever introduced in California.
“It’s time for California taxpayers to stop wasting money trying to enforce marijuana prohibition, and to realize the tax benefits from a legal, regulated market instead,” said Dale Gieringer, director of California NORML, a sponsor of the bill.
As introduced, Ammiano’s measure would allow for the licensed production and sale of cannabis to consumers age 21 and over. Licensed cultivators would pay an excise tax of $50 per ounce of cannabis. In addition, the proposal would impose a sales tax on commercial sales. (Ammiano’s proposal would not affect the state’s medical marijuana law, allowing patients and caregivers to grow their own medicine.)
If enacted, the measure would raise over $1 billion per year in state revenue, according to an economic analysis by California NORML, available online here.
Ammiano’s bill comes at a time of growing public support for legalizing marijuana. A recent Zogby poll reported that nearly six in ten west coast voters support taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol.
Faced with a $40 billion budget deficit, other public officials have joined in endorsing Ammiano’s bill, including San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessy and Betty Yee, a member of the State Board of Equalization, which oversees collection of sales taxes.
Currently, tens of millions of dollars are paid annually in state and local taxes by licensed distributors of medical marijuana. However, these sales only represent a fraction of the overall statewide marijuana market. “The millions of dollars raised each year on the sales of medicinal cannabis is only the tip of the iceberg,” Gieringer said. “Kudos to Assemblyman Ammiano for proposing a path-breaking bill that would benefit our economy, safety and freedom by making marijuana a winning proposition for California.”











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ETC.
Mar 4 2009, 8:46 am
might take you serious,and make pot smokers pay off the national debt. The only money you should have too spend for
pot is the money you spend for growing costs. And when you are free of the dealers,we will stimulate the economy with the cash we are not giving the "dealer".
STOP the BUY,GROW YOUR OWN
LB Dude
Mar 2 2009, 10:18 am
There won't be any "Mom & Pop" growers...they won't be able to afford the cost of security and product tracking systems that will be required for LEGAALLY growing. Unless you grow you own, you will be getting what the government and corporate producers want you to have.
Will prices go down? The government and corporations already know what people are willing to pay now, so why should they price their LEGAL product any lower?
There will still be marijuana related arrests. With all the new regulations to enforce, there will still be a "NEED" for a "WAR" on drugs.
I would rather see a bill proposed by the citizens and NOT one from a politian. Lets face it, politians are not really concerned about the PEOPLE are they? Hey CA NORML how about working on one?
Well done...BUT
Mar 1 2009, 11:20 pm
The individual grower who just grows for him/her self.
Here comes the catch, it will be regulated and grown by Big Brother, which means you get what they want you have.
We have to also keep in mind the individual as well as the corperate sides.
I would say go and get an ID from your City Hall and register as a grower for personal use and pay $50.00 a month. You can only carry up to an ounce.
For the grower that is registered to sell it will have to $150.00 month and must have a barcode reader and scan each sale. You would be required to send in a report every 3 months with transactions for the tax record.
I am sure we could all live with that and with a price drop since the risk is no longer an issue.
After all, veriety is the spice of life!
anonymous
Feb 28 2009, 7:09 pm
Congress designed the tax so smaller distillers would pay by the gallon, while larger distillers (who could produce in volume) could take advantage of a flat fee. The net result was to affect smaller producers more than larger ones. George Washington, the president at the time, was one such large producer of whiskey. Large producers were assessed a tax of 6 cents per gallon, while small producers were taxed at 9 cents per gallon. [1] But Western settlers were short of cash to begin with and, being far from their markets and lacking good roads, lacked any practical means to get their grain to market other than fermenting and distilling it into relatively portable distilled spirits. Additionally, whiskey was often used among western farmers as a medium of exchange or as a barter good.
The tax on whiskey was bitterly and fiercely opposed among the Cohee on the frontier from the day it was passed. Western farmers considered it to be both unfair and discriminatory, since they had traditionally converted their excess grain into liquor. Since the nature of the tax affected those who produced the whiskey but not the people who bought the whiskey, it directly affected many farmers. Many protest meetings were held, and a situation arose which was reminiscent of the opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765 before the American Revolution.
From Pennsylvania to Georgia, the western counties engaged in a campaign of harassment of the federal tax collectors. "Whiskey Boys" also made violent protests in Maryland, Virginia, and North, and South Carolina.[3]
Got to be careful with this taxing stuff. Cant just lay down and allow government to set the tax.
SEATTLE SMOKE
Feb 25 2009, 2:37 pm
Ganja Grim
Feb 25 2009, 9:35 am
hey-mon
Feb 25 2009, 4:37 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarian_vocabulary#I_words
seatte smoke
Feb 25 2009, 3:39 am
umm
Feb 24 2009, 9:33 pm
Rastaman420
Feb 24 2009, 7:05 pm
Chronic Toker
Feb 24 2009, 5:41 pm
Chronic Toker
Feb 24 2009, 5:32 pm
skunk801
Feb 24 2009, 4:52 pm
"Fuck legaliasation... tryin to put me out of a job n shit.... i hope its never legalized! thay they just protect the medical program"
Maybe you should've learned something in school then you wouldn't have to depend on being a drug dealer. At least it would've helped your spelling...
cali boy
Feb 24 2009, 4:07 pm
enlightened man
Feb 24 2009, 2:16 pm
Infidel
Feb 24 2009, 1:02 pm
Lots of excellent common sense advice on this forum. Run your life like a secret military operation and you will succeed in all endeavors what ever they may be.
WEst SiDer
Feb 24 2009, 12:08 pm
skunk801
Feb 24 2009, 11:35 am
you Suck
Feb 24 2009, 11:22 am
Feb 23 2009, 5:12 pm
"to old grunt: 50$ an oz is better than what it is now illegal. Any upgrade is better than none man."
...i disagree because as of now there is NO formal type of tax on marijuana...as far as i know
anonymous
Feb 24 2009, 11:18 am
Definition of Excise - an internal tax or duty on certain commodities, as liquor or tobacco, levied on their manufacture, sale, or consumption within the country.
...TO ALL...if cannabis was legalized in california...the price of an ounce would NOT be $50...it would be $50 plus the cost of an ounce of cannabis...
Old Grunt
Feb 24 2009, 10:40 am
As far the math wizard goes...you can't use present prices in your calculations...think about.
$50 an ounce not too high you say? If our forefathers had thought that way, there wouldn't be a USA today!
mike
Feb 24 2009, 10:19 am
Clay
Feb 24 2009, 10:05 am
grower,who lives in with his crop,and not just drives by in his pick up. And whose gonna sex a 250 acre field?
Clay
Feb 24 2009, 9:53 am
see both hafta get a job.
Jimmy's Joint
Feb 24 2009, 6:14 am
If this would have happened 20 years ago we wouldn't be in the terrible economic situation we're in now. But someone somehow manipulated that poor excuse for a president G.W.B. into office and look at what that idiot has gotten us into. Please think people before it's too late, can we really believe that these people in public office have OUR best interest at heart? Sometimes I wonder ? ? ? ?
HU210
Feb 24 2009, 6:13 am
Speaking live from Clute, Texas, the libertarian-leaning Republican did what few other members of Congress will and openly called for the United States' War on Drugs to be abolished.
"What about when FDR came to office in '33," asked Maher. "One of the first things he did was repeal prohibition. He said we can't afford this anymore. Well, we have prohibition in this country. ... When he was making radical changes he said look, we're serious now. We're going to make serious changes and people like liquor."
"Well, in this country, people like pot," said Maher to a wave of cheers and applause. "If we ended that prohibition, that would be a giant pooling of money."
"I don't like pot," said the congressman. "But I hate the drug war, so I would repeal all of prohibition. But, I wouldn't even bother taxing it. People have the right in a free country to make important decisions on their own lives. If they want to make mistakes, they can. They just can't come crawling to the government to get bailed out or taken care of if they get sick.
"I believe in freedom of choice in all that we do, as long as the individual never hurts anybody else. So that means I would get rid of all the federal laws. I would dispose with the drug war. We're spending tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars on this, then we march into places like California, override state law, arrest sick people and put them in prison."
"It makes no sense whatsoever," he insisted.
"Amen, stoner," joked Maher.
This video is from HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, broadcast Feb. 20, 2009.
Who all voted for Obama, raise your hand.
HU210
Feb 24 2009, 5:51 am
RE: Cannabis and Driving
MASS COP's BullShit debunked-AGAIN!!!
For example, a 1992 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration review of the role of drug use in fatal accidents reported, “There was no indication that cannabis itself was a cause of fatal crashes” among drivers who tested positive for the presence of the drug.22 A more recent assessment by Blows and colleagues noted that self-reported recent use of cannabis (within three hours of driving) was not significantly associated with car crash injury after investigators controlled for specific cofounders (e.g., seat-belt use, sleepiness, etc.)23 A 2004 observational case control study published in the journal Accident, Analysis and Prevention reported that only drivers under the influence of alcohol or benzodiazepines experience an increased crash risk compared to drug-free controls. Investigators did observe increased risks – though they were not statistically significant – among drivers using amphetamines, cocaine and opiates, but found, “No increased risk for road trauma was found for drivers exposed to cannabis.”24
Found @ NORML.org
HU210
Feb 24 2009, 5:12 am
Greedy fuckers. That will never work. That high of a tax will only promote cannabis remaning underground.
Rather than just tax at point of sale. It looks like this bill will fund jobs for "revenuers" and most taxes collected would be consumed by administration (as are most government programs) of the new tax code.
Taxes never go down either! Californians would do well to tell their lawmakers to scrap the bill as currently written.
Zach
Feb 24 2009, 4:31 am
stoner
Feb 24 2009, 3:15 am
Clay
Feb 24 2009, 2:16 am
homegrown pot or green market pot? If they just legalize meds,
then I guess we are all smoking medical pot. I know I am. Thats my story,and I'm sticking too it.
wackofox
Feb 24 2009, 1:59 am
wackofox
Feb 24 2009, 1:54 am
I think a more appropiate cost might be a registration fee of $10. a plant or $50. a pound.
WAKE UP CALIFORNIA
kaneh bosom
Feb 24 2009, 1:21 am
umm
Feb 24 2009, 1:13 am
Meanwhile, the feds:
• U.S. to donate more than $900 million for Gaza reconstruction. Where is THIS money coming from?
Midwest Kid
Feb 24 2009, 1:05 am
Mokkie57
Feb 23 2009, 10:53 pm
empresshighgrade
Feb 23 2009, 10:47 pm
weird...
Feb 23 2009, 10:00 pm
Once it comes into effect it will only be a matter of time until people start bitching..."Why can't WE, the PEOPLE grow our own product in the privacy of our OWN home?!" and "This is rediculous! The price is outrageous!"
It's only a matter of time, folks. Once it's legal we can then push for it to be cheaper. Think about it, you'll have cheap shit, i.e. miller lite and the good shit, grey goose.
wait and....
Feb 23 2009, 9:53 pm
It's only a matter of time, folks. Once it's legal we can then push for it to be cheaper. Think about it, you'll have cheap shit, i.e. miller lite and the good shit, grey goose.
way-to-be-cali
Feb 23 2009, 9:31 pm
420-4-Lyfe
sweetskunk
Feb 23 2009, 9:25 pm
www.benefitsofmedicalmarijuana.blogspot.com
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 8:27 pm
using a 96 quart cooler on wheels for a lunch box.
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 8:11 pm
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 8:04 pm
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 8:01 pm
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 7:56 pm
can,would they?
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 7:50 pm
Space Ranger Iraq and Afghan vet
Feb 23 2009, 7:42 pm
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 7:38 pm
Crazy Dave from Boston
Feb 23 2009, 7:30 pm
dan slam an iraq vet
Feb 23 2009, 7:05 pm
west PA
Feb 23 2009, 6:18 pm
luke
Feb 23 2009, 6:07 pm
Baltimore Fred
Feb 23 2009, 6:06 pm
anonymous
Feb 23 2009, 5:57 pm
Bustablunt
Feb 23 2009, 5:53 pm
to old grunt!
Feb 23 2009, 5:47 pm
mballs89
Feb 23 2009, 5:38 pm
1st-dont smoke your bud untill you are safely home
2nd-invest in some kind of air-tight container which will contain your bud prior to your adventure
3rd-get a cooler or somekind of larger container then the container which holds your bud
4th-put activated carbon in your cooler along with the air tight container
5th-spray some kind of anti-smell spray (oust,ozium,lysol) over the carbon
6th put cooler in trunk and spray more anti-smell stuff in trunk
lastly, check your lights, make sure your vehicle is in decent shape, drive without swerving, and drive the speed limit all the way home.
This might even be too much. Just dont ever be lazy about it at leave your bud in plain sight.
WATCH FLEX YOUR RIGHTS!!! (its free somewhere on the net)
luke
Feb 23 2009, 5:35 pm
DREAM
Feb 23 2009, 5:12 pm
anonymous
Feb 23 2009, 5:12 pm
NW FL PATRIOT
Feb 23 2009, 4:55 pm
freedom420
Feb 23 2009, 4:53 pm
mackdman
Feb 23 2009, 4:53 pm
You are an idot another brainwashed drone in the corrupt system, anyone who has ever driven stoned knows that you feel like you are driving much much faster than you really are, there are more fatalities due to alcohol and idots who shouldnt be driving in the first place not peace minded stoners
HUH??
Feb 23 2009, 4:50 pm
Old Grunt
Feb 23 2009, 4:49 pm
Where's your outrage on the deaths already caused by alcohol? Bet you've never said a fucking a thing about it.
mike
Feb 23 2009, 4:48 pm
Old Grunt
Feb 23 2009, 4:45 pm
Yeah, I think California should tax it. But $50 an ounce is OPPRESSIVE and disgriminates against pot smoking citizens.
Massachusetts Cop
Feb 23 2009, 4:32 pm
California Highway Deaths Skyrocket
Marijuana is Leading Cause
Dream on.
IT WILL NEVER BE LEGAL.
It will rot this country from the inside out if it ever is.
west PA
Feb 23 2009, 4:25 pm
oh, and why dont they add funding for schools from the sales tax of ganj. Id be helping the kids every time i toked then. haha fuck pa
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 3:38 pm
Then we wait,,, till both those reach their third node,and repeat removal of new leaves forming. Continue this process through the vegetative state,or you get about eight equal stalks aiming skyward,unless you have lottsa room. But once you go into flower time,no more clippy. Send royalties too
Now I gotta wait,,,,,,,,,
Kaylee
Feb 23 2009, 3:38 pm
Good stuff
Feb 23 2009, 3:38 pm
supermotojoe
Feb 23 2009, 3:27 pm
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 3:15 pm
Moses
Feb 23 2009, 3:14 pm
Clay
Feb 23 2009, 3:10 pm
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