I hear tomorrow they are going to have some sort of vote for

armchair_warrior · February 2009

medical pot in nj, would ny be next to get it ?

vidro3 · February 2009

legalization of pot may be the only thing that could keep this country out of a depression.

flo · February 2009

It does look possible that in the near future we could be reading about a different "sweet smell" coming from New Jersey into NYC. Personally I think they're just doing it so that New Jersians can finally have something to brag about over NYers.

clarisse · February 2009

lol

armchair_warrior · February 2009

folks in california wants to legalize the whole thing and tax it yay. it will beat the jersey version

.

coy and paste

Legalize It: Ammiano to Introduce Legislation Monday to Allow Pot -- and Tax It
By Joe Eskenazi in Breaking News, Government
Sunday, Feb. 22 2009 @ 5:00PM
UPDATE: Coverage of Ammiano's press conference here.

ammianoweed-little.jpg
The story SF Weekly broke on Friday is true: Assemblyman Tom Ammiano will announce legislation on Monday to legalize marijuana and earn perhaps $1 billion annually by taxing it.

Quintin Mecke, Ammiano's press secretary, confirmed to SF Weekly that the assemblyman's 10 a.m. Monday press conference regarding "new legislation related to the state's fiscal crisis" will broach the subject of reaping untold -- and much-needed -- wealth from the state's No. 1 cash crop.

Mecke said Ammiano's proposed bill "would remove all penalties in California law on cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of marijuana, natural THC, or paraphernalia for persons over the age of 21."

The bill would additionally prohibit state and local law officials from enforcing federal marijuana laws. As for Step Two -- profit -- Ammiano's bill calls for "establishing a fee on the sale of marijuana at a rate of $50 per ounce." Mecke said that would bring in roughly $1 billion for the state, according to estimates made by marijuana advocacy organizations.

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/02/legalize_it_ammiano_to_introdu.php

bleibtreu · March 2009

A few years ago, Harvard University's Jeffrey Miron produced a report titled The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. Among the findings, quoting from the summary:

"The report estimates that legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. $5.3 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments, while $2.4 billion would accrue to the federal government."

"The report also estimates that marijuana legalization would yield tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco."

http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/index.html

idlewild · March 2009

I'm curious about the tax revenue theory. If weed became legal why wouldn't consumers grow it on their own? Unless they banned home grown like they do moonshine.

carnivore · March 2009

Idlewild wrote: I'm curious about the tax revenue theory. If weed became legal why wouldn't consumers grow it on their own? Unless they banned home grown like they do moonshine.

The same reason most people don't brew their own beer or make their own wine or grow their own tobacco.

The commercial product in many cases will be a higher quality and DIY is a pain in the ass. Also once it's legal, it would be cheap.

bleibtreu · March 2009

Yep. People who try to grow in small quantities for their own use are generally doing that because they don't want to deal with supply problems, legal risks inherent in street buys, and expense. If they could walk into any store and buy what they want legally for a good price, why bother?

But for that matter the laws could easily be written to make growing illegal, but possession legal and sale legal only if licensed. That would complicate enforcement, but maximize potential tax benefit.

"Moonshine," by the way, isn't illegal to make in most places. If you want to make it, you can. Generally where it is illegal is in "dry counties" where any alcohol is banned. What is illegal is selling it. That's why the classic "hillbilly moonshiner" is on the lookout for "revenuers" -- state revenue department agents enforcing laws against sales without paying required taxes.

I spent part of a couple summers when I was in high school with Kentucky cousins in a dry county where your only booze choices were moonshine or bootleg stuff brought in from outside the area. One rumored source was one of the deputy sheriffs who sold what he confiscated.

carnivore · March 2009

Damn! They're even advocating for legalization on Fox News! This could actually happen...

armchair_warrior · March 2009

IL is thinking of legalize medical marijuana, is ny next? ;p

Medical marijuana legalization measure passes Illinois House committee for first time

Posted by Ashley Rueff at 3:05 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD---Marijuana user Lucie MacFarlane said she munched a ginger snap cannabis cookie before talking to lawmakers at the Capitol today.

Describing her condition, the 46-year-old Joliet woman testified at a House committee that she illegally uses marijuana to relieve the constant pain she suffers from neurofibromatosis and from a surgery that fused her spine incorrectly.

The tale was enough to get the panel to advance legislation that would legalize the use of medical marijuana in Illinois.
The bill passed the Democratic-controlled House Human Services Committee on a 4-3 party-line vote. It's the first time such legislation has cleared a House panel. It now goes to the full House for consideration, so it's far from becoming law.

Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie), who sponsored the legislation, said he wants to create a three-year test program allowing anyone with a “debilitating medical condition” to have seven dried cannabis plants and two ounces of dried usable cannabis to relieve the pain and nausea associated with conditions like cancer, HIV or Crohn’s disease.

The bill would allow the Department of Public Health to give registry identification cards to people who have received recommendation for cannabis use from a doctor, Lang said.

If it becomes law, the bill would make Illinois the 14th state to allow the medical use of cannabis, Lang said. A similar bill is pending in the Senate.

David Jocson, statewide drug enforcement coordinator with the Illinois State Police, opposed the bill because he said marijuana is not an FDA-approved medication and because allowing people using cannabis for medicinal purposes would make it easier for others to obtain.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/03/medical-marijuana-legalization-measure-passes-illinois-house-committee-for-first-time.html

carnivore · March 2009

I hear tomorrow they are going to have some sort of vote for

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