palmspringsbum
Active Member
What is that ad doing in my post?
You Really Want It Legal?
- Thread starter utbob
- Start date
greenearth5
Well-Known Member
bread is taxed and its not illeagle.... by taxing it we make it madatory that we can have it.... taxing is the only way to legalize marijuana... the gov will not sell anything today without taxing it
i would like to see most of our taxes be aboloshied but our system doesnt work that way nowdays
i would like to see most of our taxes be aboloshied but our system doesnt work that way nowdays
I think they're trying to be realistic about the whole thing.
But rather than reading any rational discussion about what to do about people within the movement sabotaging it because they won't make any money if it's legal (just for instance) I guess I'm just going to read the same old same old.
What I'm shaking my head over is how you "legalize and tax" people seem to forget that TAXING IT WAS HOW THEY MADE IT ILLEGAL IN THE FIRST PLACE.
texascollegestudent
Active Member
whoa bull shit big guy... half a million worth of even the best kind of pot's gonna be at least a 10 year sentence in most states.. parole might bring that to six. i'm in texas and it sure as fuck is a 2nd degree felony here. realistically its not worth the risk because the penalties make getting caught cost you about 30-40 grand a year.
it def should be legal but not now cuz of the economy... too many ppl in enforcement would be out of the job
TemporarySaint
Active Member
You're missing the point here again. Legalization will create jobs. Dispensaries need to be staffed. Grow ops need to be staffed. Don't you think the Gov't will regulate it? You know what regulation means, right? That's right more jobs and good ones at that, Gov't jobs with great benefits and good salaries. Oh yeah, and the Gov't will also want to step up early drug education using a portion of the taxes from sales. Guess what. More jobs.
Who the fuck in Law Enforcement is really going to lose their over the legalization of MJ? Are you serious? The tax revenue will enable towns, counties, states and the federal government to hire more law enforcement officials. There are plenty of other crimes to keep the cops busy, doncha think?
I see that "greenearth" already addressed this but I have to chime in. What the fuck do you mean that "taxing it was how they made it illegal in the first place"? I mean really, what the fuck does that mean palmspringsbum?
greenearth5
Well-Known Member
I think palmspringsburn is refering to the Stamp Tax on marijuana... im not too educated on this particular subject but ill sum up what i know... back in the 30's our gov officals knew they could not outlaw marijuana because it is unconstitutional so they decided to make anybody affiliated with marijuana to possess a marijuana tax stamp... well the stamp was around 100$ per ounce and the stamp itself was never produced...correct me if im wrong here
TemporarySaint
Active Member
Thanx for the clarification greenearth. I don't see how that has anything to do with what is going on today though. They slapped that tax on there in an effort to make it unattainable, which must've lead to a black market. It doesn't seem like they're going that way now though, but they are the Gov't and all.
texascollegestudent
Active Member
thats not true - there would be a large net loss in jobs, especially in the short run. learned about this last semester from a hardcore libertarian professor. you overestimate the tax revenue, also. if MJ was legal, much of the DEA, SWAT, prison guards, and the people who go into making their expensive ass gear would be put out of the job. the drug war is a huge business for our government, as is any war. prohibition of marijuana alone would downscale the war too much for most politicians to support it. and you can bet your ass that a neocon would never consider voting for legalization.
NateHevens
Active Member
If this has already been address, then please forgive me. I'm on a time crunch and don't have a chance to read through the whole thread...
First let me start off by saying I am not one of these people saying it should not be legalized. I have been wanting the legalization of Marijuana for a while.
But I do have one fear. It has nothing to do with taxes, loss of money, or anything. What it has to do with is the requirements the government will institute on the plant itself in order to legalize.
In other words... currently, Absinthe is legal in the USA... as long as it has less than 10ppm (equal to 10mg/kg) thujone (or, in other words, is thujone-free). Thujone is, basically, (one of) the major factor(s) in true Absinthe's effect on the mind (the green fairy). It was mainly because of thujone (or, at least, this was the ingredient singled out) that Absinthe was initially banned. Now it is legal again, but it must have little-to-no thujone.
What bugs me is when the government steps in to regulate marijuana, they will impose much the same on marijuana, limiting THC down to a small amount, or, quite possibly, none at all. As a beginner smoker (only twcie... 1st time no effects... second time... well, what I can remember... I'd like to experience that again), maybe I'm too naive about THC and it's importance to cannabis and getting high, but I wouldn't want to lose that.
Does anyone else think this is a risk or am I just being naive?
First let me start off by saying I am not one of these people saying it should not be legalized. I have been wanting the legalization of Marijuana for a while.
But I do have one fear. It has nothing to do with taxes, loss of money, or anything. What it has to do with is the requirements the government will institute on the plant itself in order to legalize.
In other words... currently, Absinthe is legal in the USA... as long as it has less than 10ppm (equal to 10mg/kg) thujone (or, in other words, is thujone-free). Thujone is, basically, (one of) the major factor(s) in true Absinthe's effect on the mind (the green fairy). It was mainly because of thujone (or, at least, this was the ingredient singled out) that Absinthe was initially banned. Now it is legal again, but it must have little-to-no thujone.
What bugs me is when the government steps in to regulate marijuana, they will impose much the same on marijuana, limiting THC down to a small amount, or, quite possibly, none at all. As a beginner smoker (only twcie... 1st time no effects... second time... well, what I can remember... I'd like to experience that again), maybe I'm too naive about THC and it's importance to cannabis and getting high, but I wouldn't want to lose that.
Does anyone else think this is a risk or am I just being naive?
TemporarySaint
Active Member
What the fuck is a neocon anyway? They're certainly not conservative. That prick Bush spent money like a drunken, fucking, democratic Senator. They're not in power anymore so why do they matter? One thing your hardcore libertarian professor forgot to teach you; politicians will do whatever it takes to get re-elected.
Listen, if you don't want it legal so you can continue to sell dime bags at college that's your choice. But don't sit here and tell me that most of the DEA will lose their jobs due to the legalization of marijuana. That's insane.
TemporarySaint
Active Member
Nate Hevens makes some good points. I sure hope that they wouldn't regulate that way. I think it would be kind of hard seeing as you'd be able to legally grow your own and all. I was talking more about regulating the who, where and how of the whole thing. Our biggest nightmare would be if it were legalized but the gov't, somehow detroyed all the good strains and we were only allowed to grow schwag. Somebody wake me.
NateHevens
Active Member
That's not what bugs me. What bugs me is that the government's way of legalizing pot would be, basically, to turn it into another cigarette. Only those contracted to grow it would grow it, at which point it would be "cultivated" and sent off to factories where they might do any number of things:
-Remove the THC
-Add junk and chemicals (tar, rat poisoning... you know, much of the stuff in cigarettes)
Then they would use machines to roll tons of weed cigarettes, put them in boxes, and sell them alongside cigarettes for almost twice the cost.
Here's what I would do, personally. I would legalize marijuana. Then I would create two types of license. One is a grower's license (this would cover growth for both medicinal use and recreational use). You have to be... say... 18 years old to get this license. It's a $15 license with a $20 (or less) yearly fee (this would cover most taxes). With this license you can grow any kind of pot you want, from anywhere in the world. The only regulation would be on how much... like, only 6 pots at a time.
The other license would be a seller's license. This you get if you want to grow marijuana and sell it. This is the same cost as the above license, except there's no yearly fee because that will be taken care of by the usual taxes (you're now a business, so you must be taxed like a business, though there'd be NO special tax for pot... just your usual business taxes) One thing this could do is save the economy because it could create jobs. The requirements for getting this license would be, basically, knowledge in growing pot (training classes available for cheap). So it'd be extremely easy to get a job as a pot grower/seller and grow the stuff to sell. This license would also allow you to grow much, much, much larger amounts as you'd be selling in some form of bulk. And you'd make money because more often then not you'd be selling to companies who want to mass-produce it (although you could also have customers looking to by the pure stuff for personal use, as well).
(And I have a feeling I've just shown my utter stupidity. All well... it's my idea... tell my why it's bad... and yeah, I know it's probably unrealistic.)
palmspringsbum
Active Member
Not in California it isn't.
palmspringsbum
Active Member
I think you're missing the point.
Have you ever watched The Weakest Link?
The goal has never been to create jobs, nor has the common welfare been a concern. It's about getting the prize.
Never mind if you only leave the game with $5,000 because you eliminated someone that could have won $100,000.
Prohibition is The Weakest Link on a global, and very real, scale.
palmspringsbum
Active Member
Well, at present California is considering a $50/oz. tax and some other place (I forgot which right now) is considering a $100/oz. tax.
Also, right here in Compassion Central U.S.A. just a couple of weeks ago was an article about an 85-year-old WWII vet being thrown out in the street for smoking -cigarettes- in her apartment.
Speaking of cigarettes, the goal of course is to tax them out of existence. They intend to raise the tax until no one buys them.
palmspringsbum
Active Member
Over 50% of drug arrests are for marijuana: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/arrests/index.html
And, according to MiniTrue (The Ministry, err... Department of Justice) 90% of those arrests are for possession.
By the way, using profanity doesn't make you any more convincing.
palmspringsbum
Active Member
Palm Springs just made dispensaries legal.
Now they're closing all 7 dispensaries and filing civil suits against them because they were operating illegally.
Speaking of insane ... have you clicked the link in my previous post yet?
texascollegestudent
Active Member
i dont appreciate your caustic tone, asshole.
the majority obviously wouldn't lose their jobs, but many, many would. i think for myself just fine my friend, and i'm smart enough to know that the a large portion of what the DEA does involves marijuana. they eradicate hundreds of fields a week, and 98 percent of it is feral hemp! from this fact i would assume they dont have a ton of work lined up for them... hell, they used to go after licensed medical marijuana growers.
again, the tax revenue would not be as great as the money appropriated by the govt for fighting the war on drugs. if you disagree with that, then, well, you're just wrong.
if you dont konw what a neocon is then use your fucking computer and search it up. they are in power in that there are many of them in congress, and i doubt there would be unanimous support by the democrats to repeal prohibition. thus, it would never pass.
i do however agree that it would be better for our economy to have marijuana legal in most any case.
before you go ranting again take a look at this website. THIS is why it will never be legal. if the youth of the 60s didnt legalize it when they grew up, then we sure wont. ill bet money on that. http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm.
in closing it is my opinion that you are a tool. no offense.
texascollegestudent
Active Member
well i just got to thinking and i was wondering how much profit the govt could actually make... so here's a shot.
300 million people x 50 cent tax per joint x .05 (5 percent of ppl smoking weed seems to be a liberal number, but fuck it) x 365 days a year comes out to.... 2.7375 billion. so round that up to 3 billion when considering paraphernalia and such. that's if it's taxed by the joint, which i think is still worth it in my opinion. also assuming that the average person would only smoke once a day.
i dont konw how much revenue could be made off of farmers growing hemp for fiber, but if that would be substantial, which i kind of doubt, then maybe we'd be getting into numbers that would appeal to the govt.
300 million people x 50 cent tax per joint x .05 (5 percent of ppl smoking weed seems to be a liberal number, but fuck it) x 365 days a year comes out to.... 2.7375 billion. so round that up to 3 billion when considering paraphernalia and such. that's if it's taxed by the joint, which i think is still worth it in my opinion. also assuming that the average person would only smoke once a day.
i dont konw how much revenue could be made off of farmers growing hemp for fiber, but if that would be substantial, which i kind of doubt, then maybe we'd be getting into numbers that would appeal to the govt.
smoke and coke
Well-Known Member
we may see it decrimalized and be legal to grow a certain number or go to a dispensory and buy and pay taxes. if its decrimalized, i dont beleive it will be legal for anyone to just sell it on the street, the gov. wants their cut. so nobody will lose jobs.
i would love it to be legal but will probly never happen.
i would love it to be legal but will probly never happen.
texascollegestudent
Active Member
insightful metaphor about The Weakest Link man... that's a very fitting way to put it. however if i may disagree with you slightly - i think the high tax on cigarettes is more designed to deter future smokers since, for the current smoker, the demand for cigarettes is rather inelastic. and of course it's meant to generate revenue.