420 Policies and Laws

[Snusdog]

Guys,

Ownership has asked the mods to issue a reminder to the members of Snuson to please keep the cannabis posts in their designated threads. This enables us to maintain our commitment to an open and free discussion of the issue while at the same time being sensitive to its still controversial nature. We want frank discussions and lively debate on the topic. However, we do not want to needlessly provide fodder for those who wish to misrepresent our site’s more specific concern, which is snus. With your help we can accomplish the first while avoiding the latter.

The two designated cannabis threads are located in People and the World and have been re-titled to better describe their purpose. They are:

420 Policies and Laws- this thread will help members to find information in one place on policies, current debates as well as which states have legalized or are in the process of legalization.

420 Use and Health- this thread is for information on use, health matters, as well as for general discussions.


Enjoy your time on these threads and thank you for your cooperation in this matter.


Regards,
Team Snuson

[Owens187]

Marijuana Legal In California?!

Like the title says.....

Legal-Marijuana Advocates Focus on a New Green


SAN FRANCISCO — Perhaps only in California could a group of marijuana smokers call themselves fiscal realists.

And yet, faced with a $20 billion deficit, strained state services and regular legislative paralysis, voters in California are now set to consider a single-word solution to help ease some of the state’s money troubles: legalize.

On Wednesday, the California secretary of state certified a November vote on a ballot measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, a plan that advocates say could raise $1.4 billion and save precious law enforcement and prison resources.

Indeed, unlike previous efforts at legalization — including a failed 1972 measure in California — the 2010 campaign will not dwell on assertions of marijuana’s harmlessness or its social acceptance, but rather on cold cash.

“We need the tax money,” said Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University, a trade school for marijuana growers, in Oakland, who backed the ballot measure’s successful petition drive. “Second, we need the tax savings on police and law enforcement, and have that law enforcement directed towards real crime.”

Supporters are hoping to raise $10 million to $20 million for the campaign, primarily on the Internet, with national groups planning to urge marijuana fans to contribute $4.20 at a time, a nod to 420, a popular shorthand for the drug.

The law would permit licensed retailers to sell up to one ounce at a time. Those sales would be a new source of sales tax revenue for the state.

Opponents, however, scoff at the notion that legalizing marijuana could somehow help with the state’s woes. They tick off a list of social ills — including tardiness and absenteeism in the workplace — that such an act would contribute to.

“We just don’t think any good is going to come from this,” said John Standish, president of the California Peace Officers Association, whose 3,800 members include police chiefs and sheriffs. “It’s not going to better society. It’s going to denigrate it.”

The question of legalization, which a 2009 Field Poll showed 56 percent of Californians supporting, will undoubtedly color the state race for governor. The two major Republican candidates — the former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman and the insurance commissioner, Steve Poizner — have said they oppose the bill.

Jerry Brown, the Democratic attorney general who is also running for governor, opposes the idea as well, saying it violates federal law.

And while the Obama administration has signaled that it will tolerate medical marijuana users who abide the law in the 14 states where it is legal, a law authorizing personal use would conflict with federal law.

Supporters of the bill say the proposal’s language would allow cities or local governments to opt out, likely creating “dry counties” in some parts of the state. The proposed law would allow only those over 21 to buy, and would ban smoking marijuana in public or around minors.

Stephen Gutwillig, the California state director for the Drug Policy Alliance, a New York-based group that plans to raise money in favor of the measure, said he expected “a conservative implementation,” if passed.

“I think most local jurisdictions are not going to authorize sales,” Mr. Gutwillig said.

Local opt-out provisions are part of a strategy to allay people’s fears about adding another legal vice and to help capture a group considered key to passing the bill: non-pot-smoking swing voters.

“There’s going to be a large sector of the electorate that would never do this themselves that’s going to sort out what the harm would be versus what the supposed good would be,” said Frank Schubert, a longtime California political strategist who opposes the bill. “That’s where the election is going to be won.”

But Dan Newman, a San Francisco-based strategist for the ballot measure, said he expected broad, bipartisan support for the bill, especially among those Californians worried about the recession.

“Voters’ No. 1 concern right now is the budget and the economy,” Mr. Newman said, “which makes them look particularly favorable at something that will bring in more than $1 billion a year.” Opponents, however, question that figure — which is based on a 2009 report from the Board of Equalization, which oversees taxes in the state — and argue that whatever income is brought in will be spent dealing with more marijuana-related crimes.

Mr. Standish said: “We have a hard enough time now with drunk drivers on the road. This is just going to add to the problems.”

He added: “I cannot think of one crime scene I’ve been to where people said, ‘Thank God the person was just under the influence of marijuana.’ ”

Advocates of the measure plan to counter what is expected to be a strong law enforcement opposition with advertisements like one scheduled to be broadcast on radio in San Francisco and Los Angeles starting on Monday. The advertisements will feature a former deputy sheriff saying the war on marijuana has failed.

“It’s time to control it,” he concludes, “and tax it.”

Not everyone in the community is supportive. Don Duncan, a co-founder of Americans for Safe Access, which lobbies for medical marijuana, said he had reservations about the prospect of casual users joining the ranks of those with prescriptions.

“The taxation and regulation of cannabis at the local or state level may or may not improve conditions for medical cannabis patients,” Mr. Duncan said in an e-mail message. He added that issues like “police harassment and the price and quality of medicine might arise if legalization for recreational users occurs.”

Still, the idea of legal marijuana does not seem too far-fetched to people like Shelley Kutilek, a San Francisco resident, loyal church employee and registered California voter, who said she would vote “yes” in November.

“It’s no worse than alcohol,” said Ms. Kutilek, 30, an administrator at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. “Drunk people get really belligerent. I don’t know anybody who gets belligerent on marijuana. They just get chill.”

Move to Legalize Marijuana in California Sparks Fears About Drop in Prices

A commercial sponsored by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws that has been broadcast recently in San Francisco, according to Politico.
A proposal to put the legalization of marijuana in California to a vote this November is causing some growers of the plant in the state to worry about a sharp drop in the value of their crop if the measure succeeds.

As The Los Angeles Times explained in January, when supporters of the proposed Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 turned in more than enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot, the initiative “would make it legal for anyone 21 and older to possess an ounce of marijuana and grow plants in an area no larger than 25 square feet for personal use. It would also allow cities and counties to permit marijuana to be grown and sold, and to impose taxes on marijuana production and sales.”

On Monday, The Times-Standard newspaper in Humboldt County, a part of Northern California known as the “Emerald Triangle” for the density of its marijuana crop, reported:

[L]ocal business people, officials and those involved in the marijuana industry are planning to meet Tuesday night and break a long-standing silence to talk about what supposedly is the backbone of Humboldt County’s economy — pot. More specifically, the meeting will focus on the potential economic effects of the legalization of marijuana.


While the local newspaper’s report on the meeting quoted the its organizer, Anna Hamilton, by name, it did not state that she was, herself, a grower of the plant — which is legal in the state only when used as medication. According to The Times-Standard, Ms. Hamilton “said she is ‘intimately involved’ with the marijuana industry.” That sort of coyness led Frank James to write on NPR’s news blog:

Marijuana growers tend to be a fairly secretive lot, probably even in Humboldt, so I wonder what the attendance will be like and if the Drug Enforcement Agency will be there.

Ms. Hamilton told the local newspaper that if the county’s marijuana industry prepares for legalization, there could be some positives for the area: “We have to embrace marijuana tourism, marijuana products and services — and marijuana has to become a part of the Humboldt County brand,” she said.

The ballot initiative, which is being presented in part as a way to raise tax revenues for California, is supported by Richard Lee, an Oakland businessman who makes his money selling the drug legally. Mr. Lee also founded Oaksterdam University, which trains growers.

A campaign Web site, Taxcannabis.org, prominently features the results of a 2009 Field poll that found that “legalizing marijuana and taxing its proceeds” was supported by 56 percent of those surveyed in California.

The same Web site noted that three columnists for The Orange Country Register recently included the legalization and taxation of marijuana production in a list of ideas to help California balance its books — along with calls to privatize the state’s prisons, suspend the fight against global warming and drill for oil in the waters near the state’s beaches.

Looks like it actually has a damn good chance of passing, now that it goes to vote in November. In a preliminary poll alone, 56% of Californians surveyed say they will vote to legalize, mostly due to the roughly $1.8 Billion dollars in annual tax revenue it is expected to create.

Just wait until all the stoners get up off the couch and register to vote!

[texasmade]

I think cali is doing something right.

apply the same rules as alcohol.

hope it passes....and i know where my 21st birthday will be if the rest of the country hasn't followed suit by then.

[Owens187]

hope it passes....and i know where my 21st birthday will be if the rest of the country hasn't followed suit by then.

Sh*t, I foresee the biggest mass-migration into California since the Gold Rush if this thing passes! :lol:


BTW, - I have 10 acres of prime California real estate. Suck it bit*hes! :lol:

Now taking rent applications.....

[texasmade]

so...how much rent we talking here

[WickedKitchen]

I've always wanted to GYO.

I live in MA and now carrying a zipper is only a misdemeanor. You still can't grow the stuff, but even if you could I'd abstain due to young kids around.

One of my goals is to produce it for myself eventually. If I can still enjoy it by then.

[truthwolf1]

I think if they were to legalize and put a tax on it that in no-time big corporate inverstors will be running the entire show. All the small time grow ops and thugs smuggling it from Mexico would all be out of business within a matter of a couple of years. The price would drop so low that only large scale farms would be able to compete.

This overall though is good thing. Less people in jail for using and dealing a God given all natural plant.

[texasmade]

Less people in jail for using and dealing a God given all natural plant.

+1

[scylla]

If it does pass I will be very interested in what the big agriculture research companies do with maryjane.

As it is I've heard those small time Cali growers have really come up with some very interesting varieties.

[dEFinitionofEPIC]

California usually sucks.... but if they pass this... they are officially the most awesome state.

...just hope that the rest of the states will catch on...

[sgreger1]

California was moving towards legalizing it for years now and everyone knew it. The colleges in oakland have degrees and masters programs in how to run large scale pot farms.


The problem in CA is that our farming community (which is huge) is already getting hurt because of the stupid delta smelt and the water shortage.

But the big corporations like Marlboro and Camel will certainly be in on this and it will become just like tobacco, mass produced and sold everywhere you can buy cigarettes (eventually). And like tobacco, some may grow their own for their own tastes, weed is amazing because you can cross strains and do all kinds of whacky shit to it while it's growing (changing type of nutrients, clipping etc), so like making your own snus some of us will be able to do that.


@Truthwolf, also there already are large commercial pot farms in CA with acres of crops. The only thing keeping the price so high is that you still have to go get your medicinal pot card but that's just a matter of coming up with a couple of bucks to see the Dr.


My buddy who owns several of these canibis clubs in a few states is expecting it to be made completely legal this year, and is planning to be f*cking rich (not that he's not already). I obviousely chose the wrong job. :cry:

[dEFinitionofEPIC]

How can you be sure that the prices will drop if legalization occurs? If the government decides to impose an excessive tax couldn't it become more expensive?

I mean...I'm all for the legalization of pot... across the board. The prohibition of this PLANT is beyond ridiculous. People being fined and jailed for possession of a PLANT is a travesty. However, I am no fan of higher prices either.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[sgreger1]

How can you be sure that the prices will drop if legalization occurs? If the government decides to impose an excessive tax couldn't it become more expensive?

I mean...I'm all for the legalization of pot... across the board. The prohibition of this PLANT is beyond ridiculous. People being fined and jailed for possession of a PLANT is a travesty. However, I am no fan of higher prices either.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

We already pay taxes on weed here, but you can buy the dankest 1/8th of OG kush for 65$ (after taxes). As long as the free market stays in there and it doesn't become over regulated, the prices will only drop, though at first im sure it will be a little higher.

CA already has legalized weed really, for 150$ anyone in good health can get the card, buy some mary j from your local pharmacy and legally carry up to I think it's 2 or 3 lbs in your car and you can grow up to I think it's 3 trees of your own. Nothing is going to change if it's fully legalized other than the fact that big corps will start taking intirest and dumping cash into the industry. 6$ marlboro packs of weed cigs man i'm telling you.
CA has had a defacto legalization policy for years, it's just if they legalize it we can stop spending money on sending kids smoking weed to jail. If an underage kid is caught smoking it, we can do like with cigs or alcohol and fine them and be done with it.

[tom502]

K2

[texasmade]

K2

didn't some kid die or get hospitalized from that?