Legalize it...California might

[rjb1816]

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/...to_introdu.php


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.

[Patriots Game]

great tax revenue

[boldt]

should legalize gambling also..why just let the indians make money on it....

[Jahred]

usa proline type thing that comes with a spliff

[iggs111]

doubt it

[Keith]

Originally Posted by rjb1816

The bill would additionally prohibit state and local law officials from enforcing federal marijuana laws

Never happen (certainly not if the State wishes to ever see any Federal funding again).

[The Judge]

Conflict between State and Federal Law
The federal government claims that marijuana is not medicine and in Gonzales v. Raich (2005), the United States Supreme Court held that the federal government has the constitutional authority to prohibit marijuana for all purposes. Thus, federal law enforcement officials may prosecute medical marijuana patients, even if they grow their own medicine and even if they reside in a state where medical marijuana use is protected under state law. The Court indicated that Congress and the Food and Drug Administration should work to resolve this issue.

The Raich decision does not say that the laws of California (or any other medical marijuana state) are unconstitutional; nor does it invalidate them in any way. Also, it does not say that federal officials must prosecute patients. Decisions about prosecution are still left to the discretion of the federal government.

According to a post-Raich statement by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the ruling does not overturn California law permitting the use of medical marijuana. Lockyer also underscored the role of local law enforcement in upholding state, not federal, law. A superior court has rejected the County of San Diego's claim in a lawsuit filed against the State that California's medical marijuana laws are preempted by federal law. As of this printing, that case is pending on appeal.

States have recognized marijuana's medical value and have either passed laws through their legislatures or adopted them by initiative. In support of the numerous states that have taken responsibility for the health and welfare of their people, and have implemented medical marijuana laws, ASA is fighting for states' ability and right to pass and enforce their own laws, regardless of federal law.

Under federal law, marijuana is treated like every other controlled substance, such as cocaine and heroin. The federal government places every controlled substance in a schedule, in principle according to its relative potential for abuse and medicinal value. Under the CSA, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, which means that the federal government views marijuana as highly addictive and having no medical value. Doctors may not "prescribe" marijuana for medical use under federal law, though they can "recommend" its use under the First Amendment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), charged with enforcing federal drug laws, has taken a substantial interest in medical marijuana patients and caregivers in general, and large cultivation and distribution operations more specifically. Over the past few years, dozens of people have been targets of federal enforcement actions. Many of them have either been arrested or had property seized. More than a hundred are currently in prison or are facing charges or ongoing criminal or civil investigations for their cultivation or distribution of medical marijuana.

The DEA, like local enforcement agencies, can choose how to make the best use of its time. Ideally, the DEA will leave medical marijuana patients and their caregivers alone. But federal law does not yet recognize medical marijuana, and the DEA is currently allowed to use the Controlled Substances Act to arrest people for its use. In many pending and past cases, the DEA and U.S. Attorney's office have used exaggerated plant numbers and inflammatory rhetoric, as well as informants who trade jail time for testimony, to justify enforcing federal laws against medical marijuana patients and caregivers in California and other states.

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Keith

Never happen (certainly not if the State wishes to ever see any Federal funding again).

yup...look at louisiana when they decided to lower the drinking age back down to 18..usa took away the federal highway funds..and sure enough..not long after louisiana pushed it back to 21

[Big Pimpin]

$50 and ounce???? thats some dirt weed right there

[revnecro1273]

i think the 50 is a state assessed tax just to be able to sell it

[westcoastO]

still don't know why it's illegal lol

[THE_ROOKIEEE]

$50 and ounce???? thats some dirt weed right there

CALI HAS THE FINEST

$50 OFF 275-425 IS REALLY NOTHING AT ALL

[Steel]

$250 in door train wreck

[Bobtheicon]

Originally Posted by westcoastO

still don't know why it's illegal lol

I do far more damage to my body with alcohol than marijuana. Hell, marijuana is good for you... wtf???

[BigdaddyQH]

This has been going on in California for years now. Nothing new here. They can pass it if they want. The feds will just take their highway funds away, and California will have to comply. This is not rocket science. It happens all the time.