Legalize It. California's Proposal to Tax Their Way Out of Debt. »
Posted By btatman22 4 months, 3 weeks ago in Political OpinionIt goes without saying that liberal entitlement programs in the state of California have ruined its once brilliant economy. Where does a state turn when they are broke, but won’t, no matter what, cut those entitlement programs? Since the liberals in California won’t allow for spending cuts, they need to generate more tax revenue, and fast. That’s where weed comes in. If only California could legalize marijuana, they could then tax it and regulate it.
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btatman22
Editor of Fresh Conservative which highlights conservative movements and exposes liberal shenanigans. I am Lutheran, yet not fanatical in my religion. I'll worship my ...
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tadair9194 months, 3 weeks ago
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I joke that I am still torn about this one. A part of me would rather see drug-traffickers keep the money than let it go to more government spending, which is what would happen if we did this.
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Actually, I would prefer the savings get passed on to the general public to spur the economy. So I don't even think we should "tax it," per say. Just stop treating it like a crime. Then the money would get shifted from the drug traffickers to the people. This is why the big marijuana honchos are the ones actually lobbying against this bill.
This article suggests that the "negatives are real," but this is just the Prohibition all over again. It has created drug cartels, traffickers, and other dangerous profiteers much like how the Prohibition created the Capones and other mobsters of the world.
Alcohol is more dangerous than weed.-
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nostalgia4 months, 3 weeks ago
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"A part of me would rather see drug-traffickers keep the money than let it go to more government spending, which is what would happen if we did this."
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Would it?
How much would the govt actually sell
They would have to undercut dealer prices
But keep in mind they would also add taxes to the price
I don't think they could keep the total cost under the price dealers charge
Of course CA would get serious about cracking down on drug dealers if this ever passed. But what would they do to keep arrested dealers off of the streets - put them in jail
How much would that cost the state?
But of course, the politicians haven't thought this far ahead
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Beau78904 months, 3 weeks ago
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That's right, Klarissa. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Millions are spent on the clearly ineffective war on drugs, while legalization could solve quite a few problems for the state of California.
This piece starts with this inaccurate assertion:
"It goes without saying that liberal entitlement programs in the state of California have ruined its once brilliant economy."
If one were to ask any of the past several governors of California, they'd say that it's quite obvious California's tax revolt, begun in 1978 with Proposition 13 in 1978, is what's ruining its economy. It's not "liberal entitlement programs," unless one considers police, firefighters, EMTs and roads "liberal entitlement programs."
The conservatives' tax revolt has made it impossible for the state legislature to raise taxes to pay for even routine services, much less any kind of "liberal entitlement programs."
Representatives and governors have been searching for new forms of revenue for decades, only to be stymied by short-sighted voters who don't realize they're bankrupting the state by passing ballot initiatives (often funded by out-of-state conservative "think tanks") that have c rippled the state's ability to raise money to pay for even the most fundamental of state services.
Limiting taxes is always popular, until voters realize it means their government can't pay for the basics of road construction, law enforcement, firefighters and other services on which its citizens depend.
Legalizing and taxing marijuana would raise $1.4 billion--and that's not even including the money the state would save in enforcing ineffective drug laws and imprisoning non-violent offenders.
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sinophil494 months, 3 weeks ago
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In 2006, Republican darling Schwarzenegger successfully pushed thru proposition 49 mandating 550 million dollars be spent on after school programs. Although the original intent seemed benign enough - to improve the physical health of children, the financial effect is absurd.
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In the current budget impasse, the $550 million MUST be fully funded by law; yet teaching staff has to be cut, class size must increase, and academic programs must be cut back. Even entire schools have to closed down.
Absurd, but real and unchangeable. -
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cowboygrandpa4 months, 3 weeks ago
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I can't access the story.
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But I will say, that although I do not indulge in the smoking of Marijuana. I find it ridiculous to allow alcohol consumption- which is far more dangerous- while denying the use of Cannabis.
Drunks are are far more deadly than pot smokers, in many ways.
Yeah I used to get high and I was a peaceful, relaxed person. When I'd drink I'd become a mean drunk. That is part of the reason I no longer drink.
Either outlaw both or legalize both. We could use the revenue and it would cut down on the cost of law enforcement against smugglers. -
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Hobe4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Calif. tax officials: Legal pot would bring $1.4B - Yahoo! News
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Cal., is going down the Toilet, this will create even more POT heads who cannot Think for themselves and will never be productive Citizens....
Another step backwards as society for America...
On a good note, maybe just maybe, POT Heads from all across the Nation will Migrate to cal. for Free DOPE for all the DOPES.-
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cowboygrandpa4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Hobe:
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What state are you from ???
I want to send you all the drunks so you can house all the murderers and the medical costs associated with alcoholism. How about all the drunk drivers out there who destroy so many lives and families ???
Get a clue !!!!
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mntnman444Comment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned
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punx4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Well I won't say I haven't smoked it before, but for me it makes me paranoid so I don't get the same calm feeling others report. Do I think it's dangerous? No. It's less dangerous than booze, so I'm all for legalizing it. I have never seen anyone who was baked want to do anything other than eat and joke around.
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Don't forget, too, it will up the stock in companies like Hostess and Nabisco. -
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tadair9194 months, 3 weeks ago
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read Bob Barr's opinion on the matter here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-barr/federal-dru...
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"Whether we like it or not, tens of millions of Americans have used and will continue to use drugs. Yet in 2005 we spent more than $12 billion on federal drug enforcement efforts. Another $30 billion went to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders.
These people must live forever with the scarlet letter P for prison. Only luck saved even presidents and candidates for president from bearing the same mark, which would have disqualified them from not only high political office, but also many more commonplace jobs." -
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Charlson4 months, 3 weeks ago
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They should legalize it to rid their prison system of non-violent users. It's gravy if it adds much needed revenue to the State coffers.
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To say that "People who regularly smoke weed are lazy, non-productive citizens, who would be glad to ride the coat tails of the productive citizens of our country" is patently false and you have no creditable evidence to back up this claim. It would seem that those stiff necked Wall Street bankers and mortgage brokers and the slick, corrupt insurance companies were the ones who screwed up our economy and not potheads.-
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djn3nunez34 months, 3 weeks ago
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Going California
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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjav7_going-calif...
Nothing is more fascist that our current draconian drug laws. There is too much money to be made on the black market for the current government to stop it. That black market is like an unseen hole in the hull of our economic ship......
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FairNBalanced4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Thats all we need. A bunch of dumbed down stoned people who can't process information.
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One study found that marijuana smokers were three times more likely to develop cancer of the head or neck than non-smokers. Many researchers believe than smoking marijuana is overall more harmful to the lungs than smoking tobacco.
If Obama gets his way on HealthCare, this will burden the system even more. we'll have people lining up at clinics with very poor care and no care at all.-
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djn3nunez34 months, 3 weeks ago
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marijuana smokers were three times more likely to develop cancer of the head or neck than non-smokers
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The older cop said to the younger cop:
"I smoked marijuana once. It made me want to rape and kill."
Were you that older cop?
Many researchers believe than smoking marijuana is overall more harmful to the lungs than smoking tobacco.
Some critics exaggerate the dangers of marijuana smoking by fallaciously citing a study by Dr. Tashkin which found that daily pot smokers experienced a "mild but significant" increase in airflow resistance in the large airways greater than that seen in persons smoking 16 cigarettes per day.(7) What they ignore is that the same study examined other, more important aspects of lung health, in which marijuana smokers did much better than tobacco smokers. Dr. Tashkin himself disavows the notion that one joint equals 16 cigarettes. A more widely accepted estimate is that marijuana smokers consume four times as much carcinogenic tar as cigarettes smokers per weight smoked. (8) This does not necessarily mean that one joint equals four cigarettes, since joints usually weigh less. In fact, the average joint has been estimated to contain 0.4 grams of pot, a bit less than one-half the weight of a cigarette, making one joint equal to two cigarettes (actually, joint sizes range from cigar-sized spliffs smoked by Rastas, to very fine sinsemilla joints weighing as little as 0.2 grams). It should be noted that there is no exact equivalency between tobacco and marijuana smoking, because they affect different parts of the respiratory tract differently: whereas tobacco tends to penetrate to the smaller, peripheral passageways of the lungs, pot tends to concentrate on the larger, central passageways.(9) One consequence of this is that pot, unlike tobacco, does not appear to cause emphysema.
http://paranoia.lycaeum.org/marijuana/facts/mj-hea...
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jovial4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Glenn Beck discussed this issue a while back on Fox News. Here's the transcript..
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500965,00.html
FTA:
KAMPIA: I think we should. I mean, taxing marijuana is only one good reason why marijuana prohibition should be brought to an end. There's a few other good reasons. One is — the prohibition of marijuana over the last 71 years has not actually prevented people, including you, from using marijuana. So, we know that...
BECK: Yes, oh, I agree with you. -
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jovial4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Look at what Republicans were doing in California.
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http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/03/182944...
"The Republican Party has a new voter registration project in Fresno. It involves luring people to sign a LEGALIZE MARIJUANA petition and then re-registering them as Republicans. "
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juslen4 months, 3 weeks ago
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I'm for a free market solution. And I agree that alcohol is much more dangerous than marijuana. I also believe that our prison system won't be able to sustain low level drug dealers who are only in business because their "profession" is illegal. Just like making alcohol illegal will not stop people from drinking, keeping marijuana illegal will not stop people from using or selling. It will however create legitimate business and contribute to the economy.
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Yet the government regulating and taxing the hell out of it will only work as long as prices remain low enough that its not worth people growing their own.
I guess this is my Libertarian side coming out on this issue. -
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calitennflo4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Does anyone remember 1987...when things were good in California, but the government thought they would clean the air the hard way? By being mean to us I guess...yes...they ran us out of California...companies, etc. now look at them...lol
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lloydm654 months, 3 weeks ago
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Just maybe this is what happened to the Roman Empire before it collapsed we will see.Legalize drugs now,and maybe next year we could change the half time activities at ball games from marching bands to having republicans,or democrats,which ever one is out of power run out on the field ,then run in a dozen or so hungry lions.Bet you could sell a lot tickets to that,and tax the hell out of it
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Georgia504 months, 3 weeks ago
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mntnman444Comment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned12 Replies
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tadair9194 months, 3 weeks ago
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Ron Paul debates Stephen Baldwin on Legalizing Marijuana
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufekh_SwZd0 -
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earthlingerer4 months, 3 weeks ago
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Never? 1/3 of the nation lives happily under decriminalization laws already.
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Yeah, those DEA officers living without graft, prison guards living without the money they get from dealing drugs in prison... no wonder their union fights weed so hard!
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Wolfie20074 months, 3 weeks ago
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Apparently making drugs illegal doesn't not stop drug use. We are wasting our time and money on our present line of action. There has to be a better way than creating criminals with drug prohibition and then spending billions of dollars to trap them. Also, because of the massive amounts of illegal dollars too many in law enforcement become corrupted by drug dealers or become dealers themselves. It's a vicious circle and still drug use continues unabated. We should really try something different.
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