California Marijuana Legalization 2014 Initiative Cleared for Circulation

I don't suppose this will make it, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

California Marijuana Legalization 2014 Initiative Cleared for Circulation

I've had my fingers crossed for this for a long time. Hell, marijuana is the largest agricultural product in the state. Unfortunately, the growers do not want it legalized and fight against every effort to legalize it, because they know it will knock down the price.

I haven't smoked any dope in nearly forty years, but I still think the stuff should be legal. If you read the history of the federal anti-weed laws, you know that it was initially nothing more than an anti-Mexican law. Yeah, really.

It's all about money. If entities with enough moolah get in a position to profit from the cultivation, sale and distribution of marijuana then they will grease the right palms and laws will change.

Goodbye individual growers, goodbye independent distributors.

Although... I'm just skeptical enough to consider the possibility that this whole War on Drugs thing was a gift from the Reagan Administration to organized crime -- wiping out the small operators (and keeping them down) so the profits could flow to the big international cartels.

The War On Drugs was a gift from the Nixon administration.

Oops you're right. I have images of "just say no" clouding my vision.

I prefer the Simpsons' version: "Just say D'oh!"

Fuck that little gnome!

NoCoPilot wrote:

Congratulations Howard!

The shitty little city I live in has already passed an ordinance denying the establishment of marijuana dispensaries (they had earlier made medical dispensaries illegal). They are trying to find a way to outlaw deliveries to the city, but are having some problems because the state law says they cannot do that. They have outlawed the cultivation of weed outdoors, but the state law prevents them from prohibiting indoor cultivation. Talk about your asshats!

Well, just notified about how fortunate I am that California is now allowing the sale of cannabis just for grins.

My Dealer wrote:

Starting January 1, 2018, a 15 percent excise tax is imposed upon retail purchasers of all cannabis and cannabis products, including medicinal cannabis. The 15 percent excise tax is calculated based on the average market price from the retail sale.  As a retailer, we are required to pay the cannabis excise tax to our distributor and collect the cannabis excise tax from our customers. This tax has been incorporated into our product pricing, so you will notice that prices have rose. This is due to the State Excise Tax. The 8% sales tax is still added on your total at the end.

Yes but THAT is why it's legal now. That 15% is the whole reason.

That wasn't the whole reason. The people of California legalized medical and then recreational pot through the use of the initiative.

The fifteen percent excise tax was in the initiative. So the people of the state approved that as a little sugar for the gummint. I am surprised, though, that the excise tax applies to medical cannabis. My "dealer" did note that those with medical cards will receive a discount on their purchases.

We shall see.