http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090722/ap_on_re_us/us_marijuana_taxes_4 Oakland voters pass pot tax to boost city coffers By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer – OAKLAND, Calif. – Oakland residents overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to approve a first-of-its kind tax on medical mar1juana sold at the city's four cannabis dispensaries. Preliminary election results showed the measure passing with 80 percent of the vote, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. The dispensary tax was one of four measures in a vote-by-mail special election aimed at raising money for the cash-strapped city. All four measures won, but Measure F had the highest level of support. Scheduled to take effect on New Year's Day, the measure created a special business tax rate for the pot clubs, which now pay the same $1.20 for every $1,000 in gross sales applied to all retail businesses. The new rate will be $18. Oakland's auditor estimates that based on annual sales of $17.5 million for the four clubs, it will generate an estimated $294,000 for city coffers in its first year. Pot club owners, who openly sell pot over the counter under the 1996 state ballot measure that legalized medical mar1juana use in California, proposed Measure F as a way to further legitimize their establishments. "It's good business and good for the community," said Richard Lee, who owns the Coffee Shop SR-71 dispensary and Oaksterdam University, a trade school for budding dispensary workers. The measure had no formal opposition; in November 2004, a ballot initiative that required Oakland police to make arresting adults using mar1juana for personal use their lowest priority passed with 63 percent of the vote. Support for Measure F was expected to be just as strong. As a result and given the mail-in nature of the election, there was little campaign activity, according to Lee. "We put out signs, but outside of that it's been pretty low-key," said Lee, who hosted a victory party at Oaksterdam University's Student Union building in downtown Oakland. Although California's 800 or so pot clubs also are expected to pay state sales tax, Oakland is the first city in the country to create a special tax on mar1juana sales. Advocates of legalizing pot for recreational use hope to use Oakland's experience with Measure F to persuade California voters next year to approve a measure that would legalize and regulate mar1juana like alcoho
It only makes sense. Its already legal there (medically), Cali is deep deep deep in debt, might as well make money off it.
Just saying its a start. Pot is California highest grossing cash crop and since it is mostly a black market crop, the government is not making anything off it (well except a small tax on medicinal mj). The city of Oakland is smart enough to realize that higher taxes on pot can bring a good amount of revenue for the city. And a city as poor as Oakland needs that revenue. If (and this is a bill they are seriously debating) they were to legalize it (ie allow every Californian over a certain age to purchase it), and tax the hell out of it, it could do wonders for their economy. Here is the way I look at it, legalizing pot would: a) Lower the crime rate (people who are behind bars or doing probation for possession of mj when it is really not that serious of a crime) b) Help the state economy (create jobs, bring revenues for the state) c) Take mj out of the hands of underage people (drug dealers do not check IDs) ****. Alcohol/tobacco are legal, and they are nowhere near as dangerous to our bodies as pot has proven to be (nobody has every died as a result of pot, cannot say the same about those other legal drugs).
So now the government will a vested interest in keeping mar1juana sales going, since they will directly benefit from more sales. Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe if everyone in the world gets stoned then there wont be anymore wars and stuff?
To be blunt, this could really help the city. In fact, they may even end up with a sizable stash at the end of all this. The budget is a chronic disaster and this could really nip it in the bud. It is high time that Californians took the budget seriously. Maybe they could tax it at four cents for every twenty ounces sold.
The government doesn't need to do anything to increase the demand for mar1juana. This has been concludively proven over the course of the last century. No matter how bad the consequences, people will still choose to use pot as their intoxicant. Since this is the case, it only makes sense for the government to avail itself of the tax benefits, at least in part to help offset any societal costs inherent in drug use. Instead of sarcastic remarks, maybe you could put forth your actual objections to the state taxing a product that is already being sold in the state.
Only sick-minded liberal/socialists would want a special tax on medicine. They probably would create a special tax on chemotherapy too. It is disgusting.
Do you have any salient points to make or are you just going to say "terrible" and leave? Not a particularly convincing rationale.
Personally, I would regulate the industry and let the taxes from regulated sales pay for medicine for sick people, but I am certain that you will find some way to disparage "liberal/socialists" in that statement too.
Obama's Justice Department has said that they would not raid any more dispensaries that operate in accordance with state laws, so the DEA is out of the picture, thank God.
