Archive for marijuana
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Jamen Shively, former Microsoft executive who wants to create America’s first national marijuana brand and wants to become “the Starbucks of pot,” spoke to MSNBC’s Chris Jansing:
Jansing:
The nation’s retail marijuana market is estimated at $30 billion. Maybe you have a different number. that’s what I’ve seen. Washington state’s marijuana consultant– I didn’t even know they had one– but says he fears that you, personally, are seeking to profit off others’ addiction. What do you say to him?
Shively:
Well, first of all, marijuana is not physically addictive. And since the only business that we intend to get into is cannabis, and we do not intend to get into the business of any addictive drugs, he’s simply flat-out wrong in that regard. As far as Mr. Kleinman’s assertion that I’m seeking to profit, guilty as charged.
And with that, a few snippets from Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash at Truthout, via my pal Mark Karlin:
Barron’s, the conservative financial news weekly published by Dow Jones, chose as its June 1st cover story an article that basically states the case for legalizing marijuana.
Coming from a publication that symbolizes the driving-force of Wall Street – financial data and investment prospects— the prominent placement of the story pondering marijuana legalization is a boost to those seeking to end its prohibition.
Although Barron’s journalist Thomas G. Donlan also offers a few of the arguments against legalization, the article virtually advocates for an end to the criminalization of pot. For Barron’s it is just good business: for the private market and for cash-strapped governments. [...]
Not only will law enforcement personnel be freed up, legalization would save imprisonment costs that run – on the low end of the range — $25,000 per incarcerated individual per year. It will also offer more opportunity to persons of color, the primary group put in jail for marijuana violations. [...]
Perhaps of more significance in terms of assessing which way the wind is blowing in public sentiment is this Barrons revelation:
Whether Congress realizes it or not, a good number of citizens want the problem fixed. The same Pew study that found a majority of people favoring legalization also found that 60% of Americans think the federal government should not enforce its prohibition in states that permit marijuana use. And 72% agreed with the proposition that federal enforcement of marijuana laws is not worth the cost.
[...] Barron’s is one of the bibles, along with The Wall Street Journal, of the heavy Wall Street hitters. [...]
Seeing things in dollars and cents starts to get the attention of a publication such as Barron’s – and ultimately the business class that pulls the strings in DC.
Please read the entire post here.
The culture wars now favor Democrats because they’re now willing to take the offensive. It’s about time. And look who just jumped on the bandwagon…
The Washington Post is reporting that Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) became the 51st senator to announce his support for marriage equality.
And Taegan posted a Pew Research poll that for the first time finds that a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana, 52% to 45%:
Taegan also has a new Marist Poll showing that 50% of voters nationally have more faith in President Obama than in the Republicans in Congress to handle the federal budget, as opposed to 41% who have more faith in the GOP.
With all that going for us, you’d think we could change and/or legalize a few things, but there’s that little matter of perpetual Republican obstruction. How’s that filibuster gentleman’s agreement workin’ for ya, Harry Reid?
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) told Fox News that President Obama and former President George W. Bush could have “conceivably been put in jail” for using drugs.
Said Paul: “Look, the last two presidents could have conceivably been put in jail for their drug use and I really think – look what would’ve happened, it would’ve ruined their lives. They got lucky. But a lot of poor kids, particularly in the inner city, don’t get lucky and they don’t have good attorneys and they go to jail for some of these things and I think it’s a big mistake.”
The response prompted host Chris Wallace to note, “Actually, I think it would be the last three presidents, but who’s counting?”
Today’s L.A. Times letter to the editor, because our voices matter:
Re “Colorado’s new high,” Jan. 27
The Times’ article on Colorado’s new constitutional amendment legalizing recreational use of marijuana was quite interesting. It states: “In Colorado, sellers of medical marijuana must have a background check … and submit to inspections by the state. Every plant is tagged and numbered, from seed to sale.”
Substitute the word “buyers” for sellers, “guns” for marijuana and “purchase” for sale, and you have common-sense gun control. That would be downright impossible to come up with, given that weird stuff the House GOP is on.
Stan Seidel
Rancho Palos Verdes
Guest posted by David Garber
The day after Christmas I was delivered a present in the form of some good news. Seems Marijuana may not be as bad for you as the government might have you think – at least according to Business Insider Science today.
As I cruised the Internet for more positive information, it seems everything else was about the increasing chances of our going over the fiscal cliff and all sorts of possible solutions. So I came up with one of my own. An Executive Order: Emergency legalization of Marijuana.
Okay, before you dismiss this summarily, look at a few facts:
Cost savings on regulation and enforcement: $7.7 Billion ($2.4B Federal, $5.3B State/local)
Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 Billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 Billion if it were taxed like alcohol or tobacco –Not to mention all the jobs that would be created and taxes paid on that legal income.
And what crackpots came up with these crazy numbers? Three Nobel Laureates in economics: Dr. Milton Friedman (Hoover Institute), Dr. George Akerlof (UC Berkeley), and Dr. Vernon Smith (George Mason University). And they were joined by 500 other economists.
Why act now? Why an executive order? Politics and time’s run out.
1. We’re heading for the Fiscal Cliff.
2. Marijuana is safer than alcohol.
3. We know the repeal of the Volstead Act didn’t ruin us.
4. We know Marijuana prohibition laws aren’t working.
5. The states and the Fed government need money to run.
6. We can use the jobs.
7. The revenue can go to infrastructure, teachers, first responders.
This is the true emergency that the Executive Order was really meant for if there ever was one. Billions to gain. What’s to lose? If nothing else, it may cut down on road rage and anxiety attacks. Isn’t that alone worth a try?
Writer/Producer David Garber
For the past 25 years, David Garber has been serving as the show runner and or writer on some of television’s biggest hits… Saved By The Bell, Power Rangers, 227, Bill Cosby Show and many other network series.
His writing and producing have also netted David two very prestigious awards:the PRISM AWARD and the TV CRITICS AWARD – TV SPECIAL OF THE YEAR.
Currently he’s authoring a short story series called “A Few Minutes With…”
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