Marijuana Tax In Oakland

Oakland Voters OK Tax on Marijuana

OAKLAND, Calif. (July 22) -- Oakland residents overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to approve a first-of-its kind tax on medical marijuana 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 marijuana 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 marijuana 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 marijuana 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 marijuana like alcohol.

Another step closer to total legalization of marijuana. Everybody needs to wake up and smell the "herb". This is a great way to raise money in this time of need. It is also a great way to save money by decriminalizing marijuana. Think of all the wasted cash going to punish people for a little pot. Are people really that stupid? Well, yeah. Unfortunately.

"Legalize Marijuana",

Bobby Sharpe "Dragon, Book Of Shang"2 Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": Shamanism & YOU

Weed - Grow It, Smoke It, Tax It!

"Legalize it or else"


Oregon Bill Proposes State Grow, Distribute, Tax Medical Marijuana

SALEM, Ore — The Oregon Legislature's latest idea for a tax? Medical marijuana.

The state would take over growing and distributing marijuana to patients in the medical-marijuana program under a bill introduced Wednesday. Sponsored by Rep. Ron Maurer, R-Grants Pass, House Bill 3274 imposes a $98-per-ounce tax, which would cover the state's cost of operating and securing the production center.

"I'm not a pot guy, but the water's under the bridge. That's not the issue," Maurer told The Oregonian newspaper. "Let's not even discuss that. Let's discuss is the program working? The answer is unequivocally no, that the program is not working."

Oregon voters approved the use of medical marijuana more than a decade ago, deciding chronically and terminally ill patients should be allowed to use the drug to ease pain. Roughly 21,000 Oregonians now have cards authorizing them to use it for medicinal purposes, according to the state Department of Human Services.

Maurer and three co-sponsors think the bill would improve public safety by eliminating private medical-marijuana grow sites. Some private growers have been accused of illegally selling marijuana to those who don't have cards; other sites have been targeted by burglaries and home invasions.

A bill co-sponsor, Rep. Chris Harker, D-Beaverton, told the Statesman Journal newspaper that the measure "takes medical marijuana off the streets and into a safer and more secure environment."

Current law allows registered patients to possess six mature cannabis plants, 18 immature seedlings and 24 ounces of usable cannabis. In 2004, voters rejected a measure that would create state distribution centers.

Though the proposal is considered a longshot at best, it is expected to be heard in a committee.

"When we have bipartisan support like that for a bill, it is typical that it will at least get the courtesy of a hearing," said Geoff Sugerman, spokesman for House Speaker Dave Hunt.

Yay for Oregon! If ALL of the people of this country would get their collective "heads out of their backsides", maybe we would NOT be in the sorry state we are in these days. The past is the past. It is gone, done, over, finito! Start focusing on forward and maybe we can move on to bigger and better things. Oh, and all of YOU (who probably never smoked herb),stop throwing up your weak argument that marijuana "is a gateway drug". If YOU cannot do any better than that, just go away. FAR AWAY!

"Power To The Plant",

Bobby Sharpe FOXNews.com - Canadian City Vies to Become 'Vansterdam' - U.S. & World Bobby Sharpe's "Indigo Spiritz": You, The One & Only