California Assembly Bill 390

[questionful]

For those of you who don't know, a bill was proposed by California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano last month to legalize marijuana. After more than 70 years of the obvious FALIURE of Prohibition, this bill would save the state money and end a lot of unnecessary suffering. I'm not going to try to discuss the bill in detail here. I trust that whether you have a favorable or unfavorable view of marijuana legalization, you will refrain from judging whether it should be enacted or not until you do the considerable research necessary to make such a judgement.


I encourage you to do research on the issue. Here are a couple of sources to get you started:

http://www.erowid.org/

http://forum.grasscity.com/apprentic...h-studies.html

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0351-0400/ab_390_bill_20090223_introduced.pdf

I made this thread in the hopes that a few of you AO'ers will join the fight to get this bill passed. It's a hard fight and we need all the support we can get. Remember it is your duty as a citizen to participate in your government. If you are from California, you need to make your voice heard!

Contact me if you are at all interested in joining the fight.

I guess you can use this thread to discuss the bill itself. Please ask any questions you may have regarding the bill or what you can do to get it passed.

[Dend78]

honestly they might as well, its becomming more common than cigs. yes its got its drawbacks but at the same time so does beer. i personally dont do it but there are so many people that do its become almost stupid to fight it. grow it sell it and tax it....just my 2 cents

[REDRT]

That is the issue "tax it" Probably the number one reason why it wasn't legal already. Pretty hard to subsidize and tax a weed that grows about anywhere. I don't condone it and wouldn't use it even if it were legal, but we are putting people in the clink due to it and it is costing us way more money than we should be spending to house what would be otherwise honest citizens.

[Dend78]

That is the issue "tax it" Probably the number one reason why it wasn't legal already. Pretty hard to subsidize and tax a weed that grows about anywhere. I don't condone it and wouldn't use it even if it were legal, but we are putting people in the clink due to it and it is costing us way more money than we should be spending to house what would be otherwise honest citizens.

exactly, but its like tabacco it grows about anywhere as well obviously there will be some that slips through the cracks but oh well. you are right though we spend more time and money on trying to find it and stop it when like you said it will grow anywhere. how much man time is put into trying to track it down from choppers? last i checked those were a lil pricey to be runnin around lookin for it. i know plenty of ppl who use it yeah it has its effects on their lives but like i said so does beer

[DevilMan]

Mary Jane is alot easier to grow at home than real tobacco.... could be a good reason since you can't tax what you can't make sure goes through the stores.

I think all things should be legal. You get high and kill someone it's still the death penalty for you. I don't care if it's MJ, Beer, crack, coke or drano. You do the crime you do the time. Legalize it and make it the persons responsibility to control their habits. Not the gubmints...

I've never so much as "I didn't inhale" the stuff but I think it should be legalized.

Best of luck,

DM

[Sumthinwicked]

tax it let it go legal save billions in courts cops and prisons and i hate mj to be honest LOL but hey beer is legal right and more peeps dd same thing ur high when u get pulled over no more driving

[Lohman446]

Yeh... cause inhaling smoke and holding it can't possibly have any ill health effects...

That being said, in your own home, not polluting my air space (this goes to you tobacco users too) I could care less what you do to your own body. However, if you have those that cannot consent to having there bodies damaged (read children) you do not get to pollute their living enviroment either.

[Sumthinwicked]

better change ur count to 7 usefull posts ;P

[grEnAlEins]

Mary Jane is alot easier to grow at home than real tobacco.... could be a good reason since you can't tax what you can't make sure goes through the stores.

I think all things should be legal. You get high and kill someone it's still the death penalty for you. I don't care if it's MJ, Beer, crack, coke or drano. You do the crime you do the time. Legalize it and make it the persons responsibility to control their habits. Not the gubmints...

I've never so much as "I didn't inhale" the stuff but I think it should be legalized.

Best of luck,

DM

Yeh... cause inhaling smoke and holding it can't possibly have any ill health effects...

That being said, in your own home, not polluting my air space (this goes to you tobacco users too) I could care less what you do to your own body. However, if you have those that cannot consent to having there bodies damaged (read children) you do not get to pollute their living enviroment either.

These.

[MANN]

That being said, in your own home, not polluting my air space (this goes to you tobacco users too) I could care less what you do to your own body. However, if you have those that cannot consent to having there bodies damaged (read children) you do not get to pollute their living enviroment either.

Well said.

[Hilltop Customs]

Yeh... cause inhaling smoke and holding it can't possibly have any ill health effects...

Vaporizers are supposed to be alot healthier for your lungs, if thats not safe enough there are always edibles.

Mary Jane is alot easier to grow at home than real tobacco.... could be a good reason since you can't tax what you can't make sure goes through the stores.

Increase in growing would cause an increase in sales of taxable grow related products. Either way more taxes are being paid

IMO the segment of the "occasional smoker" would likely expand dramatically, these people have no reason to grow. Also most people are too lazy, why put effort into something that you can go down to a store and purchase? People could grow their own food, but they are lazy, dont have the time, patience, or knowledge.

Or do you mean growers selling directly to customers to skip taxes? Might happen a little with pre-established illegal dealers, but legit storefronts will take EVERY new customer....eventually the pre-established dealer will lose customers(even if their price is better) for lack of the ability to advertise.



On another note: The demise of the black market of marijuana sales.....will that really be a good thing? Thats a lot of unskilled workers out of work.

[skife]

Vaporizers are supposed to be alot healthier for your lungs, if thats not safe enough there are always edibles.



Increase in growing would cause an increase in sales of taxable grow related products. Either way more taxes are being paid

IMO the segment of the "occasional smoker" would likely expand dramatically, these people have no reason to grow. Also most people are too lazy, why put effort into something that you can go down to a store and purchase? People could grow their own food, but they are lazy, dont have the time, patience, or knowledge.

Or do you mean growers selling directly to customers to skip taxes? Might happen a little with pre-established illegal dealers, but legit storefronts will take EVERY new customer....eventually the pre-established dealer will lose customers(even if their price is better) for lack of the ability to advertise.



On another note: The demise of the black market of marijuana sales.....will that really be a good thing? Thats a lot of unskilled workers out of work.

First off, i hope this passes, There have been a few marijuana threads in the past and all have been locked. but it was alot less accepted 4-5 years ago too.

Legalizing this would be interesting, It would be really nice if you wanted to find some pot to just go down to the store to get some.

yes it can destroy people's lives, but so can anything taken to extremes. In moderation marijuana is fine.

good luck California, this will pave the way for the rest of the country.


(edit)

I just read up on it a bit and taxes are going to be pretty high on this

up to $5000 for a license to grow (no more than $2500 to renew this annually) (commercial license)

$50/ounce tax that will all go to drug rehab progams and drug education and whatnot.

[grEnAlEins]

Something to consider before everyone gets ahead of themselves is that there is no measure of intoxication for marijuana. This is something that should probably happen before steps to legalize are taken. All legal drugs have this at least to some extent. There needs to be an objective standard similar to that of alcohol (BAC) before legalization will be fruitful. Someone needs to answer at what point someone is too intoxicated to participate in an activity such as operation of a motor vehicle or heavy machinery or anything else where intoxication may hamper the ability to safely conduct an action.

If legalization occurs before this happens and a quantifiable standard is set, there is going to be a royal poop-storm when something bad happens.

It does not matter to me though, I would still have no desire to partake, even if it were legalized.