Marijuana Dealers Offer Schwarzenegger One Billion Dollars

[FourScore]

(For those who are unaware, marijuana is, and has been for 3 decades, America's - as well as California's - #1 cash crop, exceeding corn and wheat COMBINED.)

Marijuana Dealers Offer Schwarzenegger One Billion Dollars

August 6 -- A coalition of California marijuana growers and dealers has offered Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger one billion dollars to solve the current state budget crisis. The group, calling itself Let Us Pay Taxes makes the offer through its web site LetUsPayTaxes.com. The offer comes at a time when the California legislature is deadlocked on a new budget and California has stopped issuing checks for vitally needed social services. Legislators are currently arguing over which programs will be cut in order to balance the budget.

“It is ridiculous that California can’t pay its bills,” said spokesman Clifford Schaffer. “It is a tragedy that they will cut badly needed services and programs such as medical care for the elderly and prison drug treatment when the money to fund all these programs and more is there and available. Everyone who is currently waiting for a check from the state should be enraged at this foolishness.”

Regulation and taxation of marijuana could produce six billion dollars in additional tax revenue, according to economic studies linked from their web site LetUsPayTaxes.com. In addition, it could save up to ten billion dollars in enforcement costs. “That is a conservative estimate,” said Schaffer. “By other estimates, the revenues could be five times that. The economists are with us all the way on this one. Marijuana prohibition is an economic disaster.”

SNIP

...The group also cites foreign terrorism as a reason to regulate and tax marijuana. “Drug Czar John Walters is being dishonest when he says that marijuana money goes to criminals and terrorists. The only reason any of that money goes to criminals or terrorists is because of the prohibition that Walters supports,” said Schaffer. “Marijuana prohibition makes criminals rich just like alcohol prohibition did. The criminals are now so rich and powerful that they can challenge the legitimate governments of their own countries. There is no reason to send billions of dollars per year to foreign criminal gangs when patriotic Americans make the best products in the world. There is no reason to suffer such a huge foreign trade deficit when that money could be providing jobs and funding badly needed services right here in the USA...”

http://stopthedrugwar.org/in_the_trenches/2007/aug/06/press_release_marijuana_dealers_#1

To sign their petition go to http://LetUsPayTaxes.com



On top of that, ABCNews is reporting today:

"Marijuana Called Top U.S. Cash Crop

...The report, "Marijuana Production in the United States," by marijuana policy researcher Jon Gettman, concludes that despite massive eradication efforts at the hands of the federal government, "marijuana has become a pervasive and ineradicable part of the national economy."

In the report, Gettman, a marijuana-reform activist and leader of the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, champions a system of legal regulation.

Contrasting government figures for traditional crops -- like corn and wheat -- against the study's projections for marijuana production, the report cites marijuana as the top cash crop in 12 states and among the top three cash crops in 30.

The study estimates that marijuana production, at a value of $35.8 billion, exceeds the combined value of corn ($23.3 billion) and wheat ($7.5 billion)...

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=2735017&page=1

[A-Schwarzenegger]

1. I'LL TAKE IT!!!1!

[FourScore]

2. Now let us smoke the peace pipe. n/t

[A-Schwarzenegger]

16. More than enough to go around.

Peace, that is.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

28. LOL

[Kosmo]

3. Cash crops.

Let's just trick the republicans into thinking that we can literally grow money. How could their greedy little black hearts refuse.

[Maven]

53. LOL.

Well played.

[aquart]

4. Golly, wouldn't that make all the sense in the world?

America doesn't do things that make sense. We are not reality based.

[Heidi]

14. How dare you bring rational thinking into this discussion!111!!

:P

[bleever]

5. War is policy, and marijuana is illegal.

I blame William Randolph Hearst.

[BigBearJohn]

6. Marijuana might improve the GOP's intelligence. I say go for it!

Then again, when you're on the bottom, there's only one way to go.

[FourScore]

7. And even if it doesn't help, at least they'll feel smarter. n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

69. Well, I don't know about that --

I think that a lot of our problems stem from Republican feeling smarter than they really are.

[FourScore]

75. LOL. Point well taken. n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

79. It might mellow them out. One could hope anyway.

[goodgd_yall]

8. Sounds like a good offer

Even if my state were enlightened enough to go for legalizing, the Feds would never go for it, the same way they came down on our Medical Marijuana law. I think the growers and dealers make a good argument though.

[WindRavenX]

9. Jesus, what a great idea.

NT

[Mind_your_head]

10. Gee, if more money can be made this way than by the slave labor of

incarcerants <---- is that a word? (people who are incarcerated).....AND the contracts for the people who build/maintain the jails THAN I think there'd be a deal.

Flat fee's don't cut it.....there's gotta be a defined long term income stream.

I doubt there will be any type of agreement here (doesn't meet the criteria of 'long term income stream').

[FourScore]

12. They are asking for legalization, regulation and taxation.

That would be long term.

It won't happen, at least not yet. America can still afford to live in a bubble (so to speak). But I think the sponsors of this idea are right that marijuana will one day be legalized.

[Mind_your_head]

15. I don't partake of the herb (so I don't have any type of dog in this fight)

I've always thought it curious how many people get incarcerated for so long b/c of it. Follow the money. If there is more money to be made by keeping mj illegal - it will be illegal. If the scales are turned, that there is more money to be made by legalizing mj, than it will be legal.

One flat-fee offer won't do it. This is BUSINESS. Legalization has to offer a better income stream than the one illegal trade does.

I've probably watched too many 'Godfather' movies, right? :shrug:

Peace & g'nite,
M_Y_H

[loudsue]

11. Legalizing marijuana and HEMP would put SOOO many people back to work

solve our energy crisis, save BILLIONS every year on law enforcement and the justice system, and BILLIONS more in costs for incarceration for people who have NO BUSINESS being in jail.

It's going to take a MAJOR, EXTENDED push on the part of WE, THE PEOPLE to break marijuana out of the "war on drugs" idiocy.

In fact, a daily dose of marijuana is exactly what every republican I know needs, and we can start with Blackwater and Wackenhut employees.

This may well be my favorite news item of the year.

:kick::kick::kick: & R

[FourScore]

13. Yep.

And studies show that alcoholism actually DECLINED after the prohibition ended. Society could openly fund and deal with the problems that came with misuse.

[loudsue]

18. That's another good reason....

If you're bumping into things, laughing all the time, eating too much, or forgetting things because you're too stoned all the time, you can at least talk to your doctor about it openly. O8)

Not that I have any experience in any of that, mind you. :evilgrin:

And you can freely check the little box on the medical information sheet that asks: Do you take any herbal remedies?

(Oh, hell yes! )


:kick::kick::kick::kick:

[TheMadMonk]

19. But it would put the cotton growers out of business.

Actually thats a bonus. Cotton is an environmental nightmare.

MJ grows virtually anywhere with a very limited water requirement.
It's fibers are stronger than cotton and wood fibers.
Paper made from MJ can be recycled more often than that made from wood pulp.
It's oil (from seeds) is easily converted into fuel.
100% of the plant can be used.


That crack about the cotton industry. IIRC they were the ones who got MJ on the shit list in the first place. It was a major threat to the rich Southern cotton growers. It was a fiber crop that could be grown by anyone anywhere, including all those "niggers" who should be working the cotton fields.

Marijuana threatened the cotton growers through loss of both a cheap captive workforce, and market share. And they had the money and the clout to lobby for it's abolition. I seem to recall some of their ads calling for prohibition of MJ were very racist.

[Ghost in the Machine]

17. I've been advocating legalization. taxation and regulation since

I was 16 years old. I think it's crazy NOT to legalize. If they legalized, regulated & taxed the industry like the alcohol & tobacco industries it could really work out well...

[DarkTirade]

20. I've never smoked anything legal or otherwise

but I've seen what marijuana does to people and I totally agree with you. All it does is make people a little lazy, laid back, forgetful, willing to wax philosophical at the drop of a hat, and gives them the munchies. Which is why I've never smoked, I already have those qualities in far more abundance than I would like. :) I really don't need chemical help with them.
As long as people will still get in just as much trouble for driving stoned as they would for driving drunk, I'm all for legalizing it. (Come to think of it... people should get in more trouble than they do now for driving drunk or stoned than they do now... but that's just my opinion. :) )

[The Vinyl Ripper]

26. There is very little to no evidence that stoned drivers are any more dangerous

Than completely straight ones..

http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/nhtsa1.htm

[Mabus]

35. There was an article in our local paper recently about all the slow drivers in town

It was basically a vanity piece by a new member of our community who complained about all the "slow drivers" around town. Her big complaint was that people drove at or below the speed limit! She said was used to people zipping around and speeding up to make lights. I just that it was an odd commentary to make. Why complain about people driving safely, obeying speed limits and being courteous drivers?

When I mentioned the article to a friend from out of town he agreed with the writer's assessment. He thought the drivers here were more mellow than else where. That's when it dawned on us: there are a lot of stoners in my town. They're mellowed out when they drive, they aren't in a big hurry and they don't want to get caught. As a result, there are some very careful and considerate stoned drivers who don't want to get caught. They're more aware of their surroundings than people who drive while drinking.

fwiw, I know I've run into more than one stoned friend at the store who told me they got stoned to relax when they got home from work rather than having a beer. They got stoned so they could run errands. If they went home and had a couple of beers it would make them sleepy or sloppy. They opted to get stoned because, contrary to popular belief, they said that smoking pot re-engerizes or refocuses them and they get more done. In fact, I've got a friend who got stoned before doing some plumbing work. He claimed getting stoned helped him get the job done because he didn't frustrated when something didn't work out and, as he said "all of a sudden it all made sense" and there was beauty in it that he hadn't realized before.

[Jackpine Radical]

70. I found that a mild high used to help me study statistics.

I could sort of "visualize" probability clouds and whatnot.

[truedelphi]

66. I have smoked but the big thing about the herb and me

Is that my allergies made me a space cadet. I was mocked for it in grade school and high school but by college in the late 60's, I was adored.

"you are so mellow" etc.

I feel I owe a great deal of my current sanity (scant as it may be) to the notion that mellow has its place, and to those few years of college life when I didn't have to feel bad that I'm not the swiftest knife in the drawer...

[LeftishBrit]

21. Not at all a bad idea

After all, governments already benefit from taxes on drugs: alcohol and tobacco. Why not do the same with marijuana? You'd also save on the costs of endlessly prosecuting and incarcerating users.

[TheModernTerrorist]

22. one billion

will buy a lot of weed...

...just saying

[BlooInBloo]

23. lol! Reminds me of RoboCop2.

[druidity33]

24. Marijuana Called Top U.S. Cash Crop?

Then, why is it always so dry around here?

I sure would like to be able to just go buy some at the store someday...

:smoke:

[mdmc]

25. yes!

[Ganja Ninja]

27. I hear ya!

It's such a pain in the ass trying to find let alone find any decent quality. If only I could buy it like beer or wine, at a convenience store.

[wicket]

32. Pipes are pretty full here in Boston

:smoke:

:D

[sofa king]

33. Lemme tell you about the drought of '85-'87, whippersnapper.

Back when the CIA created this new product called crack to lay on the masses, the Reagan Administration made sure to create the market for it by targeting domestic and international growers on a massive scale. There was no dope to be had, anywhere, but people were blocking traffic on 14th Street in DC to sell that damned crack.

[zabet]

67. Unnnnhhhh..

The Chronic is superb 'round here!
:smoke:

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. Can someone please tell me what's the difference between Pot and Prozac?

If you argue that the pharma's are trying to medicate our population with prozac, wouldn't you also have to say that pot would have the same effect?

[ProudDad]

36. You can't grow prozac

in a window box...

Like decentralized Solar Power, pot's democratic...

[The Backlash Cometh]

40. Okay. I'll accept that answer.

[Mr Rabble]

61. Not one single death caused directly by MJ. Ever.

Prozac has been known to cause psychotic episodes, seizures, etc...

When there are side effects from the Prozac, then can be life threatening. Not the case with weed.

[rucky]

64. and you can't patent marijuana

kapeesh?

[lfairban]

37. Completely different.

Prozac is a Serotonin re-uptake inhibitor. Marijuana is an endorphin re-uptake inhibitor. IIRC.

[The Backlash Cometh]

41. sigh.

[killbotfactory]

45. Prozac is more dangerous

Hell, aspirin is more dangerous than pot.

[TalkingDog]

51. Pot, although it can be "bred" to be stronger, is not a purified chemical that

works only on one set of neurochemical receptors in the brain(for serotonin). And the addition of any SSRI (like Prozac) may throw the balance of other neurotransmitters off even further.... So some people will react by becoming even more depressed to the point of suicide or even become psychotic.

We also have receptors in our brains that receive cannabinoids which are mild natural pain killers. Our body naturally produces chemicals for these receptors, much like they produce serotonin for serotonin receptors.

The hippocampus, cerebellum and basal ganglia have a lot of cannabinoid receptors. The hippocampus is located in the temporal lobe and helps with short-term memory. The cerebellum controlls coordination and the basal ganglia controls unconscious muscle movements so when you are smoked up, you can be clumsy and "woozy".

Along with euphoria, pain management and a number of other psyhcological effects, it can be used to retard glaucoma, to treat asthma, to stop seizures, to lower blood pressure, suppress nausea, decrease muscle spasms, stimulate appetite, and eliminate menstrual pain. Because of its therapeutic nature, marijuana has been used in the treatment of several conditions including: cancer and AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis.. There have even been studies that suggest that the reason even heavy MJ users don't get lung cancer is that there are protective chemicals that offset the potential damages of the cancer causing chemicals found in the smoke.

The difference? Statistically Prozac causes more serious perhaps irreversible problems where as there are only short-term, reversible problems with MJ and many good benefits to offset the minor problem.

On edit:
Oh, and did I mention???: Drug companies really can't make any money off of it, so that's pretty much why it's illegal and you can get a 'scrip for Prozac any day....

[Warren DeMontague]

76. Pot doesn't neutralize people's sex drives, which prozac can do.

That's one reason the PTB don't like it as much. They'd rather have millions upon millions of helpfully medicated, placid, serene little corporate production units, preferably free of pesky emotions, horniness, upper brain function, that sort of thing.

Pot can cause people to laugh, eat, get horny, question authority.. all extremely dangerous side effects--- if your game is controlling the masses.

But beyond that, if we were spending $40 Billion a year to wage "war" on Prozac, if 80 million otherwise law-abiding citizens were being made "criminals" for using it recreationally without harming themselves or others, I would call that ridiculous too.

[Ezlivin]

30. "Your marijuana taxes paid for this rebuilt and strengthened bridge."

Enjoy a safe drive home.

[wicket]

31. PLEASE!!!

:kick:

[Wiley50]

34. But Legalizing Pot would put the Bush Crime Family out of the Import Buisness

That's why we can't do that.

[Raksha]

39. And that's EXACTLY why they will fight tooth and nail

to keep it illegal!

But Legalizing Pot would put the Bush Crime Family out of the Import Buisness.

IIRC there was no bigger supporter of Prohibition than the Mafia.

[Uncle Joe]

38. It should be legalized, the law against it is criminal,

fascists bastards! Criminalizing pot is just another tool for the corporations to keep the American People in chains.

[Disturbed]

42. Could a CA Law prevail against the Federal Law?

I support legalization of MJ but how would this prevail?

[Uncle Joe]

43. It can't by it self, especially with the right wing Supreme Court

The movement will need to spread beyond California, this may be a long shot, but historically speaking, most all social changes started out as long shots.

[dkofos]

44. It will never happen. Makes far to much sense.

[beastieboy]

46. My alcohol bill would go way down if I could get legal pot.

[Disturbed]

47. In CA a person can get an MD to write a MJ script.

It isn't that difficult. Even a growers license is available. The Feds have been trying to shut down the little MJ stores but they keep popping back up. It may not be impossible for CA to decriminalize soon. Total legality might take a few more years. I sense that may arrive, as well.

[ellisonz]

48. Just do it.

[FourScore]

55. Just say yes!

[sarcasmo]

49. Kick.

[proud patriot]

50. it's been California's #1 cash crop since 1900

It has always seemed a waste of money to allow
hemp and pot to remain on the black market .

While simultaneously using tax$ to fight it's
production .

:crazy:

[FourScore]

56. Really? Since 1900? Well, I'll be...

I know it was for me personally starting in 1981.:evilgrin:

[proud patriot]

59. In High School I did a report on it

:)

[FourScore]

60. I know a woman who was asked to give an anti-drug speech

at her kids High School. She had to get stoned to write it.

[alfredo]

74. It's been Kentucky's top crop for a long time. Tobacco is leaving, but

pot remains.

[bahrbearian]

52. They can make a lot more money with the Forefeiture Laws.

[FourScore]

57. Those make me sick. Unfortuenately, you may be right. n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

78. The state can make far more money on taxation of legal weed.

The forfeiture laws, however, are open to easy corruption. Huge amounts just vanish in the forfeitures, and expensive propeties and toys are sold - often to people with inside knowledge of when they're being sold - for pennies on the dollar.

Law enforcement is, for many, a noble profession. For many others, it's just a real big, well organized, well armed gang.

[Faux pas]

54. ..

:bounce: :wow: :thumbsup: :hi: :kick:

[ThingsGottaChange]

58. What fries my butt

is that someone can sit in a bar all day long and get totally shitfaced, get in their car and kill a family of five on their way to the movies. Thats ok. I have nothing against moderate drinking, by the way.

But, how many times has someone had a few hits off a joint and somehow managed to kill that same family of five? I realize it's all politics and $$$ but, this is so fucking obvious to anyone with a minimum of 5 brain cells.

Too bad I don't smoke anymore. It would probably help with my anger issues on this subject!

:smoke:

[Gregorian]

77. You aren't alone.

It's big business keeping it illegal.

I also don't smoke anymore.

What I find interesting is how this FISA law has me thinking about all of those many years that I smoked cannibis, and how to me America was just how it is for people right now. It's as though nothing has changed for me. My phone was always "tapped". From the 70's on, I always self censored my phone conversations. It has always been a fascist country for people like us.

And by the way, living in Northern California, it's hard to believe just how big this crop is. I continue to realize it. When you spend time in real estate you begin to see just how big it is. Whole communities that only buy and sell land and houses to the insider guys. Houses that are bought for use as grow rooms.

[provis99]

62. wasn't Schwarzenegger a big pothead back in the day?

I seem to remember some cheezy bodybuilding movie showing Der Arnold smoking a massive doobie, and talking while stoned on camera. Man, these Republicans sure turn into hypocrites.

[spag68]

73. Don't forget the steroids.

[porphyrian]

63. Fuck yeah. - n/t

[superkia]

65. I would bet there is too much money to lose.

The country would gain money in taxes but I would guess their officials in this country making money off of it coming across our open borders and they don't want to lose that now do they? I don't see why it shouldn't be legalized, just make a harsh penalty for anyone that gives or sells it to children.

[Warren DeMontague]

68. Good. Legailize, Regulate, and Tax it. It's well past time. The "drug war" is a cruel joke.

Enough, already.

[tactics]

71. if god wanted us to get high he would have give us weed

in the freest country in the world?, i can get put in a cage for having a plant.
PUT IN A CAGE FOR HAVING A PLANT! but legal alcohol and tobacco kill. spinach has killed more people in the last year than marijuana, a plant legal for all of human history save the last 70 years. by the way just putting this out there, ron paul has stated he will legalize marijuana if elected president. (hes really a libertarian, which is a reason why he is a good man)

[DeSwiss]

72. I can see only one down side to all of this....

....Nacho shortage.




K&R!!!