The Financial Cost of Cannabis Laws

[align=center]Cannabis Considerations[/align]

A person can make any number of logical and honest arguments for the
lessening of restrictions concerning the current federally mandated cannabis tax,
but until you make the average American; the ones without first hand information,
understand the economic consequences there will never be a revaluation of the
legislation.
Concerns about personal freedom and individual liberty are not going to
carry the day here. Neither is the issue of medical usage. There is only one real
hope; to help the average American see the immense financial burden placed
upon them and other taxpayers by a select group of Washington insiders. And to
help them to understand the honest financial consequences of reexamining
existing cannabis legislation.
You can make the point that this plant, which grows well in poor soils,
without expensive chemicals, can help lessen oil imports by producing Bio-Diesel.
A locally produced alternative to imported oil, which happens to be less harmful
on the environment (less nitrates). You may want to make the point that paper
products produced from four acres of forest can be made with less pollution from
one acre of hemp. You might want to talk about the tens of thousands of family
farms that could benefit from supplying an earth friendly series of products. You
could even point out that depriving smugglers of a market helps protect Americaâ??s
borders.
Although current administration policies refuse to allow any research into
the products available from the family Canibciace this has not prevented research
in other industrial countries. The list of uses for this persistent weed is a long one.
Leaf- can be used for animal bedding, mushroom compost, or mulch
Seed/hemp oil
Food: Granola, protein rich flour, margarine, food supplements,
salad oil, health products
Soap: Shampoo, cosmetics, bath gels
Other Uses: oil paints, solvents, varnish, birdseed, chain saw
lubricants, putty, printing ink, fuel
Hemp Stalk:
Clothing; Handbags, fabrics, denim, diapers shoes, socks,
cottonized fibers
Other uses: Rope, twine, nets, canvas bags tarps and carpets
Paper: Printing paper, fine and specialty papers, technical filter
paper, newsprint, cardboard, and packaging products
Building materials: Fiberboard, and insulation materials, fiberglass
substitute, concrete blocks, stucco and mortar
Industrial products: agro-fiber composites, compression molded
parts, brake and clutch linings, caulking
Source: Nova Institute, Courtesy of Hemp Horizons by John Roulac (Chelsea
Green Publishing)
While all those products sound pretty good the real benefits come from
reallocating the huge amounts of money currently used to persecute 14.6 million
American and incarcerate 735,000 of them per year (FBI 2000). Those 735,000
persons are small business entrepreneurs and with a change in the law could in
turn employ other Americans, turning a tax burden into a revenue stream. How
many jobs? In Amsterdam each of the more than 250 licensed and regulated
Cannabis coffeshops generates employment for 20 people. In tiny Amsterdam
that means five thousand jobs and a river of tourists spending money on hotels,
restaurants, museums, transport, concerts, other local activities. In America those
same 735,000 small business entrepreneurs could be providing jobs for 14.7
million (14,700,000) fellow Americans. At $6.50 an hour those jobs could
generate $198.74 billion dollars in personal income alone. What nearsighted
political decision deprives the American economy of this immediate sustainable
stimulus?
We can never win â??the war on drugsâ?� any more than previous
administrations could win the â??war on bootleggersâ?�. Because there is no control
without regulation. The 18th amendment proved that, banning something does
not control that activity. You cannot control a car by releasing the steering wheel
and legislating control. By allowing a distinction between â??softâ?� and â??hardâ?� drugs
the Federal Government could convert an unpopular and derided politically
motivated campaign into an economy building tax base that lowers governmental
expenditures.
Cannabis is not illegal in this country. It is illegal to produce, distribute or
possess cannabis without a tax stamp, and the administration of those stamps is
controlled by the Internal Revenue, under extremely narrow guidelines mandated
by the United States Congress. The mechanisms to issue and administer the
documentation required for such a system still exist and it would be the work of a
day for Congress to reword the current Federal statutes and allow individual
states to decide if they would allow a coffeshop style system in their state. If an
individual state chose to allow the controlled consumption of cannabis in certain
areas there is already a bureaucrat with a desk in Washington to issue those
stamps and administer appropriate taxes.
What political dogma keeps America from using itâ??s native assets to the
benefit of its people? What cabal has conspired to deny an industrial society of an
alternative to pollution and degradation of the environment? What twisted logic
causes us to turn 735,000 small business men and women a year from taxpayers
to tax burdens?
We are talking about real money here, not just a few billion but as much as
a Trillion dollars (1,000,000,000,000). Not stretched out over ten years but this
year and every year; from now on. Wouldnâ??t your non smoking neighbor like
healthcare for his year old daughter? Donâ??t you know some old farmer that would
rather work outside than watch TV? Increased employment and increased
revenue from their purchasing power, decreased government (Federal and State)
expenses without a decrease in services. More money for school, healthcare,
college education, honest drug education, prescription drug coverage, prison
reform, child abuse prevention, domestic violence intervention, military pay
increases, pay down the National Debt. Name your favorite cause, could they use
in increase in funding?
When ordinary people realize how much of their hard earned money goes
to Federal taxes that support domestic terrorism and the actual costs of waging a
war on 20 percent of our population, support for the â??War on Drugsâ?� will dwindle
rapidly. It just isnâ??t cost effective to turn employers and taxpayers into tax
burdens. Not while you are cutting services and putting a huge financial burden
on our children and their children. The question now becomes â??how much waste
will a taxpayer accept?â?�
As more modern industrial nations and neighbors reevaluate their
Cannabis laws in a more scientific light this administrations refusal to consider
any dissenting views, scientific or social, stands in sharp contrast to the scientific
realities and in open defiance of the will of the people in states that have voted to
open debate or even (heavens forbid) reexamine penalties. Even the Supreme
Court has cleared the way for state laws allowing ill patients to smoke marijuana if
a doctor recommends it.
By abandoning Ainslingerâ??s Folly and accepting the scientific evidence of
the 21st century the Administration could give the entire economy serious,
sustainable growth. After all itâ??s not the hemp that cause the violence, itâ??s the
money. Letâ??s take the money away from the criminals and build ourselves a better
country.
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waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy too long for a stoner to read

thats crazy shit if its all true, $1 trillion in funds every year, that seems a bit high but what do i know. I don't think weed will ever be legalized just because of the propaganda they put in peoples brains for their gain

Well this stoner read it, I am registered & voting (absentee ballot) due to a mini trip to sunny/warm :) Phoenix,AZ.

but imported oil and midddle east violence gets big contracts with taxpayers money for rumsfeld etc's military interests. :D

very good point but americans have had their taxes squandered on rubbish for ever. its popular culture lol.

Luck not required. Spread truth. Truth will set you free.
Register, Participate, VOTE.
The Doctor

that was possibly the best factual literature i've read that was writin by an american and with the price inflation in the central united states it is probually over a million i hope you dont mind but i forwarded this to some activists i know i put your name on it and the site

over a trillion sorry to high lol

I suggest Drug War Crimes: The Consequences of Prohitibtion by Jeffrey Miron.
It shows how similar to the prohibition of alcohol, the more drug laws are enforced the higher the homicide rate.

cool so do you think they will have a copy at the local library lol i think ill try to find it on the net

yes your tax dollars have been spent on useless wars and other useless things but wouldn't you like them to be spent on something beneficial for your country such as i dunno public health care or even better the poverty stricken parts of america[not a challenge just looking for a responce]