NM Senator Proposes Medical Pot Tax

[bedrockbob]

it's all well and good to be indignant here, but that' will not stop this from happening. If you are not registered to vote, register now. Write the senator. Talk to your friends and tell them how much this will impact you and others in your position.

A well placed email does get attention, find his contact information in my previous post in this thread

Yes, register to vote and write your senator, and vote every time you can. If smokers voted, they would have a voice. Sadly, smokers in general fall into that "silent majority". Most politicians are not concerned with the problems of a demographic that offers no vote.

I believe you will find that Sen Sapien is actually pro marijuana, so be supportive of his efforts if you can see a way to do that. Of course the word TAX is a spooky thing, but hey...every product has to pay taxes and they are trying to balance the budget somewhere. Showing what a valuable product marijuana is to the powers that be is not all bad. So tread lightly.

If I were to contact my senator and give him my opinion, I would also give him a solution... like get the money to balance the budget by tightening state government, or stopping the lucrative loans to businesses that contribute to our governor. In that way you would not be attacking his ideass to open the doors for decriminalization, but rather "keeping it fiscal".

This group is talking about taxing the poor no matter if it is MMJ, soda pop, candy, cigarettes, or whatever. MMJ is not the real issue here. The real issue here is that they would rather tax ANYTHING than be made to run a tight ship and stop the bribes and madness.

So if there is an objection to this it should be made on the grounds of not only an MMJ patient, but an informed taxpaying voter.

Just my two cents here.

[patient4200]

Bob, I appreciate your comments here on cannbis.com. I'm doing ok today so I've done a little research on the senator, a first term politico. I can't seem to find anything that indicates he in favor of the MCP. Just a ditty that he said his proposal is up for killing.

If you have anything that shows that the senator is pro MCP, please provide a reference to it. I'd like to see a state senator on our side for a change.

In my letter to the senator I suggested that a collection of GRT would not be inappropriate since it directly benefits the taxpayers of the county where it is collected and 5-7% is not unreasonable, since the dispenary will depend on county services for police and fire protection.

GRT is already being collected from what I've seen.

Being a first term politico, he had to unseat an incumbent I assume so I hope he's not simply trying to attract some attention here. As you said Bob, there are numerous places to save money in New Mexico.

I proposed the very unpopular excise tax on DUI licenses and registrations, something that will make far more money for social programs.

Let's not forget our MCP program is non-profit, the excess funds collected will be going to some approved charity or NM state program. If the state collects this proposed tax, it goes to a general fund, where the people that need the most help likely won't see a nickel.

Now if the senator would propose something that would increase the funding to the mcp directly, he'd have my full support. I suggested raising dispensary license renewals to 5k after the first year, giving new providers time to get on their feet and build a reserve in the case of a crop failure.

Can any dispenser survive a back to back infestation of spider mites or mold?, utilities still have to be paid. If they can't after a year in business, perhaps they need to move to some other type of agriculture.

that's all for now. i gotta take a nap.

[bedrockbob]

Man you hit a good point with the non profit angle. I really hadn't seen it that way. I am certainly not in the know about how they tax non profits though.

All I know is what I have heard about Sapien, and that doesnt mean much. The SWOP folks are in his district and that is what lent credibility to the story that I heard. I didnt see that his proposal was really an attempt to collect taxes as much as get the issues in their faces.

I beleive that the economy/border issues/drug wars trilogy is playing out as a political issue more and more lately (duh! Only 12,000 deaths in the last two years within ten miles of the New Mexico border!). Gary Johnson could be a contender for prez and legalization will be one of his pitches! So it truly is fixing to split wide open. Just a few years ago you would do hard time in Arizona for posession of over an ounce. Now they are looking at some very Californian ideas. Californians are talking about total legalization, and as I understand it (as of a few days ago) any card holder can grow unlimited plants and the State looks the other way. Law enforcement is even pushing for legalization with L.E.A.P., and reform groups are really gaining momentum.

So pardon me if I get excited about it all. I know that the MC program does not stand for legalization, and what may be good to change the drug policy is not nessessarily good for medical cannabis. Still, when they start talking about taxing marijuana I get all goose bumpy thinking about how American business would flourish if we just grew what we consumed and kept a few billion dollars in the US instead of give it to murderers and theives.

Cartman saved the world with his filthy fucking mouth. I truly believe that stoners can save America from depression and socialism by growing sticky bud.

[patient4200]

Legalization is coming, as taxation will certainly provide a much needed cut in expenses to law enforcement and prisons, but that can and will be another discussion. It's the same old story, booze and liquor play a pretty large part of the tax picture in the US, don't have stats, but we all know what big business it is.

We do need to get government under control and operating at much more effective level and that's the real challenge for the 3 or 4 presidents. With our general population getting older and immigration of all sorts getting higher, the USA will be a very different place to live in years to come.

For the moment big pharmacy isn't in the picture, that's going to change in under ten years. I believe we'll see 5 packs of med cannabis being sold at drugstores for prices comparable to tylenol today..might be in an unexpected form as research continues ( might get down to a skin patch).

For the very short term future, we need cash to support a number of public programs, and that's where the mcp comes in with our very unique non-profit model.

I agree, take the money away from the cartels, get a big change in federal policy(off sched 1 for sure), allow patients and producers bigger limits ( the current limit is why prices are still at street level, I had a long discussion with the director of the mcp about pricing a few months ago) If producers could have large operations, prices would fall exponentially to production costs, it's simple economics.

You don't see much tobacco or alcohol smuggling these days, there is simply no money it it ( you do see some cigarette smuggling since the state tax plans vary so much).

The AMA reversal was a very big step, Obama was a very big step, all the new states coming on board is huge, we're on the verge of big changes in the USA and when the baby boomers start retiring in the next few years things are going to start moving very very fast.

For the point of this particular discussion, the MCP program is going to bring a significant amount of GRT into state coffers at current grow limits. I'm sure once producers can maximize their yields the state will be happy with the revenue

Hemp is am amazing industrial product, shame is we're still in the 30's mentality politically, it can be a solution for many many things wrong with how we do business in the USA.

At some point I'ms ure there will be a producer forum somewhere. I'm looking forward to those discussions.

[bedrockbob]

Oh man, I believe that this should be for the people. I shudder to think that legalization will relegate us to smoking corporate pot. The same people that have taken the chances, payed the fines, and kept hope alive during prohibition should be the ones to profit from growing the herb. It is the affliction of the common man. The common man has been milked until he is dry. Marijuana production should be kept fractionalized so that small business and small producers have the edge.

It is like the gold rush. Production of marijuana in profitable amounts is within reach of a single person, a family, or a small group. The big pharma companies have no business further enriching themselves on it. They are talking about helping small business and how that would really jump start the economy...I agree! Jump start a 100 square foot maximum for personal growers and let the Feds worry about the plant count. Go ahead and extend prohibition but only for the PHARMA companiesâ?¦Throw THEM in jail for growing pot. Give â??em ten years for cultivation and take their property away if they dare plant a seed.

There is a huge industry out there within reach of the common American. It is as big as oil, as big as the auto industry, and as big as all other vegetable crops combined. it needs no stimulus package, no government funding, nada. Just the ability to do it without jail time.

I would rather smoke shitty cartel rope than light up a corporate joint. It is for the people man! Legalize!

[axlom69]

To realy understand this issue you peep's need to talk to an accountant about how it will be taxed both on the state level and the fed level. The fed's steal see it as illegal there for the tax just for the fed side in 35% a year, just to stay opened. So yes we do have to pay tax on are med's weather we like it are not.

[coolslayer]

Bob, I appreciate your comments here on cannbis.com. I'm doing ok today so I've done a little research on the senator, a first term politico. I can't seem to find anything that indicates he in favor of the MCP. Just a ditty that he said his proposal is up for killing.

If you have anything that shows that the senator is pro MCP, please provide a reference to it. I'd like to see a state senator on our side for a change.

In my letter to the senator I suggested that a collection of GRT would not be inappropriate since it directly benefits the taxpayers of the county where it is collected and 5-7% is not unreasonable, since the dispenary will depend on county services for police and fire protection.

GRT is already being collected from what I've seen.

Being a first term politico, he had to unseat an incumbent I assume so I hope he's not simply trying to attract some attention here. As you said Bob, there are numerous places to save money in New Mexico.

I proposed the very unpopular excise tax on DUI licenses and registrations, something that will make far more money for social programs.

Let's not forget our MCP program is non-profit, the excess funds collected will be going to some approved charity or NM state program. If the state collects this proposed tax, it goes to a general fund, where the people that need the most help likely won't see a nickel.

Now if the senator would propose something that would increase the funding to the mcp directly, he'd have my full support. I suggested raising dispensary license renewals to 5k after the first year, giving new providers time to get on their feet and build a reserve in the case of a crop failure.

Can any dispenser survive a back to back infestation of spider mites or mold?, utilities still have to be paid. If they can't after a year in business, perhaps they need to move to some other type of agriculture.

that's all for now. i gotta take a nap.

A problem that I foresee with that is that the Producers will have to pass at least some of the cost of the added tax on to the patient/consumer and it is already difficult enough for patients on a fixed income w/medical bills to pay for their medical cannabis.

[patient4200]

it seems that because this tax won't/can't be applied to marinol, it give Marinol a tax advantage in that the price of the fda approved prescription med won't be affected.


One thing I was a little shocked to see was how poorly the bill was written

in one citing they called for retention of invoices for three years...oops the state can audit records back for 7 years.

The costs of administering the new tax are high also, new tax forms new audit procedures and so on.

Interesting stuff to say the least.

The lowest impact method would simple as I've said before collect GRT to support the local communities where the producers operate, and raise the renewal fees for producers to help directly fund the DOH program.

As you'll see in another thread, the proposal was shelved by a wide margin with a patient and a producer both speaking out as to the impact. The big vote down (14-1) tells me that the reps heard from some voters and decided to let things ride for a while before they make another attempt at sticking their hands in the bag to put money into the general fund.

When there are dozens of producers and thousands of patients they can get away adding a small 1-2% surcharge, as it's possible prices won't remain at street levels forever. I somehow think they will stay at current levels for some time, unless the feds get rid of the 95 plant limit and producers can leverage their infrastructure into a high level and grade of production.

Sorry to say I can't see that happening for a while, so producers will spend big bucks for small yields which means prices stay where they are for a good long while.

Still like this better then the California model where some people get uber rich and patients still pay 10+ a gram.

Still a good time to write the senator.....register to vote and let him know where you stand. More funding for the mcp and other public health programs and no new excise tax on the MCP. Tax DUI instead!

[coolslayer]

That's for sure!