Keep up with the latest news on the fight against marijuana in California and around the country.
As former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration, we write to ask you, the State’s highest level and most visible political leader, to take a position on Proposition 64 before the election next Tuesday. For the reasons set out below, we urge you to oppose Prop 64. Your voice, Governor, is critical.
Read MoreIt is curious that Governor Brown said while being interviewed by “Meet the Press,” March 2, 2014, “The problem with anything, a certain amount is OK. But there is a tendency to go to extremes, and all of a sudden, if there is advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great State.” Carla Lowe, Founder, Co-chair, Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALM)said, “He then turned his back on Californians 4 days later and accepted over $108,000 from Sean Parker and his wife, both financial backers of Prop 64. We believe he further put California in jeopardy, maybe forever, by allowing it to become the world’s largest producer of marijuana by not demanding enforcement of federal law.
Read MoreThe marijuana of today comes in numerous forms; smoked, vaporized, butters, waxes, oils, and edibles. What they all have in common is their THC potency (THC is the psychoactive, intoxicating and addictive cannabinoid in marijuana) which is 10-40x greater than the marijuana of the 1960’s. Today’s marijuana has been genetically engineered to maximize THC and minimize CBD (the non-psychoactive, non-intoxicating, non-addictive; cannabinoid with potentially therapeutic value).
Read MoreWe have a genuine traffic-safety concern related to the legalization of recreation marijuana use, including marijuana candies, foods, and concentrates. It has taken generations to educate the driving public about drinking and driving and to strengthen laws to reduce drunk driving. Proposition 64 would create new traffic- safety issues and increase the problem of impaired driving.
Read MoreThe legalization of marijuana allows the pot industry to aggressively advertise and market a crude street drug as well as hundreds of additional products containing extremely high levels of THC. The marketing of these products along with easy access to unlimited supplies expands the customer base for marijuana and normalizes its use. As a result, the pot industry is free to openly advertise, manufacture, process, transport, and distribute massive quantities of drugs. This gives other "unlicensed" drug dealers the ability to blend in - to literally "hide in plain sight."
Read MoreIt's bad enough that we already lose so many Americans to cigarettes, alcoholism, and drunken driving. Do we really want to endorse the loss of millions more potentially productive Americans via Marijuana?
Read MoreUsing marijuana as a form of tax revenue is terrible policy that doesn't hold weight in reality.
Read MoreA research study that followed children from birth up to age 38 has found that people who smoked cannabis four or more days of the week over many years ended up in a lower social class than their parents, with lower-paying, less skilled and less prestigious jobs than those who were not regular cannabis smokers. These regular and persistent users also experienced more financial, work-related and relationship difficulties, which worsened as the number of years of regular cannabis use progressed.
Read More“The judges are sending a message, and so are we: Marijuana dispensaries can either follow the law or they will pay a high price for their actions,” City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said. “Every business has to comply with zoning laws. You can’t open a dog kennel or a dry cleaner anywhere you like, and neither can you open a marijuana dispensary in neighborhoods where City zoning laws forbid them. My office will continue to close these illegal dispensaries and see that their operators face stiff consequences.”
Read MoreThe Gazette has started a perspective series that examines health, social, regulatory and financial issues associated with legal marijuana. Here is a taste:
"... The ugly truth is that Colorado was suckered. It was promised regulation and has been met by an industry that fights tooth and nail any restrictions that limit its profitability. ”
Read More
In 2005, for every $1 collected in taxes on alcohol and tobacco, almost $14 was spent to repair the vast social damages caused by their use. Legalization of marijuana will see increased use and increased social damage as a result.
The “medical” marijuana experience has shown that growers and dispensaries sell marijuana on a cash basis "under the table" and are not paying taxes. It is also impossible to track sales, unless they are investigated by law enforcement. This has put a huge burden on the already stretched budget of our police force.
With legalization, dispensaries will be primary sellers of marijuana. Do we expect them to suddenly start paying taxes?
The tax burden falls to cities and counties under the legalization initiative. The state of California cannot collect taxes from the sales of marijuana, therefore this monumental and expensive task falls to each of the state’s 416 cities and 58 counties. The end result will be a patchwork quilt of taxes and procedures across all local governments. Will your city or county be able to collect taxes from the large, powerful marijuana cartels operating in your area?
Regulating the growing and selling of marijuana will also default to the same under-funded cities and counties. Anyone will be able to grow and sell marijuana, even those with a criminal record. Much of the marijuana in California is supplied by illegal drug cartels and marijuana grow sites that ravage our environment. Legalization, as proposed, does nothing to fix these problems. Drug cartels and other, smaller operations will always want to operate in the black market, as they won't have to report their sales, pay their taxes, or adhere to marijuana-related laws and ordinances. As a Rand research report concluded, “There is a tremendous profit motive for the existing black market to stay in the black market, as they can cover their costs of production and make a nice profit.”
A further problem occurs when employment is taken into consideration. Employers will be forced to accommodate marijuana usage and will not be able to test for use in their employees. The federal government, which employs more California citizens than any other single entity, requires a drug-free workplace. If this can’t be guaranteed, jobs will go to other states.
The proliferation of pot will affect our workforce, bringing slower upward mobility to our citizens and stifling their income (as well as the taxes they would generate). Less qualified workers will hurt employment and our economy as a whole.
No employer, public or private, will be able to protect themselves from the liabilities of marijuana use.
