TAX HEMP. WHY LET CRIMINALS KEEP ALL THE PROFIT?
CAN THE HUMBOLDT COUNTY BUSINESS MODEL SAVE CALIFORNIA?
Humboldt county IS an exporter of crops. Our farmers are famous worldwide. Our county has a trade balance that is profitable. If we could increase the yield of our farmers, all would benefit. HOW? Legalize and TAX Marijuana. A tax of one dollar per gram would yield an astounding quantity of money... Why let the criminals keep all the profit ? We could export by the TON to other countries like Holland... Biodiesel fuel made from hemp seed could be used to power all our school busses protecting the children from toxic OIL exhaust! Ever SMELL A DIESEL? Horrible smell and a KNOWN CARCINOGEN! The beauty of this plan is that I would not pay a penny in Tax. I never purchase hemp. It's a VOLUNTARY TAX !!! We could reduce the buget for the PO'LICE department and layoff NARCs, prison guards, CAMP helicopter pilots, Judges, Lawers, and Informers. Fiscal responsibility is essential to the efficient use of taxpayer dollars. We could reduce the budget of social services too. When daddy goes to Jail, mom and the kids suffer. Legalization would help keep families together. REALITY CHECK: Most families require TWO incomes to pay for food and shelter. How many families have been destroyed by the ridiculous laws?
Increase revenue and reduce costs by LEGALIZING AND TAXING HEMP. Make Harry Anslinger's dream come true. His Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 is a fundamentally good idea. Holland has legalized medical marijuana and if we charged them a mere $1.00 per gram TAX we could add $1,070,000 per ton to the State of California budget. A million here, a million there...pretty soon it adds up to REAL MONEY!
The cost savings alone would be fantastic. Here in Humboldt county the POor LICE fly helicopters around looking for fields of Grass. It costs a fortune to fly a helicopter... I've heard that it costs $400.00 an hour... WHY fly at all? TAX HEMP! Support businesses are not paying their sales tax either. Recently, a lady in Eureka was arrested for selling a $35,000 electricity generator for cash to a PO'LICE officer. She was charged with evading SALES TAX laws. Hydroponic gardening requires lights, generators, plastic pipes, fertilizer... are all these businesses PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE of Sales TAX?
Is OSHA protecting our farmers? People frequently have serious industrial accidents refining Hemp with butane to manufacture HASH OIL. If OSHA regulated this industry the safety of the workers would improve. The butane explodes and burns the factory to the ground. (source: Times-Standard Newspaper, Eureka, Sept,2,2003) Agricultural workers have no benefits at all. No minimum wage, no 401k, no medical insurance, no social security. Wages paid to farmworkers are not subject to payroll TAX. The IRS does not collect a penny from this HUGE industry.
You may be wondering, how did such insane laws get passed in the first place? Well, the fledgeling plastics industry wanted to eliminate the hemp rope competition so they could sell plastic rope (and plastic fabric).
To "get a clue" watch the US ARMY film called "HEMP FOR VICTORY". It is a WWII film telling American farmers to grow more rope for use on ships... Clues for the Clueless! www.norml.org Plastic is made from OIL that is often imported from foreign countries. Hemp, on the other hand, is grown in America by Americans. Paper can be manufactured from hemp. George Washington grew hemp for paper on the Mount Vernon farm. The Declaration of Independence was printed of Hemp paper.
The USDA would regulate the quality and safety of Marijuana. Under our current law, dangerous additives have been added to the grass sold by criminals. PCP, opium, DMT and Paraquat have all been added to the weed sold. Unlike marijuana, these chemicals are actually dangerous. Legalization would help protect the consumer. Of course, smoking marijuana is bad for your health. It causes a nasty cough, emphasima and lung cancer. Any smoke in the lungs is harmful. Remember to BAKE and EAT the drug. Time tested recipies for "Alice B Tolklas" brownies and spaghetti sauce are widely available in the Internet.
Here's the bottom line...
Taxation of Marijuana would reduce government spending while increasing revenue, promoting safety and increasing employment. The Marijuana business is NEVER going to simply "go away". The choice we have is clear.
Let criminals keep the profit or use the money for balancing the Budget of the State of California.
The time has come to legalize marijuana... why not TAX it and use the money to buy books for public schools?
Did you know that selling GLASS Marijuana Pipes is against the law? 
Here is a souvineer piece of art from a glass blowing website... the US Government decided to arrest people for selling marijuana PIPES over the internet... INSANE waste of taxpayers dollars...LEGALIZE GLASS... I'm not making this up! GLASS! Melted Silicon Dioxide !!! Does our government need to "wake up and smell the coffee" ?
Here is some art I did... something to take your mind off the so-called "war on drugs" ... relief from ridiculous laws... 
I emailed this to the Jefferson Airplane website and they posted it in their Fan Photos section... I'm very happy to get a thank you email from them... I did the drawing during a class called "The History of Modern Art" given at Humboldt State University. Every time we would watch a slideshow of great art and then have a classroom discussion... Quite fun... I spent a lot of time doodling and drawing quick sketches of the paintings to help me remember which one was done by which artist. We had exams that required that we remember who painted what... So taking notes that included sketches was the most efficient way to study... |