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A curious thing happened in California. As voters rejected Proposition 19, a statewide initiative that promised to tax marijuana, they voted overwhelmingly for local measures to tax marijuana.
Voters in nine California cities passed measures to tax local marijuana establishments, including existing medical pot dispensaries and any recreational weed businesses that would have opened under Proposition 19.
In Sacramento, more than 70 percent of voters imposed a tax of up to 4 percent on the city's 39 registered dispensaries. And in Santa Barbara and Morro Bay, voters roundly rejected propositions to ban medical pot outlets.
And so, even as Californians rejected a hazy initiative to legalize pot for recreational use, they gave new clarity to what already exists: a burgeoning, billion-dollar medical marijuana industry that has made pot widely accessible in the Golden State.
"We know it's popular to tax cannabis," said Dale Gieringer, California director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "It certainly establishes even more clearly the enduring legality of medical marijuana in California."
Proposition 19 promised to legalize marijuana for all residents 21 and older and to give local governments the power to tax and regulate retail pot sales. It notably didn't specify what those taxes could be.
The initiative's support took a dive as soon as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declared he would "vigorously enforce" federal marijuana laws in California. He said any recreational pot business that paid its taxes would be confessing to a crime.
Though Proposition 19 was widely supported by voters 29 and younger, Ngaio Bealum, publisher of a marijuana magazine, West Coast Cannabis, said it wasn't necessarily seen as a must vote for pot users, given the ready access to medical marijuana.
He said medical marijuana recommendations have become akin to pot-smoking licenses in California. "You talk to the doctor. You give him $100. And you're good for the year," Bealum said.
Meanwhile, legalizing pot for recreational use scared business owners, as California Chamber of Commerce ads warned of a stoned work force.
And many in the medical marijuana trade feared the impacts of wider legalization.
So Proposition 19's demise is cheered by a unique cast of celebrants – from police lobbyist John Lovell to pot grower Stephen Gasparas.
"There were so many serious issues with this initiative that you didn't even have to get to the philosophical question of whether marijuana should be legalized or not," said Lovell, who represents state police chiefs and narcotics officers' associations. "Ultimately, the measure fell under its own weight."
Gasparas, who runs a Humboldt County dispensary and a pot-growing warehouse in Shasta County, said legalizing pot for leisure would have undercut hard-fought acceptance of medical marijuana.
"People have a lot more respect for it when there is a doctor's recommendation vs. people going into a place and saying, 'Give me a six-pack of joints and a six-pack of Miller,' " Gasparas said. "It just doesn't have the same meaning."
Proposition 19 faced complaints it would put weed-altered drivers on the road without reliable tests for driving under the influence. Business people feared lawsuits for firing workers for pot use.
"Employers were really concerned about what would happen if this passed," said Denise Davis, spokeswoman for CalChamber, whose radio ads depicted a nurse high on pot.
"There were fear-mongering ads," Bealum said. "That nurse isn't high on marijuana. She's high on prescription drugs."
Richard Lee, an Oakland marijuana entrepreneur who pumped $1.5 million into the ballot, vowed to help bring another marijuana legalization measure before voters in 2012.
Lee said Proposition 19 winning 46 percent support from voters revealed an electorate increasingly inclined to legalize pot. But he said many voters "just didn't like the details" of the measure.
Lee credited the initiative with persuading Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Proposition 19 opponent, to sign landmark legislation to reduce simple pot possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction with a $100 fine.
Other pot fights loom.
Gieringer said the Legislature may have to clarify rules for what constitutes legal transactions at medical dispensaries. And he said advocates may sue over a Rancho Cordova measure to impose a tax of up to $600 to $900 per square foot on personal pot cultivation.
Rancho Cordova's Measure O could charge a medical user $15,000 for growing pot in a 5-by-5-foot space at home. Though he supports dispensary taxes, Gieringer said the city cultivation levy violates the 1996 Proposition 215 medical marijuana law.
"Nobody is going to pay that tax," he said.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: sacbee.com
Author: Peter Hecht
Contact: Contact Us - sacbee.com
Copyright:The Sacramento Bee
Website:California voters send mixed message over marijuana tax - Marijuana - sacbee.com
Voters in nine California cities passed measures to tax local marijuana establishments, including existing medical pot dispensaries and any recreational weed businesses that would have opened under Proposition 19.
In Sacramento, more than 70 percent of voters imposed a tax of up to 4 percent on the city's 39 registered dispensaries. And in Santa Barbara and Morro Bay, voters roundly rejected propositions to ban medical pot outlets.
And so, even as Californians rejected a hazy initiative to legalize pot for recreational use, they gave new clarity to what already exists: a burgeoning, billion-dollar medical marijuana industry that has made pot widely accessible in the Golden State.
"We know it's popular to tax cannabis," said Dale Gieringer, California director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "It certainly establishes even more clearly the enduring legality of medical marijuana in California."
Proposition 19 promised to legalize marijuana for all residents 21 and older and to give local governments the power to tax and regulate retail pot sales. It notably didn't specify what those taxes could be.
The initiative's support took a dive as soon as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declared he would "vigorously enforce" federal marijuana laws in California. He said any recreational pot business that paid its taxes would be confessing to a crime.
Though Proposition 19 was widely supported by voters 29 and younger, Ngaio Bealum, publisher of a marijuana magazine, West Coast Cannabis, said it wasn't necessarily seen as a must vote for pot users, given the ready access to medical marijuana.
He said medical marijuana recommendations have become akin to pot-smoking licenses in California. "You talk to the doctor. You give him $100. And you're good for the year," Bealum said.
Meanwhile, legalizing pot for recreational use scared business owners, as California Chamber of Commerce ads warned of a stoned work force.
And many in the medical marijuana trade feared the impacts of wider legalization.
So Proposition 19's demise is cheered by a unique cast of celebrants – from police lobbyist John Lovell to pot grower Stephen Gasparas.
"There were so many serious issues with this initiative that you didn't even have to get to the philosophical question of whether marijuana should be legalized or not," said Lovell, who represents state police chiefs and narcotics officers' associations. "Ultimately, the measure fell under its own weight."
Gasparas, who runs a Humboldt County dispensary and a pot-growing warehouse in Shasta County, said legalizing pot for leisure would have undercut hard-fought acceptance of medical marijuana.
"People have a lot more respect for it when there is a doctor's recommendation vs. people going into a place and saying, 'Give me a six-pack of joints and a six-pack of Miller,' " Gasparas said. "It just doesn't have the same meaning."
Proposition 19 faced complaints it would put weed-altered drivers on the road without reliable tests for driving under the influence. Business people feared lawsuits for firing workers for pot use.
"Employers were really concerned about what would happen if this passed," said Denise Davis, spokeswoman for CalChamber, whose radio ads depicted a nurse high on pot.
"There were fear-mongering ads," Bealum said. "That nurse isn't high on marijuana. She's high on prescription drugs."
Richard Lee, an Oakland marijuana entrepreneur who pumped $1.5 million into the ballot, vowed to help bring another marijuana legalization measure before voters in 2012.
Lee said Proposition 19 winning 46 percent support from voters revealed an electorate increasingly inclined to legalize pot. But he said many voters "just didn't like the details" of the measure.
Lee credited the initiative with persuading Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Proposition 19 opponent, to sign landmark legislation to reduce simple pot possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction with a $100 fine.
Other pot fights loom.
Gieringer said the Legislature may have to clarify rules for what constitutes legal transactions at medical dispensaries. And he said advocates may sue over a Rancho Cordova measure to impose a tax of up to $600 to $900 per square foot on personal pot cultivation.
Rancho Cordova's Measure O could charge a medical user $15,000 for growing pot in a 5-by-5-foot space at home. Though he supports dispensary taxes, Gieringer said the city cultivation levy violates the 1996 Proposition 215 medical marijuana law.
"Nobody is going to pay that tax," he said.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: sacbee.com
Author: Peter Hecht
Contact: Contact Us - sacbee.com
Copyright:The Sacramento Bee
Website:California voters send mixed message over marijuana tax - Marijuana - sacbee.com
