Bill O'Donnell illegally self-medicated with marijuana for years for a combat injury and post-traumatic stress from military service in Vietnam — landing him in jail once for possession.
Today, O'Donnell, 58, legally selects medical marijuana pot brands from the "bud tender" at the Coffeeshop Blue Sky in downtown Oakland. And he feels proud the dispensary soon will pay taxes on his purchases — thanks to Oakland's passage of the nation's first cannabis taxation law on July 21.
"I've gone all the way from doing 60 days in jail to paying taxes on this," O'Donnell said. "I'm glad to help out — legitimately."
When 80 percent of Oakland voters approved a gross receipts tax that charged the city's four pot dispensaries $18 for every $1,000 in revenue, they added political smoke to efforts in other California cities to treat municipal budget deficits by taxing medical marijuana revenues.
The Oakland vote also stoked a calculated self-taxation movement by cannabis advocates. Oakland medical pot dispensaries that all but begged to pay new taxes are backing a 2010 ballot initiative drive to legalize marijuana for personal use and soothe the Golden State's fiscal woes with more than $1 billion in state cannabis taxes.
"This is just one tax of many. It's one battle in a big war," said Richard Lee, owner of Coffeeshop Blue Sky. "It's a reverse tax revolt: No taxation without legalization."
Lee, founder of TaxCannabis2010.org, also is president of downtown Oakland's Oaksterdam University, an unusual trade school that teaches marijuana cultivation, retail management and advocacy.
He says the school expects to donate $500,000 for signature gathering for the proposed California Cannabis Initiative.
The Oakland tax vote and the broader intentions of pro-pot activists alarm some law enforcement and anti-drug use groups.
"We're concerned about the storefronts that are trying to legitimize this," said Lori Green, a spokeswoman and parental advocate for the Coalition for a Drug Free California. "It's just another tactic to mainstream marijuana use into our everyday life. Later on, we're going to pay triple or more in costs of new addictions than any new taxes are going to cover."
Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan, who won unanimous support for her resolution to put the Measure F pot dispensary tax before voters, said the tax on cannabis sales could generate $1 million for the city.
Originally, the Oakland city auditor estimated the tax would produce $300,000 annually. But Kaplan said Oakland is seeing a surge in medical marijuana licenses and sales after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced federal authorities will no longer prosecute dispensaries operating under California's 1996 medical marijuana law.
Kaplan said Oakland's new tax, which takes effect Jan. 1, reflects "the world in the way it has already changed.
"I do definitely see this as a shift in the political winds in terms of how people are talking about medical marijuana, marijuana reform and budgeting," Kaplan said.
In Los Angeles, City Council member Janice Hahn recently introduced a motion to create a "cannabis business tax" she said could generate up to $32 million a year from as many as 400 Los Angeles pot dispensaries.
Hahn said the pot tax motion, co-signed by fellow councilman and former police union leader Dennis Zine, was inspired in part by the state's fiscal raids on local budget coffers.
The newly approved state budget borrows $2 billion from local governments and takes another $1.7 billion in redevelopment funds. It would transfer nearly $113 million from Los Angeles to the state this fiscal year, according to a League of California Cities Web site.
"They're coming after even more money from the municipalities," Hahn said. "It really was a motivation to say, 'Hey, here's a new business cropping up — pardon the pun. Let's explore how we can create a new category for cannabis and tax them on their gross sales.'
"Maybe that will mean some services we won't have to cut, some jobs we won't have to get rid of and some police officers we can keep."
The city of Sacramento last month imposed a 45-day moratorium on new medicinal marijuana businesses after an estimated two dozen pot dispensaries opened in town. But the city is working to draft an ordinance governing the establishments — a move that could eventually open the door to imposing a local cannabis tax.
"Everything is on the table right now," said City Council member Sandy Sheedy, who said the city is "starting from scratch" in deciding what to do about its burgeoning medical marijuana trade. "We were watching the vote on that (in Oakland). I was a little surprised it won by 80 percent."
The Oakland vote followed the city's 65 percent approval of a 2004 resolution — Measure Z — that declared that private cannabis use by adults shall be the lowest priority for police. The measure also declared the city's intent to tax all marijuana sales if pot is legalized beyond current medicinal use.
"Oakland has acknowledged that there is a marijuana trade here, medically or not, and it makes more sense to tax and regulate it than leave it underground," said Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.
Bernath said "the state of California has been absent on this discussion."
But in May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, responding to a question about a Field Poll showing 56 percent support for a pot tax, said he favored "an open debate" on the potential rewards or risks.
The California Police Chiefs Association, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement groups condemned proposals to legalize marijuana for all California adults — and tax it.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced a pot legalization and taxation bill. It faces long odds in the Legislature. But he said, "A lot of people are now giving this a second look because of Oakland."
Even before Oakland voters approved the first-of-its-kind cannabis tax, local pot dispensaries were paying into city coffers. A city ordinance, which sets a limit of four Oakland medical marijuana establishments, charges each a $30,000 annual permit fee.
Lee said his Coffeeshop Blue Sky, offering coffee and pastries as well as marijuana, also pays state sales taxes and a $3,000 local business tax. He said he is happy to pay the additional pot tax, at least $45,000 yearly, to "legitimize the cannabis industry."
Customer Coy Jordan, 42, a motorcycle performer who has used medical marijuana for pain since an accident burned his arms and ripped off a thumb, said he hopes California imposes an additional statewide pot tax to help cure the state's financial ills.
"I'm not only a marijuana smoker, I'm a Californian," he said. "We're hurting now. We're in a crisis. It ought to be looked at."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Sacramento Bee
Author: Peter Hecht
Contact: The Sacramento Bee
Copyright: 2009 The Sacramento Bee
Website: Oakland Pot Tax Adds Fuel To Legalization Fire
Today, O'Donnell, 58, legally selects medical marijuana pot brands from the "bud tender" at the Coffeeshop Blue Sky in downtown Oakland. And he feels proud the dispensary soon will pay taxes on his purchases — thanks to Oakland's passage of the nation's first cannabis taxation law on July 21.
"I've gone all the way from doing 60 days in jail to paying taxes on this," O'Donnell said. "I'm glad to help out — legitimately."
When 80 percent of Oakland voters approved a gross receipts tax that charged the city's four pot dispensaries $18 for every $1,000 in revenue, they added political smoke to efforts in other California cities to treat municipal budget deficits by taxing medical marijuana revenues.
The Oakland vote also stoked a calculated self-taxation movement by cannabis advocates. Oakland medical pot dispensaries that all but begged to pay new taxes are backing a 2010 ballot initiative drive to legalize marijuana for personal use and soothe the Golden State's fiscal woes with more than $1 billion in state cannabis taxes.
"This is just one tax of many. It's one battle in a big war," said Richard Lee, owner of Coffeeshop Blue Sky. "It's a reverse tax revolt: No taxation without legalization."
Lee, founder of TaxCannabis2010.org, also is president of downtown Oakland's Oaksterdam University, an unusual trade school that teaches marijuana cultivation, retail management and advocacy.
He says the school expects to donate $500,000 for signature gathering for the proposed California Cannabis Initiative.
The Oakland tax vote and the broader intentions of pro-pot activists alarm some law enforcement and anti-drug use groups.
"We're concerned about the storefronts that are trying to legitimize this," said Lori Green, a spokeswoman and parental advocate for the Coalition for a Drug Free California. "It's just another tactic to mainstream marijuana use into our everyday life. Later on, we're going to pay triple or more in costs of new addictions than any new taxes are going to cover."
Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan, who won unanimous support for her resolution to put the Measure F pot dispensary tax before voters, said the tax on cannabis sales could generate $1 million for the city.
Originally, the Oakland city auditor estimated the tax would produce $300,000 annually. But Kaplan said Oakland is seeing a surge in medical marijuana licenses and sales after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced federal authorities will no longer prosecute dispensaries operating under California's 1996 medical marijuana law.
Kaplan said Oakland's new tax, which takes effect Jan. 1, reflects "the world in the way it has already changed.
"I do definitely see this as a shift in the political winds in terms of how people are talking about medical marijuana, marijuana reform and budgeting," Kaplan said.
In Los Angeles, City Council member Janice Hahn recently introduced a motion to create a "cannabis business tax" she said could generate up to $32 million a year from as many as 400 Los Angeles pot dispensaries.
Hahn said the pot tax motion, co-signed by fellow councilman and former police union leader Dennis Zine, was inspired in part by the state's fiscal raids on local budget coffers.
The newly approved state budget borrows $2 billion from local governments and takes another $1.7 billion in redevelopment funds. It would transfer nearly $113 million from Los Angeles to the state this fiscal year, according to a League of California Cities Web site.
"They're coming after even more money from the municipalities," Hahn said. "It really was a motivation to say, 'Hey, here's a new business cropping up — pardon the pun. Let's explore how we can create a new category for cannabis and tax them on their gross sales.'
"Maybe that will mean some services we won't have to cut, some jobs we won't have to get rid of and some police officers we can keep."
The city of Sacramento last month imposed a 45-day moratorium on new medicinal marijuana businesses after an estimated two dozen pot dispensaries opened in town. But the city is working to draft an ordinance governing the establishments — a move that could eventually open the door to imposing a local cannabis tax.
"Everything is on the table right now," said City Council member Sandy Sheedy, who said the city is "starting from scratch" in deciding what to do about its burgeoning medical marijuana trade. "We were watching the vote on that (in Oakland). I was a little surprised it won by 80 percent."
The Oakland vote followed the city's 65 percent approval of a 2004 resolution — Measure Z — that declared that private cannabis use by adults shall be the lowest priority for police. The measure also declared the city's intent to tax all marijuana sales if pot is legalized beyond current medicinal use.
"Oakland has acknowledged that there is a marijuana trade here, medically or not, and it makes more sense to tax and regulate it than leave it underground," said Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.
Bernath said "the state of California has been absent on this discussion."
But in May, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, responding to a question about a Field Poll showing 56 percent support for a pot tax, said he favored "an open debate" on the potential rewards or risks.
The California Police Chiefs Association, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement groups condemned proposals to legalize marijuana for all California adults — and tax it.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced a pot legalization and taxation bill. It faces long odds in the Legislature. But he said, "A lot of people are now giving this a second look because of Oakland."
Even before Oakland voters approved the first-of-its-kind cannabis tax, local pot dispensaries were paying into city coffers. A city ordinance, which sets a limit of four Oakland medical marijuana establishments, charges each a $30,000 annual permit fee.
Lee said his Coffeeshop Blue Sky, offering coffee and pastries as well as marijuana, also pays state sales taxes and a $3,000 local business tax. He said he is happy to pay the additional pot tax, at least $45,000 yearly, to "legitimize the cannabis industry."
Customer Coy Jordan, 42, a motorcycle performer who has used medical marijuana for pain since an accident burned his arms and ripped off a thumb, said he hopes California imposes an additional statewide pot tax to help cure the state's financial ills.
"I'm not only a marijuana smoker, I'm a Californian," he said. "We're hurting now. We're in a crisis. It ought to be looked at."
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Sacramento Bee
Author: Peter Hecht
Contact: The Sacramento Bee
Copyright: 2009 The Sacramento Bee
Website: Oakland Pot Tax Adds Fuel To Legalization Fire
