Benefits From a Marijuana Tax?
Apr 11, 2010 Online Issue
By The Monitor’s Editorial Board
Source: Christian Science Monitor 
California — Backers of the November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in California are selling the idea based on economics: The state is in dire financial straits; taxing and regulating the drug – much like alcohol – could raise $1.4 billion for state coffers.That estimate comes from the California Board of Equalization, which administers the state’s sales taxes. The source gives the economics argument an air of credibility. Even so, voters shouldn’t inhale it.
One of the highly questionable assumptions is that a legal market can sustain a proposed $50-an-ounce tax on marijuana. The black market can easily undercut that tax, siphoning sales away from legal distributors and eroding tax revenues.
Tags: marijuana, marijuana policy
Groundbreaking marijuana policy spearheaded by UW student
Nov 29, 2009 Online Issue
Marijuana has long been classified as a dangerous drug with no medical benefits. But thanks in part to the work of a University of Washington medical 
student, a major medical association this week urged the federal government to reconsider.
“It’s a huge shift on medical ideology,” said Sunil Aggarwal, who’s been studying the medical uses of marijuana for 10 years. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was an undergraduate and found out that marijuana wasn’t a horribly dangerous thing.”
Since 1997, the American Medical Association has taken a hard line against the drug, endorsing its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance — the most restrictive category — and asserting its lack of medical value. Aggarwal’s research, published in his dissertation and in two articles in the Journal of Opioid Management — helped convince AMA members that the drug has potential.
“It’s a huge shift on medical ideology,” said Sunil Aggarwal, who’s been studying the medical uses of marijuana for 10 years. “It’s something I’ve been dreaming of since I was an undergraduate and found out that marijuana wasn’t a horribly dangerous thing.”
Since 1997, the American Medical Association has taken a hard line against the drug, endorsing its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance — the most restrictive category — and asserting its lack of medical value. Aggarwal’s research, published in his dissertation and in two articles in the Journal of Opioid Management — helped convince AMA members that the drug has potential.
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Prosecutors, police ease up on pot
Oct 25, 2009 Online Issue
Though the state hasn’t yet decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, courts in the state might already be coming close.
Under state law, possession of a small amount of marijuana is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, up to a $2,000 fine, and in some cases loss of driver’s license. But prosecutors have the power to reduce charges, and that’s become the growing trend.
“I would say that it’s common with most judges I’ve talked to across the state that, much more often than not, a misdemeanor drug case is brought as a Class B misdemeanor, which is a $1,200 fine and no jail time, and a drug assessment,” said Judge Edwin W. Kelly, administrating judge for the District Courts in the state. “But it’s still a crime.”
Prosecutors also have the option of reducing the charge even further to a violation, which means no jail time, a fine, and no criminal record. If the state were to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, a person caught in possession would be charged with a violation.
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Tags: marijuana policy
