Marijuana question

What does make me laugh is the "tax it element".

Erm people growing and smoking it, they are just begging to pay tax on it...

Over here they power some of the farms off street lights and re rooting power off major industrial units. Do you think people that do that really are going to declare their income?

 

Just look at all the tax money colorado has already pulled in from their brief time.....

Just look at all the tax money colorado has already pulled in from their brief time.....

 

 

$12.6m so far.

 

 

http://gazette.com/colorado-marijuana-taxe...article/1519705

 

 

Colorado marijuana taxes boomed in March

By Kristen Wyatt, Associated Press • Updated: May 9, 2014 at 6:51 am • Published: May 9, 2014 •

 

- The state Department of Revenue reported that Colorado sold nearly $19 million worth of recreational pot in March, up from about $14 million worth of recreational pot in February. (Denver Post file)

The state Department of Revenue reported that Colorado sold nearly $19 million worth of recreational pot in March, up from about $14 million worth of recreational pot in February. (Denver Post file)

DENVER — Colorado's recreational pot sales jumped nearly a third in March, according to sales tax reports issued by the state Thursday.

 

The state Department of Revenue reported that Colorado sold nearly $19 million worth of recreational pot in March, up from about $14 million worth of recreational pot in February.

 

Sales taxes are due three weeks or so after a month ends, and it takes another couple of weeks for the state to compile the data. So taxes are generally reported about two months after they're collected from consumers.

 

Through three months of retail recreational pot, Colorado has earned $7.3 million in taxes from the drug. That figure does not include medical marijuana sales taxes or licensing fees, which bring Colorado's haul to about $12.6 million.

 

Other highlights from the March pot tax report:

 

— Colorado still sells more medical pot than recreational pot. Total medical pot sales for March were about $34.5 million, compared to about $19.6 million for recreational pot. But recreational pot taxes are much higher, so recreational pot brings in more tax revenue for the state.

 

— Colorado's pot plants are growing up. In preparation for the January opening of recreational sales, pot growers and processors were allowed a one-time tax-free transfer of their medical plants. For that reason, January and February excise taxes were relatively low. Now that the plants have matured and been sold, pot producers are having to pay those excise taxes. Excise tax collections jumped nearly 80 percent between February and March, to about $610,000.

 

— Licenses and fees charged to pot growers and sellers continue to be significant tax generators. Licenses and fees brought Colorado about $903,000 in March.

 

Just this week, state lawmakers approved a plan to spend marijuana taxes, mostly on child drug use prevention and outreach. The $33 million plan includes money for more school nurses and public education on using marijuana responsibly.

 

Afraid of volatility in the new marijuana market, Colorado lawmakers decided to spend only pot taxes already in hand. In other words, the pot-tax spending plan for the fiscal year starting in June is entirely made of medical marijuana taxes and fees already collected.

 

 

Read more at http://gazette.com/colorado-marijuana-taxe...MfmKD6mHFJZh.99

That is nowhere near the amount sold and I can bet slowpokes r8 fund on that

I am possibly the most "boring" person here by general standards, in my entire life I have never touched any kind of cigarette or drugs, I probably took one sip of beer just because some of my friends begged me to, few sips of wine because my wife asked me to try but never hand any other kind of alcohol, never had a full cup of coffee expect few sips just to try it, tea extremly rarely and only for medicinal purposes, obviously I was never drunk, I do not understand why people drink until they fall flat on their faces, I detest being around drunk people and because of that I always avoided the situations where I would have to deal with it, I don't understand drug users and never will mostly because I have no experiences with it.

I am all for legalising, taxing and controlling consumption.

That is nowhere near the amount sold and I can bet slowpokes r8 fund on that

 

Probably not... but at the end of the year it will still be ~$50m the state didn't have. And that's fcuking colorado.

 

The fiip side is when it's legal you have an open market and competition, which is just going to drive costs down and make it less lucrative for the black market. Even if it's people doing cash sales and not reporting the income, anything to keep the $$ out of the drug cartels is a step in the right direction IMO. I mean people still brew moonshine and make beer at home, and that doesn't detract from the $6.25 BILLION (2011 US figures) in tax revenue.

I have been in the fight for the medicinal use of cannabis for 20+ years. The sooner the better! Its that simple!

The question is have is how many of you smoke, regularly or occasionally and if so, what strain do your prefer.

 

 

Preference comes from reason. What's your reason for asking? Party, insomnia, pain, disease, wanting to try it?

There's a member here that has medical dispensaries in California, hopefully he will show up and lend some advice, if not I'll PM you and you can contact him.

Ps this is for my..friends.. Glaucoma.

I smoked it my early 20s. I have not done do since probably 95. My opinion is that besides the cancer risk and the risk when driving under the influence of it (some strains are better for "medical", some are better for a "high"), it's harmless and should be legal. Alcohol is WAY more dangerous on every level, and it's promoted on TV every 2 minutes as a substance you need to have a good time. If it was legal in my state like Colorado, I may try in an edible form to help with sleep/anxiety issues.

 

 

I've read cases where it helped a lot for medical reason, and I have had people tell me it helped with their pain issues. But some of those I talked to about "pain" were sketchy and I question if they ever really had any pain issues to start with.

What does make me laugh is the "tax it element".

Erm people growing and smoking it, they are just begging to pay tax on it...

Over here they power some of the farms off street lights and re rooting power off major industrial units. Do you think people that do that really are going to declare their income?

 

 

Growing it is a pain in the ass, expensive and takes time. Who's going to bother setting up a grow room when you can walk to the store and buy some. The only reason to grow is to sell for huge profits. If it's legal, nobody has any reason to buy from you because there's no profit in it. And the "pot shop" would have a better selection too.

 

Same reason people don't set up massive micro brew operations in their house. Same reason people don't plant massive gardens in their back yard. Anyone growing weed would be doing it for hobby purposes.

 

 

Legalize it, sell it cheaper than the black market, and the black market goes away.

 

I just don't simply care about drugs. I have seen everything in 15 years of electronic music scene here, but nothing for me thanks.

 

 

I'm trying to eat healthy right now but if anyone wants to make up some low fat gluten free marijuana brownies and send then to me that would be awesome.

I'm trying to eat healthy right now but if anyone wants to make up some low fat gluten free marijuana brownies and send then to me that would be awesome.

 

Have only done it occasionally a handful of times since college years, at parties or friends' house.

 

No interest in it. Plenty of vices already, and my main drug of choice can be seen in my avatar.

 

I'll also admit that it took a few tries before I inhaled it properly and actually got high. Was probably more a matter of time than anything else.

 

Ole Billy actually had a point.

 

 

Preference comes from reason. What's your reason for asking? Party, insomnia, pain, disease, wanting to try it?

I havent done it much. But I have noticed different highs different times. Can you explain a little bit about this? I have been told more THC is more of a relaxed/sleepy/insomnia free high. But I also know people that smoke right away in the morning to get going. That just seems like the wrong drug to use for that in my experience.

as someone thats been involved in the marijuana business since 2008 i figured i would respond and offer to contribute. ill answer questions regarding the business side of things and my personal expierence with marijuana and owning dispensaries in los angeles. For the record i no longer smoke and have been clean for over 4 years, this was a personal choice of mine. To make my position clear i am for legalization of marijuana but its not as easy as many people would like to think (simply taxing it), hopefully my expierence can bring some light into this thread

 

 

It is a matter of time before Marijuana goes mainstream, more and more states want the tax money and it really is not that big of a deal. Some of you might disagree with me but the writing is on the wall.

The question is have is how many of you smoke, regularly or occasionally and if so, what strain do your prefer.

 

If you feel uncomfortable answering publicly, please pm me if you wish.

 

Thanks for all who will chime in.

 

 

marijuana has been mainstream for a long time. There was an article posted in 2009 called "Stiletto Stoners" (link below) which essentially describes the least suspecting user - educated and accomplished career women that work in the corporate world. I know a few myself, women that prefer to smoke marijuana rather than drink wine. To add to the list of least suspecting users i know of doctors, lawyers, executives, of different ages, from different ethnicities all who smoke and its very hard to tell because they dont fit the typical stereo type of a marijuana user.

 

http://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity-lifes.../female-stoners

 

to answer your question about strain, its much less so about the strain itself and more so about the quality of the product. In order to grow top quality marijuana you need expierence and know how which comes over time from trial and error, its not as easy as buying seeds overseas and growing them in your closet, theres actually alot of sceience behind the process and lots of tricks in order to manipulate the marijuana to be very potent. Essentially dont dwell so much on strains but focus more on the quality, the grower and their attention to detail.

 

 

I do not use marijuana, but am all for legalizing it for a number of reasons. Taxes and regulation and the quality of the product first and foremost

Right now there is a huge underground market throughout the world due to the fact that it is illegal. By legalizing it you take that resource out of their hands. You'll eliminate the strength of many of the cartels which thrive on sales of this product. There is little or no control as to what you're actually buying and whether anything as far as pesticides or herbicides have been involved in the manufacturing of it. I studied THC in pharmacy school and noted many of the conclusions that are already out there in multiple publications. It does not impair you the same level as alcohol.

 

However there are many unknowns, we do know THC ( the main chemical in marijuana) loves fat. THC will settle in the fatty areas of your body and will leach out over potentially up to a week after smoking it.

Because of this, there are multiple responses to THC being in your system. While we could take 100 participants and put them in a study and give them the exact same blood level content of THC, I believe you'll get 100 different reaction to the drug in the body. What we don't know is, what exactly does it do to individuals, will you be impaired while driving? There are several studies out there that say that it does not deplete your motor function at all, and there are very few accidents caused by THC. However I consider most of these studies invalid as they are not enough participants and we use data collected by police officers in which sobriety tests are taken at checkpoints, not drug tests. Right now almost all police departments have no way of checking for THC levels in your system. Are there levels that are deemed inappropriate for driving? We just don't know.

 

Again I am for legalization of it because it is currently being used, regardless of the law. I like the idea of taxing it and having it pay for things that will benefit all of us. I however would like to see more clinical research and possibly have restrictions use while driving until we know more. This would require field testing in the quick ability to determine whether somebody is under the influence. Once we have enough data, we can determine whether it is a risk or not and what levels are acceptable while driving.

 

 

There is a big misconception that by legalizing and taxing marijuana all of the sudden the problems associated with the drug will automatically disapear. First its impossible to truly regulate the drug unless the united states wants to invest as much money into marijuana as it does into the food industry by adding it to the FDA, and hiring quality control protocols, controlling marijuana cultivation, retail sales, etc. at this point in time this is impossible. The second misconception is that legalizing marijuana it will eliminate the criminal aspect of it and the underground market - this is wishful thinking. You mention cartels thriving on the sale of marijuana and by somehow legalizing it youll take the cartels out of business, if anything cartels will still have a place because theyll be able to offer commercial grade marijuana cheap and undercut domestic marijuana which is grown in the states. Obviously there will always be people who will want to pay a premium for very potent marijuana (premium) but commercial marijuana will always have a place and the cartels can offer very large amounts very cheap, they will essentially become the chinese in manufacturing.

 

there are many misconceptions about marijuana; an example is that marijuana isnt cocaine so its safe. Thats a myth. Marijuana is a drug, its a mind altering substance and its definitely addictive. Long term use of marijuana will cause paranoia along with other mental health issues. Also because its addictive there are withdrawals. Something that ive noticed is that many people build a strong tolerance and get bored of marijuana over time and begin to mix it with other substances such as alcohol, pills, etc. This leads me to my next point marijuana is a gateway drug and i will elaborate by saying that smoking it will not make you want to try other drugs but by smoking it with others you open yourself up to meeting people who may offer you other drugs to increase the high.

 

Also note that by legalizing the sale of marijuana the government would also need to legalize the cultivation of it which is a very complicated thing. There is also an issue with the racket that goes on between doctors who give out medical marijuana cards since there is virtually no oversight of this.

I do not use marijuana, but am all for legalizing it for a number of reasons. Taxes and regulation and the quality of the product first and foremost

Right now there is a huge underground market throughout the world due to the fact that it is illegal. By legalizing it you take that resource out of their hands. You'll eliminate the strength of many of the cartels which thrive on sales of this product. There is little or no control as to what you're actually buying and whether anything as far as pesticides or herbicides have been involved in the manufacturing of it. I studied THC in pharmacy school and noted many of the conclusions that are already out there in multiple publications. It does not impair you the same level as alcohol.

 

However there are many unknowns, we do know THC ( the main chemical in marijuana) loves fat. THC will settle in the fatty areas of your body and will leach out over potentially up to a week after smoking it.

Because of this, there are multiple responses to THC being in your system. While we could take 100 participants and put them in a study and give them the exact same blood level content of THC, I believe you'll get 100 different reaction to the drug in the body. What we don't know is, what exactly does it do to individuals, will you be impaired while driving? There are several studies out there that say that it does not deplete your motor function at all, and there are very few accidents caused by THC. However I consider most of these studies invalid as they are not enough participants and we use data collected by police officers in which sobriety tests are taken at checkpoints, not drug tests. Right now almost all police departments have no way of checking for THC levels in your system. Are there levels that are deemed inappropriate for driving? We just don't know.

 

Again I am for legalization of it because it is currently being used, regardless of the law. I like the idea of taxing it and having it pay for things that will benefit all of us. I however would like to see more clinical research and possibly have restrictions use while driving until we know more. This would require field testing in the quick ability to determine whether somebody is under the influence. Once we have enough data, we can determine whether it is a risk or not and what levels are acceptable while driving.

 

There have, in fact, been many tests done. Here is one:

 

 

I've suffered from chronic pain for years. Neck, shoulders and foot. The story of my neck I posted here a couple of years ago. I've tried everything and nothing helped. I got fed up and poked smot one night. It did nothing for me except make me paranoid and bake a tray of brownies. Thanks but no thanks

That would be my only motivation to use, to learn how to bake brownies.

Edibles are great ... I wish I could buy Medical Cannabis legally where I live in Volusia County, Florida ( Daytona area ).

My Hip pain goes away for a few days, and my Migraines disappear within 5 minutes of eating MM Edibles.

If I smoke, I use a Vap as Vaps remove harmful Carcinogens.

 

I Hope FLORIDA passes the Bill next year ... Imagine the profits selling to all the older folks who call FLORIDA home?

 

Please Vote YES to FLORIDA MEDICAL MARIJUANA - I THANK YOU.

@ VVS: Very informative Post - Thanks for taking the time, Sir.

 

Good Day.

Never touched a drug in my entire Life and will never do it either.

 

Anybody thought of the fact that legalizing it = easier to justify people to start using it = move on to other/stronger stuff?

 

 

Never touched a drug in my entire Life and will never do it either.

 

Anybody thought of the fact that legalizing it = easier to justify people to start using it = move on to other/stronger stuff?

 

We can't legislate EVERYTHING. If people want to abuse drugs and or alcohol they will. A law won't stop that

We can't legislate EVERYTHING. If people want to abuse drugs and or alcohol they will. A law won't stop that

 

I meant that it would be much more socially acceptable and make it a steppingstone on to other heavier stuff?

 

"Dad, everybody smokes, it is legal now, give me a break"

 

fast forward

 

"I'm so tired of being high on marijuana, same shit different day, lets try something new!"