cannabisnews.com: In Colorado Town, Voters Tax Pot Before It Arrives
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In Colorado Town, Voters Tax Pot Before It Arrives
Posted by CN Staff on April 07, 2010 at 07:22:02 PT
By The Associated Press
Source: Associated Press
Fruita, Colo. -- A small western Colorado town has become the first in the state to levy a city tax on medical marijuana, even though it doesn't yet have a dispensary.Voters in Fruita, a town of about 11,000 at the foot of the majestic Colorado National Monument, decided Tuesday to impose a 5 percent sales tax on marijuana.
When the proposal was placed on the ballot, an application to open a dispensary was pending, but the application has since been withdrawn. City leaders had wanted to be ready with a revenue source in case the dispensary opened and city resources such as additional police patrol were needed.The tax passed 1,533 to 936. Already dispensaries pay a 2.9 percent state sales tax, though Colorado revenue officials aren't sure exactly how much comes from the sale of pot.Last year, Oakland, Calif., became the first city in the country to create a special tax on marijuana sales. Voters approved a measure requiring dispensaries to pay $18 for every $1,000 in gross sales; the rate for other retailers is $1.20 for every $1,000 in gross sales.The ballot question in Fruita wasn't the only marijuana question in Colorado municipal elections. The town of Nederland, about 47 miles northwest of Denver, was considering whether to decriminalize pot possession in small quantities for adults over 21.Marijuana possession has already been decriminalized in Denver and Breckenridge. The measures are mostly symbolic, though, because pot possession remains a state crime except for people with medical clearance for the drug.A voter-approved amendment to the Colorado Constitution allows limited marijuana use for certain medical conditions but doesn't regulate dispensaries. Fruita's rules include background checks for dispensary owners.Source: Associated Press (Wire)Published: April 7, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Associated PressCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #20 posted by Hope on April 08, 2010 at 07:18:03 PT
Well, we definitely have that!
"I always believed the only way we will see change is when we get news coverage on big channels and in papers like the Wall Street Journal etc."And things are changing for the better, finally. Not as quickly as I'd like to see it happen, of course.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on April 08, 2010 at 04:16:54 PT
Hope
Thank you. CNews is doing very well and people are reading. I am trying to do articles that are making the news on TV. Almost everyday on MSNBC marijuana is mentioned. My nephew from Florida reads magazines and papers and is keeping up on all the changes going on. I always believed the only way we will see change is when we get news coverage on big channels and in papers like the Wall Street Journal etc.
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on April 07, 2010 at 20:32:41 PT
FoM
Don't overdo it. You do so much as it is. You keep us very well informed. You save us all a lot of time and do us a wonderful, wonderful service. Thank you. We'd be in much worse shape without you. Take care of yourself. We still need you... big time.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on April 07, 2010 at 19:56:41 PT
Universer
I hope we will see more articles in papers that say more then they do. I haven't posted news channel news in quite awhile. It just is easier for me to do less news these days. Like the Pink Floyd song says: Ten years have got behind me....Seriously I have something like a burr in my back that when I do too much typing or do too many articles it really hurts.
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Comment #16 posted by Universer on April 07, 2010 at 19:49:01 PT
Comment #5
FoM, thanks for posting this link in the above-referenced comment, and I would consider having it on the main page -- despite the piece's small size and lack of deep information -- because of where it comes from.As I've typed often before, I crave any positivity from the neocon Bible Belt, such as this little murmur out of Alabama.Such is an indication that we are truly penetrating a sort of main stream, that cannabis proponents are becoming recognized as a serious lobby with worthwhile concerns and not a loose and loser collection of wild-eyed hippie stoners, that consumption of this plant for reasons of medicine, recreation or industry is neither anathema nor verboten.When we see a pro-legalization editorial in Tallahassee ... when a lawmaker in Little Rock or Memphis says that medical cannabis is needed ... when a veteran legislator from small-town Virginia says that the laws are absurd ... when there's rumblings of reform coming out of South Carolina's low country ... -- all of which we've seen in recent months -- that's true, genuine progress. That's getting somewhere.Let's keep on running hard clear through every finish line.
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on April 07, 2010 at 15:56:38 PT
And
Go, Colorado, go!andGo, Oregon, go!and, of course,Go, California, go!
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on April 07, 2010 at 15:52:11 PT
Comment 10
I like this: "...cannabis-only stores".
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on April 07, 2010 at 15:03:22 PT
josephlacerenza
Thank you. I did see and post in a comment the Columbus Dispatch article. I just wish they would write an article with more details then are in the Dispatch. I want to know more then it probably won't pass. They act defeated before it has a chance.
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Comment #12 posted by josephlacerenza on April 07, 2010 at 14:51:29 PT
FoM, Ohio
Here is something from Cannabis Culture about
Ohio bill Proposes MMJ:http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2010/04/06/Ohio-Bill-Proposes-Legalizing-Medical-Marijuana
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Comment #11 posted by greenmed on April 07, 2010 at 14:40:42 PT
Legal Oregon Pot Could Be ...
Portland police have not received any complaints about the cafe and it was not under any special scrutiny, officials said.Patients bring marijuana grown by themselves or by their designated caregivers. They also donate marijuana for other patrons to use. The cafe has a pool table and couches.I like this.
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on April 07, 2010 at 13:21:36 PT
Legal Oregon Pot Could Be on November Ballot
By David Krough and AP April 7, 2010 Portland, Ore. -- Marijuana advocates are gearing up to legalize the drug for recreational use in Oregon with a new measure poised to go on the November ballot.According to their website, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act would "legalize the sale, possession and personal private cultivation of marijuana." It would also set aside two percent of profits from cannabis sales for commissions that promote industrial hemp biodiesel, fiber, protein and oil.Growers and sellers would need a state license and could only sell in cannabis-only stores.Oregon became the second state to pass a marijuana law in 1998, following California. There are nearly 24,000 patients with medical marijuana cards in Oregon. Only state residents can obtain the card after registering as a patient in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program with a qualifying debilitating medical condition diagnosed by a doctor.Organizers will start collecting signatures Saturday.Kyndall Mason with the DemocracyResources.com organization was working with the National Organization for Reform of Mairjuana Laws (NORML) and Oregon groups to gather signatures starting Saturday."Oregon has a long history of laws that conflict with federal law, that includes the Death with Dignity Act," Mason said. "The feds have (recently) given states more autonomy, specifically regarding medical marijuana laws," she said.With the Obama administration's decision last month to soften the federal stance on medical marijuana, Cannabis Cafe in Northeast Portland recently opened, where glass jars hold donations of pot for medical users, and the cafe serves up meals and snacks for the hungry.The idea could catch on in the roughly dozen other states with medical marijuana laws. Allen St. Pierre, spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, said the organization has already gotten inquiries from Washington state, Michigan, Montana and Maine.Portland police have not received any complaints about the cafe and it was not under any special scrutiny, officials said.Patients bring marijuana grown by themselves or by their designated caregivers. They also donate marijuana for other patrons to use. The cafe has a pool table and couches.People who want to use marijuana at the cafe can't get inside until NORML members check their IDs to make sure they are patients registered with the state. The patients also have to be a member of Oregon NORML to use the cafe, pay a $20 a month fee, and a $5 coverage charge at the door. The money goes toward operating costs.California voters will also decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana use for adults after an initiative was certified for the November ballot.Mason thinks the proposed law will catch on with most Oregonians."As the years have gone by, a lot of people are kind of fed up with the drug war."The group will start collecting signatures and training volunteers ate the Cannabis Cafe at 700 NE Dekum on Saturday at 10 a.m.Copyright: 2010 King Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of Belo Corp.URL: http://www.kgw.com/news/local/Legal-Oregon-pot-could-be-on-November-ballot-90115927.html
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Comment #9 posted by The GCW on April 07, 2010 at 11:18:50 PT
Small town - Big news
I like this story. Remember the posts and stuff about Nederland, Colorado a while back?Well here goes:"Nederland voters legalize pot, oust mayor"http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_14833206?source=rss#axzz0kRHO2RyNLaw "entirely symbolic," but Boulder County DA says he's paying attention to public sentimentNederland became the second municipality in Colorado to legalize marijuana within its borders on Tuesday night.***The mountain town's residents went further than Breckinridge, which last year legalized possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, and by a vote of 259 to 218, removed all criminal penalties against buying, selling, possessing, consuming, growing and transporting marijuana for anyone age 21 or older.***Nederland voters also chose Trustee Sumaya Abu-Haidar to replace incumbent Mayor Martin Cheshes, making Cheshes the fourth mayor in a row to not win re-election.Cont.There's also a photo showing the new mayor which looks like an atractive and hip woman. So often a mayor is a stuffy suit who looks like a cannabis prohibitionist -not this one.Contradulations Ned.For the record, I like Fruita and I like Ned.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on April 07, 2010 at 11:16:28 PT
runruff
Very nice. Thank you.
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Comment #7 posted by runruff on April 07, 2010 at 10:49:48 PT
You cannot miss this little angel!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgFmD6iBw8Y&NR=1
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Comment #6 posted by dongenero on April 07, 2010 at 10:36:59 PT
Fruita
Fruita, CO has become quite the mountain biking destination over the last decade, which has led to a lot of growth. I read that they had to double their police force. They have 16 officers now and a population of 11,000. The town is about 10 blocks long so, I think additional patrols would consist of driving another loop down the side street a dispensary is located on.Given the association of mountain biking and cannabis, I imagine there's no shortage of supply already.Generally it seems to me recreational cannabis could be taxed and medication should generally not be taxed. It seems the humanitarian way to go.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on April 07, 2010 at 09:54:03 PT
Alabama Medical Marijuana Article
House Panel Votes To Allow Medical Marijuana UseWKRG.com April 07, 2010 URL: http://wkrg.com/842741 Montgomery, Alabama - A bill to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes has been approved by an Alabama House committee.The sponsor, Democratic Rep. Patricia Todd of Birmingham, acknowledges that with only five days remaining the bill has little chance of winning final passage this session.The bill would allow a patient suffering serious pain because of cancer or other ailments to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana. The patient would need permission from a doctor and could grow his or her own marijuana.One committee member, Democratic Rep. Yusuf Salaam of Selma, expressed concern that allowing marijuana use for medical purposes might open the door to full scale legalization of the drug.The bill now goes to the full House.Copyright: 2010 WKRG.com Media General Communications Holdings, LLC
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on April 07, 2010 at 09:06:49 PT
"...additional police patrol"?
That just seems silly."City leaders had wanted to be ready with a revenue source in case the dispensary opened and city resources such as additional police patrol were needed."
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Comment #3 posted by MikeC on April 07, 2010 at 08:51:32 PT
runruff...
Done
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on April 07, 2010 at 07:47:18 PT
At ASA is a short questionaire.
Fill it out an send it....please!
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on April 07, 2010 at 07:44:15 PT
Please respond!
This is the confirmation of Michelle Wormheart!http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/AskLeahy
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