cannabisnews.com: Mark Kleiman Endorses MJ Legalization In Oregon
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Mark Kleiman Endorses MJ Legalization In Oregon
Posted by CN Staff on October 27, 2014 at 05:23:31 PT
By Sam Levine
Source: Huffington Post 
Washington -- Mark Kleiman, the Washington state “pot czar” and a leading drug policy expert who has criticized a state-by-state approach to marijuana legalization, came out on Thursday in favor of Oregon’s ballot measure to legalize the drug for recreational purposes.In a blog post, Kleiman wrote that he supported the measure, despite concerns that legalization would lead to lower prices and higher usage.
“The choice Oregon voters face isn’t between what’s on the ballot and some perfectly designed cannabis policy,” Kleiman wrote. “It’s between what’s on the ballot and continued prohibition at the state level, until and unless a better initiative can be crafted, put before the voters, and passed into law.”Even though he supports the measure, Kleiman wrote that the state legislature should raise taxes on the drug to prevent minors and frequent users from easily accessing it. Under the proposed regulations, Oregon would only impose a $35-per-ounce sales tax on the final purchase of the drug, which Kleiman argued would only add a trivial 50 cents to the price of a legal joint.“Unless the legislature decided to raise it, the $35-per-ounce tax in Measure 91 would lead, within a couple of years, to prices way below current illicit prices and way below legal prices in Washington State,” Kleiman wrote. “That in turn would mean big increases in use by minors and in the number of Oregonians with diagnosable cannabis problems. It would also mean substantial diversion of cannabis products legally sold under Oregon’s low taxes to Washington, where taxes are much higher.”In focusing so strongly on weakening the black market for marijuana, the Oregon measure neglects to address many of the consequences of creating a legal market for marijuana, Kleiman argued.“Focusing on the goal of eradicating the illicit cannabis market in Oregon, it doesn’t pay enough attention to the risk that Oregon might become a source of illicit supply to neighboring states,” Kleiman wrote. “Focusing exclusively on preventing use by minors, it neglects the risk of increasing dependency among adults.”Despite his concerns about the law, Kleiman said that legislators are more likely to act to remedy problems after the law is passed, rather than tackle the issue on their own.“Given the balance of political forces, it seems more reasonable to trust the legislature to rein in a too-lax legalization scheme than to expect it to do what no legislature in the nation has been willing to do yet: pass a full cannabis-legalization law,” he wrote.Source: Huffington Post (NY)Author: Sam LevinePublished: October 26, 2014Copyright: 2014 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC Contact: scoop huffingtonpost.comWebsite: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Ya1wg9hvCannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by observer on October 28, 2014 at 01:21:25 PT
Wow! Even Kleiman says Yes on Oregon Measure 91!
re: "In a blog post, Kleiman wrote that he supported the measure, despite concerns that legalization would lead to lower prices and higher usage"Well, I'll be a ... even Kleiman likes the Oregon legalization initiative. The rest of his cheap pot scare scenarios are doubtful (but self-serving technobabble for the tax-consuming class of which he is one). re: "Kleiman wrote that the state legislature should raise taxes"a) Doesn't he always say that? b) As one who's paycheck is drawn on the state treasury, isn't raising taxes a rather self-serving idea?c) raiser of taxes ... hmmm ... raiser of taxes, ... sounds so familiar - now where have I heard that before? And how do you say "raiser of taxes" in Hebrew? (Or Aramaic). d) How does he know his scare scenarios are true? When pot displaces booze elsewhere, car fatalities go down, hard drug O.D.s drop and people are healthier. In any event even Kleiman thinks Oregon recreational cannabis legalization measure 91 is a good idea, and if even Kleiman likes it, then other prohibitionists should take heed. After all, if the prohibitionists are human beings (and they are), they too will need cannabis, many of them, just like other people find it helpful.
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Comment #2 posted by schmeff on October 27, 2014 at 14:35:45 PT
Who Taxes the Creator's Gifts?
As an idealist, it offends me that there are those in government and elsewhere who feel fine and justified to slap a tax on anything that people need/want. Tax the food, tax the medicine, tax the air and the rain...it's a form of economic serfdom that hides behind the vaporous slogan "land of the free."The idea of taxing cannabis seems biased on the idea that it's still a negative substance and users must be punished/fined/taxed for partaking. That's why many of us prefer a "legal like tomatoes" standard as contrasted with "legal like in Colorado", which is a very watered-down version of legal indeed.I am fortunate in that I have known the spirit of the kind herb for four decades-on the black/only market-without a judicial slap-down. My punishment/fine/tax has only been the cost of the herb. Had I been able to spend forty years participating in a "legal" market such as is being contemplated in Oregon, with a $35 per ounce tax/fine, the same cost of the herb would apply, plus that $35 per lid times 5 millions lids, which would be... My point is that these initial imitations of legality are simply a more effective, less violent means of imposing systemic punishment on "potheads."As an Oregonian, the proposed tax of $35 per ounce is one of the more reasonable I've seen discussed. Currently, small towns across the state, including mine, are hastily enacting local taxes on cannabis ahead of the election, which they dream will be "grandfathered-in" should voters approve measure 91. Some communities inevitably hope to make a statement indicating their scorn for recreational cannabis thru enactment of these taxes.Cannabis consumers will continue to be parasitized by the legal system as lesser beings subject to continual economic leeching through the tax and regulate to death bureaucracy. The black market will not be stifled, and at least in a limited way, we'll supposedly be 'allowed' to grow our own stone.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on October 27, 2014 at 05:53:00 PT
Endorse it and get out of the way.
I'm pleased anytime someone comes out publicly supporting laws RE-legalizing cannabis, however, this guy doesn't get it. He's been part of the problem and He will not be a vital part of the solution.Naturally, eliminate prohibition, the black market realities... and the price will drop. That's one of the desired goals and yet the prohibitionist mind sees that as a bad thing and would find a way to prevent it which will keep the black market thriving, which will help kids get cannabis-and around We go.Yes, speak in favor of Oregon's ballot measure but then get out of the way.
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