“Oregon is reaping the reward with massive tax revenue ”

Yet another claim by legalizers that can’t be proven. Recreational sales started in October of last year, yet the tax only kicked in this past January. That’s three months of tax-free drug sales. In the first month of taxation, Oregon pulled in $3.5 million in tax revenue. In the February, the second month, it dropped to $3.3 for a two-month total of $6.8 million. I know what you’re thinking, “Man that’s great. That’s a lot of money”. Is it really!? Yes, standing alone that amount seems like a lot of money. But when you put it next to the state’s operating budget of $60 billion , the measly $6.8 million now looks like our planet sitting next to Jupiter. If that trend stayed all year that would be $40 million for the year. Again, planet earth sitting next to Jupiter.

I can also tell you that trend won’t stay all year. As of this month, the tax on marijuana dropped from 25% to 17%. That’s a 32% reduction in the tax revenue.

Now let’s say that marijuana users bought exactly the same amount that they did in January; then the state would only pulls in $2.38 million. But wait, there’s more. Legalizers want to reduce the tax even more. They say that the tax is driving people back to the black market because it’s cheaper. Oregon voted on a ballot measure that said Tax and Regulate. They said that legalizing it would diminish the black market because people would be buying from retail stores. Ok, so we Taxed and Regulated it but people are still going to their regular dealers. Could it be that we were lied to, too? Could it be that taxation was never supposed to be?

Legalizers lied to Oregonians. We had big out-of- state money coming in and bankrolling the Yes on 91 campaign. We had a Congressional Representative saying that marijuana needed to be legalized, but he never gave a good reason. The campaign brought in a county sheriff in Washington to say that all was fine and dandy in Washington after legalization, but the Washington State Sheriff Association asked that sheriff to retract his statements because they weren’t true.

Legalizers claimed that 12,000 people were in prison for simple possession. But Oregon State Police Public Information Officer Greg Hastings came out and said that was false. When you took out the people who had possession with another crime on their record that left only about 2,000 people in jail, not prison, for possession only. Some of those were in for possession of more than the one ounce that was decriminalized back in 1973, the rest were ones who pleaded guilty to possession to have other crimes removed.

Franklin HS

Franklin HS in Portland Oregon. Photo source: Wikipedia. The documentary film, Weed (2016) was filmed at Cleveland HS in Portland. Top photo by Randy Philbrick is in Sutherlin, Oregon.

The Truth is that Legalization was a terrible idea. The Truth is that marijuana-related DUI and traffic fatalities are going up. Teen use is going up, people are being fired for failed employee drug tests and the black market is thriving. What? — all so we could get pocket change for tax revenue? Even if they did make the $40 million this year, Portland Public Schools forks out around $80 million a year just to pay their teachers. And right now they’re remodeling two schools and have more to do after those are done. Roosevelt HS is costing $92 million right now, and that’s just a facelift. Franklin HS is a much bigger and more expensive project. Forty percent of $42 million is $16 million. Now divvy that up between the school districts that will be getting money, and Portland Public Schools might be able to buy toilets when they start remodeling Grant HS next year.

Legalization is not about Regulation and Taxation; it’s about unimpeded access to a drug without regard for health and safety.

Marijuana is a Schedule I drug because it lacks any scientific evidence supporting its medicinal value. The pro pot lobby is trying to get Congress to pass the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERs Act). Here is a summary of the proposed CARERs Act:

1. Amending the Controlled Substance Act allowing states to make their own drug policy.

2. Reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II.

3. Allow states to import the drug across state lines.

4. Provide access to veterans by allowing the VA to give the drug to Vets.

5. Expand Opportunity for research

6. Allow banks to work with marijuana businesses.

Debunking CARERs Act, one point at a time

#1 Allowing states to make their own drug policy. 4 states have been allowed to legalize marijuana. 23 states have their own medical marijuana programs. I’d say that’s a big ✔ on that one, wouldn’t you? Now on to

#2 Rescheduling marijuana. Well, show me the science to prove without a doubt that marijuana is medicinal then we’ll talk. But then we run into the problem of the probability of addiction going up due to the higher potency in marijuana. NEXT!

#3 Allowing states to transport the drug across state lines. What if the state they’re transporting to doesn’t recognize marijuana as a medicine? Do you see the problem here? It looks like this one is a no go too.

#4 The VA is a federally funded facility. They cannot give a federally illegal drug to a Vet. And with the current science we should not be giving a psychoactive drug to a vet with a neurological disorder.

#5 Expand the opportunity for research. You might remember a few articles we used about the current state of the CBD drug Epidiolex? And also the fact that the DEA loosened restrictions on obtaining CBD for these studies. Another ✔ there. Well it’s a work in progress.

#6, If we didn’t have dispensaries there would be no need for this one.

Final thoughts on the CARERs Act

Does Congress have the power to reschedule marijuana? They sure do. However, in the history of the Controlled Substance Act Congress has only ONCE interjected to reschedule a drug. This occurred in 2000 when they rescheduled GHB (the date rape drug)to Schedule I. This was called the Hillory J. Farias and Samantha Reed Date-Rape Drug Prohibition Act of 2000. Will Congress reschedule marijuana? Probably not. Here’s another tidbit in regards to #1. The Oregon State Board of Pharmacy rescheduled marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II back in 2010. This is something we planned on discussing with them as well. But if a state doesn’t already have the power to make their own drug policy then how did that happen?

This whole CARERs Act seems like a whole lot of wasted tax payer money to have Congress even consider it. They’re pushing policy that is already in place or causes more harm than good. Hopefully our federal legislators are smarter than the voting public.

Governor Shumlin of Vermont gave a really good State of the State speech. He talked about how he plans to help create more jobs, help bring Vermont a greener environment and get more kids to college. Then his speech took a dramatic turn down a very steep embankment to its death. Governor Shumlin addressed the opiate addiction problem as all other states are having. He said that we need to fix this problem, as we should. All in his speech is good and then.....BAM, Marijuana legalization. The Governor talked about how he plans to get right what other states couldn't. Then he laid out a 5 point plan for success.

"First, a legal market must keep marijuana and other drugs out of the hands of underage kids. The current system doesn???t. Our new system must. ·

Second, the tax imposed must be low enough to wipe out the black market and get rid of the illegal drug dealers. ·

Third, revenue from legalization must be used to expand addiction prevention programs. ·

Fourth, we must strengthen law enforcement???s capacity to improve our response to impaired drivers under the influence of Marijuana who are already on Vermont???s roads. ·

Fifth, take a hard lesson learned from other states and ban the sale of edibles until other states figure out how to do it right."

The very first step he points out is doomed to fail. Would you like to know why Colorado, Oregon, Washington State and Washington DC are leading the nation in teen use? Legalization, that's why. How many times can we say this, legalization comes from normalization. Both of which tell our children that doing drugs is ok. Peer pressure is the main reason most kids started using tobacco. Using phrases like "How bad can it be? Everybody is doing it" or "You want to be part of the cool kids don't you?" These phrases come from normalization. Drug use in the home while the kids are there also leads to normalization. Well Mom and Dad do it so it must be ok right? Wrong. The science is clear. Marijuana use is detrimental to the developing brain. And yes legalization does lead to more teens using. So now that you've normalized marijuana you want to legalize it. You want to add easy access to the drug. Legalizers will tell you that regulation keeps marijuana out of the hands of kids because dispensaries will card everyone. 7 Denver dispensaries were fined this past fall for selling to underage kids. But that's not how most kids are getting it. Remember the days of asking adults to go in to the store and buy you liquor or cigarettes? Or stealing them from your parents when they weren't home? Next he proposed implementinga tax so low it wipes out the black market drug dealers. Well Governor that would be Zero tax. Any tax will keep them going to the cheaper deal. And if you don't tax what's the use in legalization? His third point is a revolving door. You want to legalize an addictive substance to pay for addiction treatment. Seem counter productive doesn't it? The fourth and fifth are the two that make the most sense out of the five. However take out the part that says "Until other states figure out how to do it right." There is no right way to sell edibles. Hopefully our friends with SAM Vermont can get to the Governor and talk some sense into him because he's obviously not thinking clearly on this issue. #Vermont #SAMVermont #JustSayNo #SaferVermont #POPPOT #4ourKids #TheTruth

The Black Market is now the "Legal" Market

 As each legalization initiative hits the ballots you hear the same old lines from the proponents. One that I hear the most is that "Legalizing will eliminate the black market". But I can tell you right now that this claim is 100% false. And here is why.

A quick look at what Measure 91 allows for possession. Under Measure 91 you can now possess up to one ounce of dried flower in public. Not much different from the way the law was before Measure 91 with the exception of now you won't get a fine. You can now possess up to eight ounces of dried flower per household and grow up to four plants on your property out of the view of the public. You can now possess 72 ounces (just over half a gallon) of marijuana infused liquids, 1 pound of marijuana infused edibles and 1 fluid ounce of marijuana extract. With the exception of the one ounce of in public possession, all of this must be in your home.

If those amounts don't make you worried, here is why the black market is now protected under the Constitution of the United States. I'm sure you noticed the key words of "In your home" and "Out of view of the public"? The 4th Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees that anything out of the public view on private property is safe from searches without a search warrant. Now in order to obtain that search warrant the Law Enforcement Officer must provide "Probable Cause" that a crime is being committed or has been committed on the property and submit it to a judge to sign off on it. If you suspected a house in your neighborhood of dealing drugs you could the police and tell them that you believe they are selling drugs because you could smell Marijuana coming from the house or the yard if they were growing it themselves. Now the Police had Probable Cause for a search Warrant.

Now that Measure 91 has passed "The smell of Marijuana" is no longer Probable cause for Police to get a search Warrant. I have talked with several Police Officer and they all tried to give me a Probable cause other than the previously stated, such as looking at their utility bill. Well the Utility bill is also protected by the 4th Amendment, meaning that a Law Enforcement official would still need a search warrant to view it. Now that drug dealers are protected b the Constitution they can possess as much as they was of any of the above and there is nothing that a neighbor can do about it because again, "The smell of Marijuana" is no longer probable cause.

This past week the DEA has announced that it will ease up on restrictions for Cannabidiol (CBD) research. This is good news for the medical community and no so good news for the legalization community.

Marijuana, which is a schedule 1 drug, has been touted as a medical miracle by the legalization groups getting these ballot initiatives through. Currently the science is extremely inconclusive in determining the medicinal value of marijuana, despite these claims by legalizers. As a whole there is currently no science to back up the medicinal value of the plant, but a few components have show promise. With the recent news of the Epidiolex trials this change in policy from the DEA is really big.

Under the previous policy researchers would have to register their research with the DEA and also the FDA. If the trial being run required more CBD after the start of the trial the researchers would have to file another request with the DEA to acquire the addition resources to finish the trial. Now with this new policy they will not have to file another request with the DEA.

Now like I stated in the opening, this is good news for the Medical Community. If we can prove the efficacy of CBD's, then that is just one more weapon to fight the diseases that it will be approved for. The current trials being run or for Epilepsy, but we could see more trials in the near future with the news from the DEA. Anything from Cancer, Tourette Syndrome, Epilepsy, plus numerous other conditions that have been claimed to been helped by marijuana. So far we've only had a bunch of personal testimony and no science. It will be interesting to see how these trials end up.

Now the bad news for the legalizers. Every ballot initiative from Colorado to Oregon has played the "Medicinal" card. Saying that if you legalize it then you would be giving hundreds of thousands of people access to their medicine. As I explained earlier the science just doesn't back up the medicinal claims. 23 states, including Washington DC, have legalized Medical Marijuana despite the lack of science. That's what happens when you put a medical issue on the ballot and let layman determine somethings medicinal value. In most of those states a "Patient", and I use that term very loosely, can go into a Medical Marijuana dispensary to buy their drug. Since Marijuana is a schedule 1 drug you can not get it at a pharmacy because it cannot be prescribed by a Doctor. Wait, now that last part is where the bad news comes in. If these trials go through the FDA trials and get approved then we will be able to get Doctors to prescribe CBD medications which will then be allowed to be sold through a proper pharmacy with people who are properly trained in dispensing medications. So essentially these new trials will kill the current medical marijuana programs throughout each state. With pharmacies taking over the dispensing of CBD drugs we will no longer need these Medical Marijuana dispensaries and their ill trained Bud Tenders".

Pro marijuana activists will have you believe that the war on drugs has failed. They will tell you that too many people are being incarcerated for minor drug possession charges. Too many lives are being ruined for criminal records that they don't deserve. But here's the problem with their argument. Is it really societies fault that someone can't obey the law? Is it really societies fault that someone chooses to do drugs? We live in a world of no accountability. It is never your fault, it is always someone else's fault.
 
Now here is my take on the War on Drugs education.
 
For the past 30 years the Us government has been trying to eliminate drugs from our culture. They have been fighting this war with law enforcement and drug awareness education. The only thing wrong with the education they have been using is that it was not scientific based education. It was more of a fear mongering scare tactic education. Look at the PSA's of the 1980's, two in particular that come to mind was the "This is your brain on drugs" and the "Parents who use drugs have children who use drugs" commercials. Those are all fine and dandy until you actually look at them. Lets take a look at the "This is your brain on drugs" PSA. It started with a hot skillet and a narrator saying "This is drugs", then they crack an egg open a put it in the pan. As the egg sizzles the narrator says "This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?" Yes I do have questions. Where is the science to tell me why this analogy is correct? Where is the science to tell me that any of the anti drug PSA's of the 80's and 90's were correct? We must take the scare tactics out of drug education and replace them with evidence based science. Science that we now have and will be using.
 
Now for the Law Enforcement side of the war on drugs.
 
Legalization groups such as NORML and Drug Policy Alliance are telling you that a good majority of state inmates are nonviolent offenders that are in jail on marijuana possession charges only. They would be wrong. The Yes on 91 campaign, which was highly funded by NORML and Drug Policy Alliance, claimed that 12, 808 people where in Oregon prisons on marijuana possession alone. When you look at the Statewide Drug Law Arrests by Type of Drug and Activity - 2012 you will see that 12,808 number under marijuana arrests. But Oregon State Police Lt. Gregg Hastings said that 10,054 of those people were cited for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana -- "a violation (but) not a criminal offense." You see in 1973 the State of Oregon decriminalize possession of less than an ounce of Marijuana making it a violation and not a crime. It has since been treated like a parking ticket. You are cited and released. No arrest, no court and no jail time. So now you can take away 10.054 from the original 12,808 and that gives you 2,754 people in jail for marijuana possession. But how many of those people were arrested for other more serious crimes but pleaded to the lesser crime of possession of marijuana? Well we can verify that because once the more serious crime is thrown out of the equation it disappears. But I can tell you that it would be most of them. Because remember that Oregon decriminalized possession of less than an ounce back in the 70's. A federal study had been done and found that less than 1% of the people in prison for marijuana possession were there for possession only. Now that we've discovered the truth behind marijuana arrests lets look at the root of the problem. Is it really the fault of the police that people are getting arrested for drug possession or is there another group that is at fault?
 
The war on drugs doesn't start with people getting arrested for drugs. It starts with them getting in to drugs in the first place. Why are they getting into drugs? Most of that problem is on parenting. Yes part of the problem is the failed war on drugs, but the remainder is that parenting has failed. Whether it is that the parents were not there for their children or the parents themselves were on drugs. Either way they failed their children by not teaching them right from wrong. Am I saying that everyone on drugs had bad parents? Of course not. For those people it could be the wrong crowd or a lack of will power.
 
Blame must be placed where blame is due. It is not the governments fault that you started using drugs. Did they spend a ton of tax payer money fighting drugs? They sure did. The place for most of the blame for the failed war on drugs comes down to a lack of proper science based education. We have that now and that's what we're going to be getting into the schools. We can't just show them an egg in a frying pan and expect them so say 'Oh I get it". We must show them the science that says why their brain on drugs is like an egg in a frying pan.