Civil Articles
Proposition 19 For Dummies
Been hearing a lot about Proposition 19 recently? Not sure of exactly what it’s going to bring to California? Read on for our guide!
What is it?
Proposition 19, formally known as “Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010” is essentially a referendum (a vote on a particular issue by all the people to whom it may concern) that will be put to the people of California on November the 2nd 2010 to legalize the personal use of cannabis. In California, a ballot proposition can be put forward for a vote by the people by either the State legislative or by a petition signed by enough members. Proposition 19 was put forward as a petition by Marijuana legalization activist Richard Lee. It needed 433,971 signatures to qualify as a ballot…it gained 694,248 signatures!
So, if passed, what will prop 19 do? It will:
• Allow anyone over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of cannabis.
• Allow people to grow cannabis in a private area of up to 25 square feet.
• Allow people to consume cannabis in non-public areas.
• Give California state (and local government) the ability to tax and regulate the sale of cannabis, in a similar way to alcohol and cigarettes.
Benefits
There are two major benefits that Prop 19 will bring to California if passed: Firstly, the huge economic benefits, and secondly, the ability to weaken the drug cartels’ vice on drug trade in the United States, much of which passes through California…
In this year alone, the United States as a whole (both federally and at a state level) has spent roughly $33,000,000,000 on the war on drugs. Of course, this includes money being spent on hard drugs, but cannabis accounts for roughly 40-55% of the money used. Now, the money that is spent to try and prevent the use and illegal sale of cannabis has huge potential for use elsewhere. For example, instead of prosecuting cannabis use, the government could use this money to support the 9.5% of US citizens who are unemployed. Similarly, jailing people who have used small amounts of cannabis not only costs a large amount (roughly $60 per inmate per day) but makes future employment for these harmless users much harder to come by.
Taxing and regulating cannabis would generate up to $1.4 billion in revenue per year for California. Similarly, $200 million of taxpayer money will be saved, due to less inmates in local jails. It is also estimated that California will generate $12-18 billion in spinoff industries such as tourism and coffee houses. The figures would be similar to what Amsterdam currently gets! All these savings could be put towards creating jobs, as it’s estimated that if Prop 19 passes, approximately 100,000 jobs will be created. Passing it would also help fight the Mexican drug cartels and stop the 6k death toll that has occurred this year as a direct result of their actions, as it is estimated that 60% of their income comes from marijuana trafficking.
How likely is it that prop 19 will pass?
Given the benefits to the plant and its superior effectiveness over many prescription drugs for treating ailments, it’s surprising that marijuana has not been legalised yet. While support for such an act has been steadily increasing over recent years, resistance has been strong, mainly due to leftover beliefs from the “Reefer Madness” smear campaign of the 30s and 40s. Good news can be found in Proposition 215’s vote count, however – in 1996, 55.6% of citizens voted yes for medicinal marijuana. The hopes are that voters will once again come out in such force.
Domino Effect
Currently 14 states other than California have legalized the use of medicinal marijuana (Alaska, Colorado, Washington DC, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington). So, if Proposition 19 is passed and benefits California in the way that has been predicted, it is possible other states may follow… We can hope!
Happy vaping!
- The Vapeitup Team
If you want more information about Proposition 19, please visit Proposition 19 Guide and Proposition 19 Twitter.
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Tags: Marijuana
Posted in Politics · August 30th, 2010 · Comments (0)
There are a lot of things I’m upset about, more can be seen at useless war But now,
I wonder if everyone is as pissed-off as I am about the Federal Government of the United States. There is no one in government that has the least crumb of good, common horse sense. The country is on the threshold of financial collapse and in spite of that, these morons in Washington keep throwing tons and tons of funds into a war that can’t be won. In addition, we are seeing huge numbers of American war wounded with injuries that is heart breaking that the “lucky” ones will have to live with for life. The unlucky ones are dead and their families will grieve their death the rest of their lives. We are going through this for what? You would imagine the country we live in would be better than this. Unfortunately, it isn’t.
Back in “our” own land, the states and cities are crumbling from lack of money. The Federal Government is spending the money normally sent back to these existences to fight these useless wars. Instead of having money to fund education, pay for police and fire protection, care for the children and elderly, billions are being thrown away by murdering innocent civilians as well as killing declared enemies of the United States. The majority of the individuals in the two places we are warring in care little to nothing which criminal government is in control of their country, their concern is in living and feeding themselves. Most are apolitical and understand they have no power over anything but their daily living. Now, that has been disrupted by the United States war struggle of nation building. Nation building used to be also known as colonialism but that label fell from use.
What is essential is someone, a group, a new party, anything or anyone that will step up to the plate and put America, and Americans, first. We have had a sufficient amount of excuses, of “we just can’t walk away,” “there will be a blood-bath,” “we have to win,” and a dozen other justifications that keeps the military/industrial complex controlling the country. Just get the hell out! We did it in Vietnam, and they did okay but it was the very same worn-out old BS in that war.
History, even contemporary history, has proven there can be nothing called winning in Afghanistan. We are fighting an enemy we armed against the Russians, who waged war for ten years and ultimately gave up and departed. That will be our eventual outcome but how long will it be before the people of this country demand it? How many more war dead, how many more thousands wounded, how many more billions wasted, how many more local governments bankrupt, how many more of our citizens killed and raped because of lack of police protection, how many more homes and businesses burned to the ground because of fire station closings? It’s not a pretty scene when our streets and boulevards have knee high weeds because of budget cutbacks, streets with potholes, or patched potholes where there should be new pavement, empty storefronts where thriving businesses were once, bus service curtailed creating additional difficulties on people already at the bottom of the financial ladder.
It’s a pathetic sight. It hurts to think about it. It’s depressing and anger causing. It’s all because the wretched people we hire to represent us lie to us as to what they claim they will do if we elect them. Liars all. Everyone of them. Their concern is only in themselves and the persons they call associates. There are eleven thousand lobbyists in Washington, DC and their briefcases are loaded with funds to buy anything they desire. We, the people, haven’t a chance. Not anything is going to get improved for us and nothing is going to change for our politicians and bureaucrats except get improved. That gap increases every day. It will change, some day, either by revolution or those people living the good life, politicians, bureaucrats and the businesses that buy them, decide their lifestyle cannot be sustained. I’ll leave it to you to predict which one will occur. I hope I am around when it changes. More of my astute observations can be read at wounded
Douglas Chandler Graham
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Tags: military
Posted in Politics · July 9th, 2010 · Comments (0)