Wyden And Blumenauer Introduce "Path to Marijuana Reform" Bills
Program Note: If truth be told, I was planning on taking today off from writing. I had a pretty full day lined up, with errands and car repairs and other real-world chores that needed doing. So I was just going to run a repeat column today, with my apologies. Instead, I'm presenting the full text of a press release by Senator Ron Wyden and Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who both hail from Oregon.
Regular readers are already aware of my own opinion on the matter, which is that federal law is in desperate need of revision, given the increasing amount of marijuana legalization which is taking place on the state level. Marijuana is not heroin nor crystal meth nor crack cocaine, and it needs to stop being treated as their equivalent by the federal government. Federal laws need a complete overhaul on marijuana, and this legislative package is the farthest and most comprehensive effort I've yet seen towards achieving that goal.
Nothing in these bills precludes states which have not changed their marijuana laws from treating it exactly the same as they do now. Nothing in it forces any one state to take any action whatsoever. Instead, it merely gives them the option of treating marijuana differently than federal law now does. Which, as the press release points out, many states already do. It merely formalizes de jure what is already de facto happening. That's it. It's a necessary change, and the three bills which make up this package seem to be very comprehensive in changing all aspects of federal law which so desperately need updating.
So, today, I'm not even "just being a stenographer." I'm instead just cutting and pasting the entire text of the announcement from Wyden and Blumenauer for you to read.
-- Chris Weigant
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE PATH TO MARIJUANA REFORM INTRODUCED BY SENATOR RON WYDEN AND CONGRESSMAN EARL BLUMENAUER
The Path to Marijuana Reform, introduced today by Senator Wyden and Congressman Blumenauer is a package of three bills that pave the way for responsible federal regulation of the legal marijuana industry, and provide certainty for state-legal marijuana businesses which operate in nearly every state in the U.S.
On November 8, 2016, voters in states across the country acted to end the prohibition of marijuana. Voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada approved initiatives to legalize adult use of marijuana, and voters in Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota approved initiatives to provide or expand access to medical marijuana. Today, more than 20 percent of Americans live in states that permit adult use of marijuana, and 95 percent of Americans have access to some form of legal marijuana. These changes represent a dynamic shift in public opinion. In 1969, only 12 percent of Americans approved of legal marijuana. Today, 60 percent believe marijuana should be legal.
Despite legalization under state law and broad public support for marijuana legalization, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Federal agents may arrest marijuana consumers in states where marijuana is legal, and individuals complying with state law may be subject to penalties and jail time under federal law. Marijuana consumers may be barred from public housing or federal financial aid for higher education, and non-citizens may be deported or denied entry into the United States.
Marijuana businesses face even more daunting obstacles. Retailers, researchers, healthcare providers, and marijuana producers complying with state law may face penalties, jail time, and asset forfeiture under federal law. In addition, marijuana businesses have difficulty obtaining bank loans, access to bank accounts, bankruptcy protection, and goods and services like building rental, scientific testing, payment processing, and even legal representation. The I.R.S. also imposes burdensome tax penalties on marijuana businesses, which do not apply to any other businesses legal under state law.
In the face of these challenges, the state-legal marijuana business sector continues to grow. In 2016 the state-legal marijuana industry produced an estimated $7.2 billion in economic activity, with marijuana businesses paying billions of dollars in federal income tax. This industry is expected to produce nearly 300,000 jobs by 2020 and grow to $24 billion by 2025. It is an undeniable fact that the legal marijuana industry is an economic driver in the United States. And every public road, bridge, school, and hospital is paid for, in part, by income taxes paid by marijuana businesses -- legal under state law, but still prohibited by the federal government.
The Path to Marijuana Reform includes three bills that pave the way for responsible federal regulation of the legal marijuana industry, including:
Small Business Tax Equity Act
This legislation would repeal the tax penalty that singles out state-legal marijuana businesses and bars them from claiming deductions and tax credits.
Responsibly Addressing the Marijuana Policy Gap Act
This legislation would reduce the gap between Federal and State law by removing federal criminal penalties and civil asset forfeiture for individuals and businesses acting in compliance with state law. It would also reduce barriers for state-legal marijuana businesses by ensuring access to banking, bankruptcy protection, marijuana research, and advertising. It would protect individual marijuana consumers in states that have legalized marijuana, by providing an expungement process for certain marijuana violations, ensuring access to public housing and federal financial aid for higher education, and ensuring that a person cannot be deported or denied entry to the U.S. solely for consuming marijuana in compliance with state law. Finally, it would remove unfair burdens by ensuring veterans have access to state-legal medical marijuana, and protecting Native American tribes from punishment under federal marijuana laws.
Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act
This legislation would responsibly deschedule, tax, and regulate marijuana. It would impose an excise tax on marijuana products similar to current federal excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco, escalating annually to a top rate equal to 25 percent of the sales price. Marijuana producers, importers, and wholesalers would be required to obtain a permit from the Department of Treasury, and the marijuana industry would be regulated in a manner similar to alcohol. Strict rules would prohibit sale or distribution of marijuana in states where it is illegal under state law.
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Hey CW
Thanks for posting this.
But this one word jumps out-
"Marijuana producers, importers, and wholesalers would be required to obtain a permit from the Department of Treasury"
Import?
Talk about an idea that could kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Yeah, let's offshore another job creating profitable industry.
A
Yeah, let's offshore another job creating profitable industry.
Whoa, not so fast. Some of the best marijuana in the world comes from offshore, so I hear.
Does competition from French wine make Napa Valley wine more or less valuable? I say more, because connoisseurs travel in packs.
Besides, if marijuana reform goes international, there will be plenty of export opportunities for American growing and smoking suppliers, having had a 'head start' in the legal market.
Sign of the times: My barista at the local non-chain coffee shop is moving to Minnesota to start a medical cannabis business.
Balthy
2
"so I hear"?
In the checkout line at Walmart?
A
"so I hear"?
In the checkout line at Walmart?
OUCH!!!
"And the ref takes a point away!!!"
-Jim Carrey, LIAR LIAR
:D
Drexel Professor Tweets He Was ‘Trying Not To Vomit’ After Passenger Gave Up First-Class Seat For Soldier
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2017/03/30/drexel-professor-mosul-tweet/
Democrats :eyeroll:
So it looks like the Michael-Flynn protege, Kushner/Bannon-protected Ezra Cohen-Watnick was trolling through highly classified information with potentially 2 goals: to find something that supported Orange-man's claims about being wire-tapped, and, more ominously, to find out just what the FBI has on them all.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-gravity-is-strong-3
Orange-man is probably not aware of the gravity of any of this, but his posse of moronic criminals are likely to find out.
Republicans: your go-to folks for high crimes and misdemeanors.
Meanwhile Mike Pence can't trust himself to be alone with any females-not-his-wife. He must have a very high opinion of his own personal magnetism. Maybe women on the right are attracted to smarmy, oily liars -- I don't know. I find him repulsive in every possible way.
Republicans: your go-to folks for high crimes and misdemeanors.
And WHO was the last President to be impeached??
Why, I think it was a Democrat.. :D
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/03/30/i-worked-with-jared-kushner-hes-the-wrong-businessman-to-reinvent-government/?utm_term=.efc257bde6a6
Comrade MIchale will find a way to support Jared Kushner because Herr Trump does. Kushner would spit on Michale as soon as look at him, of course, but republican males seem to like that. If they can't be the spitter they like being the spittee. Kneeling with the drool from their rich idols dripping down their faces gives these wealthy-ahole-worshipping righties a warm feeling. Perhaps if they catch some of the spit in their own mouths they too will be blessed.
The funny thing about Bill Clinton's impeachment -- Repubs, still smarting from finding out Nixon was a criminal, really wanted to even the score. So they spent years ginning up fake-scandals against Bill Clinton, then finally managed to hit him for stuff related to his extra-marital activities. Of course, the big Repubs going after him were guilty, guilty, guilty of same and similar activities at the exact time they were puffing up their big mouths and shooting out their fake-purity.
Meanwhile, the Orange-man and his people are criminal on so many levels, if the roles were reversed there wouldn't be enough Republicans in America to staff the investigations the GOP would be ordering.
But since 45 is GOP, why pubbies are suddenly just blind, deaf and dumb.
Really, Comrade, sad, sad, sad.
Comrade MIchale will find a way to support Jared Kushner because Herr Trump does. Kushner would spit on Michale as soon as look at him, of course, but republican males seem to like that. If they can't be the spitter they like being the spittee. Kneeling with the drool from their rich idols dripping down their faces gives these wealthy-ahole-worshipping righties a warm feeling. Perhaps if they catch some of the spit in their own mouths they too will be blessed.
You DO realize that the description of my alleged loyalty to President Trump is EXACTLY how one could describe your loyalty to NOT-45...
You DO realize that, right?? :D
WaPoop's opinion is just that. An opinion..
And it's the opinion of an entity who totally, completely and unequivocally mis-read the FACTS and invented facts of their own to call the 2016 Presidential election 98% in favor of NOT-45...
With credibility like that, who in their right mind would listen to ANYTHING the WaPoop has to say???
Ahhh yes... Those who want to believe what WaPoop says... :D
But the truly unprecedented dynamic within the party right now is the complete submission of its investigatory apparatus. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is essentially acting as an agent of the administration he is supposed to be investigating. (Nunes “works for the president, he answers to the president,” explained his colleague, Representative Ted Yoho, in a moment of unintentional candor.) Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee voted this week not to compel the release of President Trump’s tax returns. And Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who claimed before the election that he had years of investigations on Hillary Clinton already teed up, is committing himself not to exercise any oversight over Trump’s flagrant and spreading self-enrichment.
Chaffetz: another perfect Republican.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/03/house-republicans-to-trump-steal-all-you-want.html
It's amazing how Republicans, who were frothing at the mouth at the thought that Hillary Clinton was paid some generous fees for speaking engagements, while not in office. The fact that some of those speeches occurred at Goldman Sachs was trotted out constantly as PROOF she was in the pocket of Wall Street.
A. HANDFUL. OF. SPEECHES.
Now, there appears to be almost no form of enrichment that is off-limits for 45 that Republicans will object to. They see no conflicts-of-interest. Jimmy Carter has to sell his peanut farm, but Trump not only doesn't have to divest, he can just invite people to meet him at Mar-A-Lago to make their offers.
Trumpers will cheer: "Our guy cheats better than your guy! We win!!!"
Now, there appears to be almost no form of enrichment that is off-limits for 45 that Republicans will object to. They see no conflicts-of-interest. Jimmy Carter has to sell his peanut farm, but Trump not only doesn't have to divest, he can just invite people to meet him at Mar-A-Lago to make their offers.
Trumpers will cheer: "Our guy cheats better than your guy! We win!!!"
Sour grapes salad with Crow Creme.. :D
A. HANDFUL. OF. SPEECHES.
That net'ed NOT-45 over TWENTY MILLION dollars....
Do you think Wall Street just gave that kind of $$$ to NOT-45 out of the goodness of their heart??? That there wasn't some quid pro quo going on???
In other words, the question as to whether NOT-45 has been bought and paid for by Wall Street has been put to rest..
It was clear she had....
The first two bills should pass, the third one should not. Taxes escalating to 25 percent are a guarantee that marijuana will continue to be sold in great amounts on the black market. That's why Massachusetts and Maine voters voted for taxes of only 10-12%. Taxation and regulation should be left to the states. So should obtaining permits and prosecuting people for selling in states where it's illegal.
altohone [1] -
Maybe it means "transport across state lines"?
Importing would be far in the future, IMHO, except for seeds. You'd have to have another country where it was legal, for one. Although I hear Canada's close to going that direction, this would be a very limited list.
But even so, weed should be treated like alcohol, period. That means seeing the equivalent of Heineken or Laphroag in US stores. My guess is it'd be a small part of the overall market, but that's just a gut feeling.
Paula [10] -
I've been thinking about writing an article urging the GOP to get rid of the Hastert Rule, or at the very least change the name, because now it sounds an awfully lot like the "Child Molester Rule" to me.
Think that'd be too snarky?
-CW
andygaus [17] -
EXCELLENT subject! Just had to say that. An actual comment on the actual article! (hrrumph)
Seriously, though, I have a somewhat different take, on the difference between excise and sales taxes. I think excise is the way to go, with no more sales taxes than for any other product.
The reason I say this (and I haven't fully investigated it, I do admit), is twofold. One, it taxes on weight, not price. Two, it taxes at the point of origin. Just like those paper strips over a bottle of liquor. There's a reason why this is better, because it can avoid the black market. If a truck of liquor is hijacked by the mob and then sold under the table, the excise tax HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID. The gummint has already collected the money. Therefore, economically, they don't care that it's on the black market or not, or at least not as much.
But like I said, I've been thinking about looking into this (like the difference between how WA and OR tax weed, and what it's done to the market on the border between the two) and writing about it in the future. So thanks for reminding me.
The black market will always avoid some taxes, but how much of a black market still exists for alcohol? I mean, you can still homebrew, and moonshine still exists, but what fraction of the total market does this represent? Not much, I'd wager.
-CW
[19] Chris: Eliminating the Hastert Rule -- yep! Go for it.