Tag Archives: legalized marijuana

Sessions vs. Trump . . . vs. Us, by Eric Peters

Posted on February 17, 2018 | Leave a comment

Sessions and Trump are engaged in a doobieous, disjointed, battle. Sessions keeps reefering to a 2014 law he doesn’t like, and has asked Congress to rescind it. From Eric Peters at theburningplatform.com:

Without consent, what have you got?

Just force.

The Constitution articulates the principle of consent – that “the people” agree to its terms and conditions – to be governed by it – and that without their consent, the government has no legitimate claim to govern them.

This is the principle at the bottom of the debate over medical marijuana – as well as the debate over recreational marijuana. If the people of a state consent to it, by what right does the federal government oppose it?

And it’s actually just one Fed – the attorney general of the United States, Jeff Sessions. He has personally decided to hurl thunderbolts and lightening at any state which dares to abide by the will of its people by decriminalizing the possession, sale and use of marijuana – whether for medical or recreational purposes. He has decreed that he – personally – will send federal hellhounds to prosecute those who legally – insofar as the laws of their state are concerned – defy his personal anti-pot animus.

But, he needs the funds to do so.

Mao was wrong. Power does not flow from the barrel of a gun. It emanates from the pockets of those with the money to buy the guns.

Take away the money and – effectively – you take away the guns.

That’s what Libertarian leaning Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California did back in 2014, when he put a rider in a funding bill that prohibits the DOJ’s inspector Javerts from going after marijuana users and sellers in states that have legalized the same – by denying them the funds to jihad.

Cue the angry ululations from Sessions. He is stomping his feet, demanding that the funding restriction be rescinded. He believes in the consent of the governed as much as another Republican – Abe Lincoln did.

And like Abe, he is determined to use force to impose his will upon those who do not consent.

But what gives the attorney general – or any other person – the moral right to deny consenting adults access to marijuana for medical or any other reason?

To continue reading: Sessions vs. Trump . . . vs. Us

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Posted in Crime, Government, Law, Uncategorized

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Global Banks Sabotage Uruguay’s Efforts to Legalize Marijuana, by Don Quijones

Posted on September 4, 2017 | Leave a comment

In fantasy land, the global banks are sabotaging Uraguay’s marijuana effort because they have compunctions about marijuana. In reality land, they are doing so because legalizing marijuana cuts into the banks’ lucrative business laundering illicit drug proceeds. From Don Quijones at wolfstreet.com:

The first country to fully legalize the recreational use of marijuana, Uruguay, has suddenly found itself facing an unexpected obstacle: the international banking industry.

It all began a few weeks ago when one of the 15 pharmacies that had agreed to sell the two varieties of cannabis distributed by the Uruguayan State announced that it was withdrawing from the scheme after its bank, Santander, had threatened to close its account unless it stopped providing services for the state-controlled sales. Shortly afterwards it was revealed that other banks, including Brazil’s Itaú, had canceled the accounts of the private companies that had been granted a license to produce marijuana as well as some cannabis clubs.

To fill the funding void, the state-owned lender Banco República (BROU) stepped up to provide financing to the 15 pharmacies involved in the scheme as well as producers and clubs. But within days it, too, was given a stark ultimatum, this time from two of Wall Street’s biggest hitters, Bank of America and Citi: Either it stops providing financing for Uruguay’s licensed marijuana producers and vendors or it’s dollar operations could be at risk — a very serious threat in a country where US dollars are used so widely that they can even be withdrawn from ATMs.

Under the US Patriot Act, handling money from marijuana is illegal and violates measures to control money laundering and terrorist acts. However, US regulators have made it clear that banks will not be prosecuted for providing services to businesses that are lawfully selling cannabis in states where pot has been legalized for recreational use. Some cannabis businesses have been able to set up accounts at credit unions, but major banks have shied away from the expanding industry, deciding that the burdens and risks of doing business with marijuana sellers are not worth the bother.

To continue reading: Global Banks Sabotage Uruguay’s Efforts to Legalize Marijuana

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Posted in Banking, Business, Governments

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Legal Marijuana’s Social Impact On Colorado, by Nicholas Colas

Posted on March 14, 2017 | Leave a comment

How is the Rocky Mountain High state doing with legalized weed? From Nicholas Colas at info.convergex.com:

Legal Marijuana’s Social Impact on Colorado

Summary: Believe it or not, there was no change in the number of marijuana users in Colorado between 2014 and 2015 after legalization of the sale of recreational cannabis went into effect. At least that’s what Colorado’s Retail Marijuana Public Advisory Committee reported in their latest research on the effects of marijuana on public health. They also found that calls to poison centers for exposure to marijuana and emergency room visits continue to fall. The State Department of Public Safety also reported that the number of marijuana arrests nearly halved, down by 46% between 2012 and 2014. Moreover, Colorado has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, and the legal marijuana industry has certainly helped by adding 18,000 new full-time jobs in 2015 according to the Marijuana Policy Group. Perhaps the most significant benefit to the state is tax receipts, as Colorado received $198.5 million in tax revenue last year from marijuana sales of $1.3 billion. Bottom line, retail marijuana legalization has had its fair share of pros and cons in Colorado, but it’s not been nearly as bad as critics had forecast.

Note from Nick: Jessica’s note about the legal pot business get a lot of attention and comments from readers and today she looks at the social impact of legalization on the state of Colorado. With other states – most notably California – voting to legalize marijuana, this will become a national issue in coming years. Read on for the details.

We’ve written several notes about the success of legal recreational marijuana businesses in Colorado over the past few years, but our most frequently asked question is: what are the social costs? Many people have heartbreaking stories about the effects drugs have had on their loved ones and with one in five Americans now living in a state where retail cannabis is legal, it’s important to understand the social side of the business as well.

To continue reading: Legal Marijuana’s Social Impact On Colorado

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