YESTERDAY - Tuesday July 21, 2009

Oakland, California, becomes the first-in-the-nation city to directly
place a business tax on local medical marijuana providers.

California is one of 13 states that have legalized medical marijuana,
allowing it to be sold to people with a doctor’s recommendation.

Measure F, as it was known, will create a new business class for the
dispensaries, which will see a tax increase from $1.20 for every $1,000
in gross sales to $18 per $1,000.

It could generate an additional $294,000 a year for the city and perhaps
more than $1 million annually, when it takes effect Jan. 1.
Oakland, a city of 400,000 residents is facing an $83 million shortfall
in a $455 million budget

“Given that the medical cannabis dispensaries are something that was
legalized in California, why not have revenue from it?” said councilwoman
Rebecca Kaplan, the Oakland City Council member who pushed the proposal.

Four dispensaries are licensed by the Oakland City Council to sell and
dispense medical marijuana. Marijuana, or cannabis, as it is more
appropriately called, is a valuable aid in the treatment of a wide range
of clinical applications.

These include:
- pain relief particularly of neuropathic pain (pain from nerve damage),
- spasticity
- nausea
- movement disorders
- glaucoma.

Marijuana is also a powerful appetite stimulant, specifically for
patients suffering from HIV, (the AIDS wasting syndrome), or dementia.

Emerging research suggests that marijuana’s medicinal properties may
protect the body against some types of malignant tumors and are
neuroprotective.

Currently, more than 60 U.S. and international health organizations
support granting patients immediate legal access to medicinal marijuana
under a physician’s supervision.

Advocates estimate there are 200,000 or more approved medical-marijuana
users in California. Unfortunately, opponents say it is relatively easy
for anyone over 18 years old to obtain such a doctor’s note.

Marijuana is the third most popular recreational drug in America
(behind only alcohol and tobacco), and has been used by nearly
100 million Americans.

According to government surveys, some 25 million Americans have smoked
marijuana in the past year, and more than 14 million do so regularly
despite harsh laws against its use.

According to NORML (National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws) Marijuana is far less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco.

Around 50,000 people die each year from alcohol poisoning. Similarly,
more than 400,000 deaths each year are attributed to tobacco smoking.

By comparison, marijuana is nontoxic and cannot cause death by overdose.
According to the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet…

“The smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health. …
It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat …
than alcohol or tobacco.”

In Holland, politicians decided over 25 years ago to separate marijuana
from the illicit drug market by permitting coffee shops all over the
country to sell small amounts of marijuana to adults.

Surveys show that individuals use marijuana and other drugs in Holland
at rates less than half of their American counterparts.

Watch The Big Lie/Truth About Marijuana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW6TU2vZe_Y&NR=1

Avoid medical marijuana usage by using The One-Minute Cure
http://www.One-Minute-Cure.com

TAGS: AIDS, alcohol, business tax, California, cannabis, dementia, glaucoma, HIV, marijuana, Measure F, medical marijuana, nausea, NORML, Oakland, pain relief, tobacco

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 9:58 am and is filed under Misc., Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.