A proposed measure would require all fines from traffic tickets and forfeiture to be donated to charity, removing the incentive for police officers to issue tickets in order to generate revenue.
The post Revolutionary Bill Will Remove Incentive for Profiteering Cops By Giving ALL Fines to Charity appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Democrats and Republicans alike are coming together to fight against the tyranny of Jeff Sessions and his war on cannabis.
Nearly half a million people who have been labeled as felons for possessing a plant, could see their cannabis convictions cleared in California.
A veteran police officer who has criticized arrest quotas and corruption in his own department is now speaking out in support of cannabis legalization.
Hugh Hefner died at the age of 91 on Wednesday, and while he is most popularly known as the founder of Playboy Magazine, he was also a strong advocate for cannabis legalization, and his charitable organization provided the first funding grant for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The nonprofit organization, commonly referred to by the acronym NORML, was founded by Keith Stroup in 1970. At the time, he said he had reached out to a number of foundations asking for funding, only to be turned down because the concept of legalizing cannabis was not mainstream. However, Stroup said he got the idea to reach out to the Playboy Foundation when he was smoking cannabis with a group of lawyers who worked for Ralph Nader in Washington D.C.
“One of [Nader’s] young lawyers named John Esposito said to me, ‘Keith, have you checked with the Playboy Foundation?’ We were in the process at that point of sending funding proposals out to any foundation we could identify where we thought it might be possible that they would give us some funding. And frankly, on the first 8 or 10 we sent out, I didn’t get anything back but standard rejection letters. I hadn’t even been allowed to come and interview personally. So clearly, it was still considered by most foundations too hot to handle.”
Stroup said he figured there was no harm in reaching out to the Playboy Foundation, and when he did, he received a phone call from a representative saying they were interested. That phone call led to a meeting in D.C., which led to a meeting in Chicago with Hugh Hefner and the board of directors.
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READ MORE: Woman, Arrested for Small Amount of Pot, Dies in Jail After Being Denied Prescriptions by Cops
“It was kind of a historic moment for NORML,” Stroup said. “Hefner almost immediately embraced the idea and certainly, although he was technically just chairman of the foundation board, you can imagine that since he owned 90 percent of the stock in the company that funded the foundation, he basically could do pretty much what he wanted.”
Stroup noted that Hefner was a cannabis user who began smoking as an alternative to alcohol. “Hefner had been someone who used to have been an alcohol drinker, but had given up alcohol some time ago, and had become a marijuana smoker,” Stroup said. “He had a personal interest in the issue that it should be legal, it’s better for people than alcohol.”
After the business meeting, Hefner and the Playboy Foundation offered Stroup a $5,000 grant for NORML—the first one he had been offered. Stroup said he was conflicted on whether he should accept the money at first, because he had received so many rejection letters that he pursued a traditional job, and had just been hired.
“I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to pass up this job opportunity for what was a $5,000 grant, and after the first couple of months we would have used that money up, and I wasn’t sure there would be any other money to follow, but the more I thought about it, I realized this is either something I believed in and wanted to take a risk with, or it wasn’t and the fact that someone was willing to put up some money suggested that maybe it was a risk worth taking, so I accepted their grant, I passed up the chance to take a traditional job again, and I never looked back.”
Nearly 50 years after its inception, NORML is now a thriving organization that is actively working towards its mission to “move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high quality marijuana that is safe, convenient and affordable.”
In a statement on Hefner’s death, Stroup described the original Playboy as a pioneer who helped awaken millions of Americans to the reality that cannabis prohibition is “a misguided and destructive public policy.”
“Hugh Hefner, or “Hef” as he preferred to be called, played a crucial role in the early days of NORML. At a time when most Americans were accepting the government’s “reefer madness” propaganda, Hef, through the Playboy Foundation, provided NORML with our initial funding in early 1971, and became our primary funder all during the 1970s. And by focusing attention in Playboy magazine on some of the most egregious victims of the war against marijuana smokers, he helped us convince millions of Americans that marijuana prohibition was a misguided and destructive public policy. Hefner was a fearless cultural crusader who believed deeply not just in the right to sexual freedom, but also in civil rights and the right to privacy. May he rest in peace.”
The latest survey on support for cannabis legalization found that a clear majority of Americans are in favor legalizing the plant that the federal government claims is among one of the deadliest drugs in the country.
According to a survey from Harvard-Harris Poll, 86 percent of Americans now support some form of cannabis legalization—with 49 percent of respondents saying it should be legalized for both recreational and medicinal use, and 37 percent saying it should be legalized for medicinal use only.
Heartening enough is that only 14 percent of Americans are stuck in the dark ages and want to keep it illegal, according to the poll.
The poll, which surveyed 2,051 registered voters online from July 19-24, found that only 14 percent of respondents said that they think cannabis should remain illegal. In contrast, 57 percent of respondents said legalizing cannabis would make society better, and 69 percent said it would not bother them if cannabis was legalized in their state.
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In addition to the growing support for legalization, the survey also found that 72 percent of Americans support no jail time for individuals who are found possessing small amounts of cannabis—even if the plant is illegal.
Harvard-Harris Co-Director Mark Penn told The Hill that while the survey showed that voters are concerned about a rise in drug-related crimes, they appear to view cannabis as separate from other drugs that are currently illegal at the federal level.
“Voters point to drugs as the major source of crime and support tough sentences for drug dealers but view marijuana in a wholly different light,” Penn said. “Most think legalization of marijuana would probably be helpful in reducing crime and almost half support legalization.”
In fact, as the Free Thought Project has reported on multiple occasions, legal weed does reduce crime.
READ MORE: Govt"s Own Research Shows Legalization NOT Prohibition Dramatically Reduces Drug Use
In the days following the survey, lawmakers ignored public opinion and adhered to the standard set by federal law, by blocking an amendment from the debate that sought to let Veterans Affairs hospitals prescribe cannabis to patients in need.
As The Free Thought Project has reported, “even though therapeutic cannabis is legal in 29 states, many veterans face significant hurdles to lawfully obtain it, and instead, end up on addictive and deadly opiates and other big pharma solutions.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has also ignored growing support for legalization, and he has instead pushed for the federal government punishing states that legalize cannabis. In a memo to the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and Department of Justice component heads, Sessions discussed the mission of President Trump’s Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety.
“Task Force subcommittees will also undertake a review of existing policies in the areas of charging, sentencing, and marijuana to ensure consistency with the Department’s overall strategy on reducing violent crime and with Administration goals and priorities,” Sessions wrote.
While cannabis is listed as a “Schedule I” drug in the United States—which means that it should have no medicinal value—it should be noted that the U.S. government actually holds the patent to cannabis as medicine, affirming its value.
The Free Thought Project has provided in-depth coverage of stories that show the true power of cannabis, such as a groundbreaking study published last month, which found that cannabis can stop HIV from becoming AIDS; a study that confirmed that the majority of cannabis users give up prescription opiate medications; and a study that confirmed that cannabis has a “significant” effect on killing cancer cells.
READ MORE: Absurd Anti-Marijuana Video is Going Viral, Not Because it"s Working - Because it"s Hilarious
It is quite amazing and equally disheartening to see people advocate for kidnaping and caging people for possessing a plant that saves the lives of countless children, helps people recover from serious disease, and is far safer recreationally than alcohol. The good news is, according to this survey, is that we only have a few people left to convince.
Amid the seemingly constant bad news about rising international tensions and the crushing police/surveillance state at home, one bright spot remains. Cannabis decriminalization keeps on sweeping the U.S. – as, according to polls, almost no one believes cannabis should be illegal.
It is well known that the war on drugs serves no purpose but to enrich and empower the police state and the corporatocracy. On the other hand, cannabis legalization has provided tremendous benefits to the people.
Medical cannabis is proving to successfully treat an ever-growing number of physical and mental ailments, without the side harmful side-effects of pharmaceutical products. While it is not a panacea, medical cannabis is giving life to children where before they were expected to die, allowing children to finally stop having debilitating seizures, and allowing war veterans to find treatment for PTSD where none other exists, to name just a few.
Freedom is even greater in the eight states that have legalized recreational cannabis use. If this weren’t enough, legal pot is providing incredible economic boosts, such as in Colorado where the cannabis industry is boosting the economy more than any other industry.
More and more of those in government are getting it, and they’re not afraid to speak out or even act in the noblest of manners, such as Georgia Rep. Allen Peake who skirts the law to distribute Colorado medical cannabis to suffering children in his state.
Add Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O’Neill to the list. In a recent speech, the enlightened judge said cannabis should be legalized and all non-violent cannabis offenders should be released from jail.
READ MORE: For the First Time in Recorded History, High School Kids Choosing Pot Over Tobacco
O’Neill says legalization and prisoner release would generate $350 million that would be used to treat drug addiction instead of criminalizing it, as well as create a mental health network to combat addiction.
“Treat addiction like the disease it is in the name of compassion,” he said.
O’Neill is pondering a run for Ohio governor, but won’t make a decision until the end of the year. Even if he doesn’t run, his remarks inject some much-needed substance into the race, and should spur the candidates to put their positions on the record.
Ohio legalized medical pot in Sept. 2016, although legal sales won’t begin for at least a year. Ohio will have dispensaries and cultivation centers to provide medical products for a host of qualifying conditions.
O’Neill’s call to legalize all cannabis use, like alcohol and tobacco, and release non-violent cannabis “offenders” is a natural progression in rational thought. As far as drugs go, we know that alcohol and tobacco use kills hundreds of thousands of people every year, while no one has ever been known to die from the use of cannabis.
How can the State logically defend the legal status of more dangerous drugs (with little to no medical benefit) while a harmless, medically beneficial one is illegal? If there is no rational basis, and cannabis was completely legalized, then it follows that there is no rational basis for holding non-violent users and sellers of a natural plant in jail.
READ MORE: American Cops Now Steal More Property than All US Burglars Combined
Pretty simple, but too many politicians still cling to the injustice of prohibition, even though we know the drug war was started to oppress minorities and suppress political dissent. They continue supporting the War on Drugs even though it has not achieved any of its stated goals, after five decades and $1 trillion being spent.
If Justice O’Neill ends up running for governor, his chances will certainly be boosted by calling for the freedom and economic boost that is legal cannabis.
Canada’s recently unveiled cannabis legalization effort is generating plenty of discussion, largely due to the fact that it would be the second country in the world to allow “full” recreational use of the substance nationwide. While legalization will require approval from the Parliament, its passage is quite feasible because of a Liberal majority in the House of Commons. The overhaul appears as a monumental step forward in cannabis freedom, but there is no shortage of limitations, restrictions and penalties for those not in full compliance of the law.
The bill would allow adults 18 years of age and older to possess up to 30 grams, or a little over an ounce, of cannabis. Adults would also be allowed to grow up to four plants on their property for personal use. Most regulations regarding retail sales would be decided upon by individual provinces.
One positive aspect of this bill is that cannabis would be legalized throughout the entire country, unlike the United States with its varying state laws under continuous threat of the government which still deems cannabis illegal at the federal level. Canada would join Uruguay as the only other country in the world to broadly legalize the substance.
However, there are some hefty stipulations attached to this bill serving as a clear indication that the Canadian government’s war on drugs will remain in effect, as the bill would be “imposing serious criminal penalties for those operating outside the legal framework.” In their commitment to keep cannabis away from minors, cripple the black market and deter impaired driving, the Canadian government has plenty of penalties within this bill for users who sell to youth, drive under the influence of cannabis or attempt to distribute and sell marijuana without a license.
READ MORE: DEA Just Admitted It Lets Drugs Into Communities & Pushes Them on Citizens
The penalty for selling cannabis to a minor ranges from a $15,000 fine and 18-month prison sentence to up to 14 years in jail, dependent upon the seriousness of the charge. Selling cannabis without a license also carries a prison sentence, ranging from 6 months to 14 years depending on the allegation. The government has gone a step further by aiming to prosecute people who have too much on their person or in their garden. Possession surpassing the allowed 30 grams, possession of flowering or budding plants in public, possession of “illicit” cannabis, and possession of more than four plants carry possible jail time as well: between six months and five years in prison and fines of up to $5,000 depending on the circumstances of the charges.
In addition to the prohibited actions in the bill itself, a synchronous bill was introduced that would expand police powers to order saliva samples from drivers suspected of operating under the influence of drugs and greatly increase penalties on drivers under the influence of drugs including cannabis. According to CBC:
Three new drug-related offences will be also be created for drivers who have consumed drugs within two hours of driving. A driver who is found to have two nanograms but less than five nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood could face a maximum fine of up to $1,000 (THC is the primary psychoactive found in cannabis).
A driver who has a blood level of more than five nanograms of THC, or has been drinking alcohol and smoking pot at the same time, will face a fine and the possibility of jail time. In more serious cases, a drug-impaired driver could face up to 10 years if convicted.
READ MORE: 19 Year Old Faces Life Sentence for Weed Brownies
The government did not specify which drug testing device it would recommend police use for enforcement, but other jurisdictions use the DrugWipe system, which can detect traces of cannabis, opiates, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamines (MDMA, ecstasy), benzodiazepines and ketamine.
While Canada’s law is a step forward in effectively allowing more people to access cannabis, the strings attached do little to increase overall freedom for users, and there will be a plethora of ways to imprison and fine users who stray from using cannabis within the provided authorizations; while some penalties are described as part of the goal to reduce impaired driving and protect youth, the Canadian government will essentially continue to put people in jail for cannabis offenses including “over-possession.”
The bill is aiming for implementation in the middle of 2018; while details will likely continue to be crafted, legalization in Canada will carry hefty restrictions unless significant changes are made to the proposed law.
After it waged a veritable war against cannabis legalization in Arizona, coughing up half a million dollars for the campaign, Insys Therapeutics recently announced the ultimate victory has finally come to fruition: the DEA approved one of the company’s groundbreaking pharmaceuticals — synthetic marijuana — to be listed as a Schedule II substance.
“Insys gave $500,000 last summer to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, the group opposing marijuana legalization in Arizona,” the Washington Post reported. “The donation amounted to roughly 10 percent of all money raised by the group in an ultimately successful campaign against legalization. Insys was the only pharmaceutical company known to be giving money to oppose legalization last year, according to a Washington Post analysis of campaign finance records.”
That flood of cash from the pharmaceutical company with a vested interest in killing legalization probably did just that.
Now, the equally profit-motivated government has bestowed on Insys Therapeutics what is tantamount to skirting federal cannabis prohibition — despite that synthetic Syndros contains the equivalent ingredient, THC, nature provided in the first place.
This coordinated effort between a profiteering, private entity and the U.S. government to not only crush, but scoff at personal liberties sounds a quiet but resounding alarm for America’s legal cannabis industry.
The fact the cannabis plant, itself still languishes as a supposedly dangerous Schedule I substance, while Big Pharma can profit from its imitation, did not occur by happenstance — in fact, Insys’ history should have flatly nullified this government-granted windfall.
Syndros garnered approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last summer for the treatment of the nausea, vomiting, and weight loss suffered by AIDS and cancer patients.
Now, Insys has received the green light from the Drug Enforcement Agency, which categorized the synthetic substance and its generic formulations as Schedule II — a classification placing it alongside substances from cocaine and methamphetamines, to Adderall, OxyContin, and even methadone.
Cannabis remains on the DEA’s hitlist of Schedule I dangerous substances the State vilipends as devoid of redeeming medical value, on par with heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and peyote — largely due to pressure from, if not surreptitious coordination with, Big Pharma.
Insys’ stupefyingly brash endeavor to crush cannabis legalization while attempting approval of a fabricated concoction that mimics the vilified plant must be the most astonishingly pretentious example of callous corporate profiteering in years — indeed, this loathsome hypocrisy has not escaped the cannabis advocacy microscope.
“It appears they are trying to kill a non-pharmaceutical market for marijuana in order to line their own pockets,” J.P. Holyoak, chairman of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Arizona, asserted last year.
Even a cursory examination of Insys Therapeutics’ anti-pot propaganda — imbued with all the patronizing semantics characteristic of an industry too experienced in cozying up to the U.S. government — belies the inanity in Big Pharma’s naked profiteering.
In short, it doesn’t matter to Insys and the federal government that scores of patients suffering a startlingly wide spectrum of ailments find relief from a plant, cannabis, in its natural state — together with loosening laws nationwide — cannot profit Insys.
But a fabricated version of the plant — and its oh-so-helpful categorization as less dangerous than what nature managed to produce — can.
During its shameless anti-pot campaign, Insys bloviated of legalization, “it fails to protect the safety of Arizona’s citizens, and particularly its children.”
READ MORE: Officials in Missouri are SUING THEIR OWN RESIDENTS for Voting Against the Police State
Perhaps targeting the heartstrings of family members whose loved ones use cannabis to treat childhood epilepsy and seizures, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn’s disease, addiction, depression, ADHD, or one of myriad other conditions, Insys deigned itself a shield between customers and the villain plant, adding it “firmly believes in the potential clinical benefits of cannabinoids,” and “we hope that patients will have the opportunity to benefit from these potential products once clinical trials demonstrate their safe and effective use.”
That socially-awkward attempt to seem compassionate fools no one — and hasn’t yet — considering Insys Therapeutics began seeking the boundless profits of synthesized cannabis more than a decade ago.
Insys predicted current staggering support for the medical and recreational use of cannabis years ago, as the company postured on the need to maintain the non-synthetic plant’s Schedule I status in a 2011 letter to the DEA, noting the “longstanding policy of the United States to disfavor domestic cultivation of narcotic raw materials because of concerns about the abuse potential from farming of this material.”
But evidence the pharmaceutical company’s hostility toward the cannabis plant pertained to profit deprived it, in actuality, came years earlier — Insys’ own words from nearly a decade ago substantiate fully the financial motivation.
As state-run RT pointed out, a disclosure filed by Insys on August 17, 2007, with the Securities and Exchange Commission proves beyond a doubt the profit-robbing factor would motivate killing legalization ten years later. Forgoing pretense, Insys asserted,
“If marijuana or non-synthetic cannabinoids were legalized in the United States, the market for dronabinol [Syndros] product sales would likely be significantly reduced and our ability to generate revenue and our business prospects would be materially adversely affected.”
READ MORE: SWAT Team Admits On Website That It Was Formed To Fight Civil Rights Protesters
Of course, given Insys Therapeutics’ penchant for flying fast and loose with the law when profits are at stake aligns perfectly with the company’s insultingly-hypocritical, patently-fictitious moralizing on public health concerns.
Insys is now under investigation for off-brand marketing of fentanyl — an opioid painkiller 50 times stronger than Schedule I-listed heroin, and one of the most addictive substances available — a route pharmaceutical companies take when a drug is either found efficacious in treating an additional condition, or when sales for the approved purpose slump.
Worse, and lending further credence to the company’s profit-no-matter-the-cost modus operandi, several Insys executives were just arrested in December for conspiring to pay off healthcare workers to recklessly prescribe the medication — even when the dangerous opioid wasn’t needed.
“Several pharmaceutical executives and managers, formerly employed by Insys Therapeutics, Inc., were arrested today on charges that they led a nationwide conspiracy to bribe medical practitioners to unnecessarily prescribe a fentanyl-based pain medication and defraud healthcare insurers,” wrote the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts in an announcement on December 8, 2016.
“As alleged, top executives of Insys Therapeutics, Inc. paid kickbacks and committed fraud to sell a highly potent and addictive opioid that can lead to abuse and life threatening respiratory depression,” stated Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of the FBI, after the arrests. “In doing so, they contributed to the growing opioid epidemic and placed profit before patient safety. These indictments reflect the steadfast commitment of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to confront the opioid epidemic impacting our communities, while bringing to justice those who seek to profit from fraud or other criminal acts.”
READ MORE: VIDEO: Cop Violently Attacks Attorney General in Courtroom for "Speaking Loudly"
Yet, the duplicitous nature of the U.S. government’s prohibition on cannabis now has the DEA, putatively Drug Warrior Number One, transparently forking over legal protections for synthetic THC, allowing the company to profit handily, while the plant’s scheduling makes criminals out of patients legitimately using cannabis for medical reasons.
It is this skirting of legality, deceptive marketing, duplicitous propaganda, offensively direct assistance from the government, and flagrant criminality that make Insys Therapeutics the exact corporate thug paragon of a monied-interest, authoritarian Police State.
If you need a case to abolish the State, look no further than its dealings with the cannabis plant — whether or not you are a user, the miraculously beneficial weed has flourished for centuries unmolested by self-important empires, until fiat currency made it a threat to unscrupulous profiteers.
The State’s farcical war on cannabis has effectively ended for most Americans — and it’s well overdue the government catch up with the rest of us.
Massachusetts was one of four states to legalize recreational cannabis at the ballot box Nov. 8, and some lawmakers are taking the cause of freedom even further. Sen. Jamie Eldridge is working to craft a bill that would free some of those in jail for cannabis possession and sales, as well as expunge their records.
“We’ve approved medical marijuana, decriminalization and now legalization. It shows that the voters don’t believe the people who possess or sell marijuana should be in jail,” said Eldridge.”
He is working with the ACLU and the Union of Minority Neighborhoods (UMN) to have something in place for 2018, counting on the solid margin of public support for legalization to convince skeptical lawmakers.
“We have to look at releasing folks who are in jail for marijuana crimes that are no longer crimes,” said UMN executive director Horace Small. “It’s only fair now that the prohibition is over to retroactively erase these records. Sometime in the next month or two we’ll have a piece of legislation.”
Knowing there will be plenty of backlash from prohibitionists, Small says any prisoner releases would be on a case-by-case basis and will not include anyone with multiple drug offenses or linked to violence.
“This doesn’t apply to someone working for a cartel or something,” said Small. “We need to look at what’s realistic and what’s over the top — there are a lot of conversations that we need to have.”
Naturally, law enforcement is lashing out at the proposal, suggesting the interpretations of courts under old, now-negated laws should keep non-violent pot users locked in cages.
“It’s counterproductive and it undermines the judicial system,” said Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson. “These lawmakers weren’t there for the facts of the case.”
Having lost the authority to continue the war on pot, Hodgson is counting on federal government to impose its will under the new Trump administration.
“I’m not sure this marijuana law won’t be repealed at some point,” said Hodgson. “Just because the marijuana law passed, it’s still a violation of federal law.”
If Sen. Jeff Sessions, a rabid prohibitionist, gets to carry out his vision of justice as U.S. Attorney General, Hodgson may well get his wish.
Massachusetts law enforcement must be chafing at the legalization of cannabis, considering that the state ranks as one of the worst in the country for civil asset forfeiture — better known as policing for profit. Cannabis provided lots of opportunities for cops to steal cash and assets from innocent people, in order to pad their budgets and buy new militarized weaponry and surveillance gear.
According to the Institute for Justice, Massachusetts law enforcement seized “almost $139 million between 2000 and 2014, an average of about $9.3 million each fiscal year,” and “received $63.5 million in [federal] equitable sharing proceeds between 2000 and 2013, or $4.5 million per calendar year.”
Massachusetts cops only need probable cause “to believe that property was involved in a crime” to seize it from people who are never charged with a crime. Owners must prove their innocence through costly court and attorney fees to get their property back, and “agencies get to keep up to 100 percent of forfeiture proceeds, giving them considerable incentive to seize property.”
Massachusetts cops have been raking in the dough through the war on drugs, so it will be interesting to see how cannabis legalization affects their profits.
Sen. Eldridge is surely taking inspiration from Gov. Peter Shumlin of neighboring Vermont, who recently pardoned 192 people for misdemeanor possession of marijuana charges.
Shumlin said in a statement:
“My hope was to help as many individuals as I could overcome that stigma and the very real struggles that too often go along with it. Vermont should follow the many states that are legalizing and regulating the use of marijuana and put to an end the incredible failure that is the War on Drugs.”
Legal cannabis sales have exploded in North America, experiencing unprecedented 30 percent growth in 2016, totaling a massive $6.7 billion — a greater and faster economic boom than even the oft-heralded dot-com era.
Even more positive — particularly for cannabis purveyors and eager consumers — Forbes reports, assuming compound annual growth of 25 percent, sales are projected to top $20.2 billion in just the next four years.
As the outlet explains:
“To put this in perspective, this industry growth is larger and faster than even the dot-com era. During that time, GDP grew at a blistering pace of 22%. Thirty percent is an astounding number especially when you consider that the industry is in early stages.”
ArcView Market Research published the eye-popping report — using data from BDS Analytics, with access to individual customer transactions from dispensary partners — and included Canada for the first time as the nation makes its nascent foray into the legal cannabis landscape.
“One of the biggest stories was the alternative forms of ingestion,” ArcView CEO Troy Dayton told Forbes. “Concentrates and edibles are becoming customer favorites versus traditional smoking.”
Dayton, impressed by the bewildering figures, expressed trepidation over the future of the legal cannabis market under the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump — but he remains optimistic.
“It’s one of the few things he has been consistent on,” the ArcView head said of the incoming president’s states’ rights position on legalizing cannabis.
Right now, Dayton noted, “Twenty-one percent of the total U.S. population now live in legal adult use markets.”
Heavy investments in legal cannabis have came from California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Nevada; but the most jaw-dropping growth happened in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon — where sales skyrocketed fully 62 percent through September 2016 — veritably eclipsing the numbers from 2015.
Much of this market explosion has not occurred with the help of large companies and corporations, since the legality of cannabis in the U.S. has been a matter of political climate.
“You will not find another multi-billion dollar market growing at a 25% compound annual growth rate anywhere in the world that is not already filled with multi-national companies and institutional investors,” Dayton explained. “That’s part of what makes the cannabis industry such a unique opportunity for investors and entrepreneurs.”
Forbes reports ArcView “has helped its investors place $91 million with 135 companies since 2013 and primarily focuses on private companies. The industry with its legalization risks does not attract institutional investors in the same amount that other sectors do.”
Those investors seek new technology in the industry, particularly new means of testing cannabis and new advances in growing the plant.
Despite archaic federal prohibition on ‘marijuana,’ a growing number of states have opted to employ logic and compassion, legalizing variously recreational or medical use — in fact, California, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nevada voted to legalize recreational use in 2016.
ArcView’s new editor-in-chief Tom Adams, astounded legal cannabis managed to trump even the glorious dot-com boom, said “The only consumer industry categories I’ve seen reach $5 billion in annual spending and then post anything like 25% compound annual growth in the next five years are cable television (19%) in the 1990’s and the broadband internet (29%) in the 2000’s.”
This explosive growth proves legal cannabis doesn’t only benefit people with medical conditions and stoners — it can supercharge the economy, too. The drug warriors look sillier by the day.
It’s a new year, and signs abound that cannabis decriminalization will continue rolling across the nation. Three more states legalized recreational use on the November ballot – bringing the total to seven – and four other states joined the long list of medical use states.
The big question is, will a Trump administration crack down on these states, considering federal government still lists cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug? The president-elect said he favors states’ rights, but his selection for Attorney General, Sen. Jeff Sessions, is among the worst drug war fanatics in the country. Sessions could do serious damage if he is let off the leash.
But Sessions is supremely out of touch with America and rationality itself. It’s now abundantly clear to the vast majority that locking people in a cage for using a plant that’s far less dangerous than alcohol – and has wondrous potential for medical use – is completely absurd.
State and local governments are realizing this too, even in the deep South.
Kim Ogg, the new Houston, Texas, District Attorney, affirmed a campaign promise during her inauguration ceremony on Monday. Local CW39 reports:
“All misdemeanor possession of marijuana cases will be diverted around jail,” Ogg said during her comments from the podium…
“I’ve never felt good about putting marijuana users in the same jail cells as murderers. It’s just not fair, it doesn’t make any sense, and our country is resoundingly against that,” Ogg said briefly after her inauguration finished.”
The announcement does not amount to decriminalization, as the law must be changed by legislators, but Ogg intends to use her discretion to the fullest.
“I’m going to look at our legislature to take another look at the drug laws and the penalties that are imposed under Texas law. As long as it’s the law, I’ll follow it. But our office is going to use the discretion that the legislature gave us to handle marijuana cases differently,” Ogg said when asked about the charges against the local celebrities.”
Two rappers, Paul Wall and Baby Bash, face felony charges after being arrested for cannabis and “byproducts” with intent to deliver.
CW39 notes that several bills have been filed in Austin to “relax Texas’ stance on weed, but they have yet to be considered.
Even outside of the famously liberal capitol city, authorities seem to be undergoing a sort of enlightenment. D.A. Kim Ogg has a friend in Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who said the previous week he doesn’t see any benefit in going after pot users.
It’s part of a larger trend away from criminalizing cannabis and toward acceptance of its proven medical benefits. Avecedo made the comments during a radio interview with Dean Becker.
“I think you’ll have a really spirited but well-informed discussion, and at some point I could really foresee, in the future, marijuana and some other oils being legalized for medicinal purposes; it will probably be the first step in Texas,” Acevedo said during the program, which was pre-recorded in Houston.
“We absolutely believe in (reform), that we want to push for it, but not just at the federal level, but at the state level as well.“
Acevedo sees the drug war as a failure, and even hopes to implement a law enforcement program to give small-time drug dealers a second chance instead of putting them in cages with violent criminals.
Prohibition doesn’t work; there is not a single benefit except to the police state by enriching their coffers and filling jail cells. Together, the Houston D.A. and police chief can be a shining example for taking steps to end the failed, immoral War on Drugs.
The Colorado cannabis industry has quickly gone from bud to full flower, as indicated by a new in-depth data analysis by the Marijuana Policy Group.
Using a new “Marijuana Impact Model” they say is the first to “accurately characterize how this industry impacts the overall state economy,” the researchers confirmed the astounding positive impact that legalization has brought upon Colorado.
Cannabis now ranks number six in terms of product sales, following closely behind cigarette sales. It beats gold mining by a large margin, and even performing arts and sports venues as well as all non-grain crop farming.
However, the real impact is seen when put in terms of “output and employment per dollar spent,” where spending in the cannabis industry outperforms all private industries in Colorado – including coal and other mining, oil and gas, casinos, business services, general manufacturing and retail trade (incl. alcohol).
Each dollar spent on retail cannabis generates $2.40 in state output, while cannabis manufacturing follows with $2.34 and cannabis cultivation comes in at a close $2.13. Combining the three, cannabis is generating far more than any other entity, including federal government spending.
Much of this has to do with the fact that the Colorado cannabis industry operates almost entirely within the state, due to continuing prohibition in other states.
There is equally impressive news in the jobs sector, where legal cannabis created more than 18,000 jobs in a year.
“Legalization of marijuana created 18,005 fulltime equivalent (FTE) jobs in 2015. Among those jobs, 12,591 were employees directly involved with the marijuana business — either in stores and dispensaries, cultivations, or infused product manufacturing operations. The remaining 5,414 full-time equivalent positions were generated by intermediate input purchases made by the cannabis industry for general business goods and services, and through general spending by marijuana industry employees and proprietors.”
Security guards comprise a significant portion of these indirect jobs, due in large part to the fact that the industry is still being forced to operate on a cash basis — because of asinine banking prohibitions by the federal government and the Federal Reserve.
This isn’t stopping entrepreneurs and other productive individuals from taking advantage of the new, wildly popular market. Legal cannabis is having profound effects in many other industries, including commercial real estate, construction, and a raft of business services.
The cannabis industry itself is growing at a faster pace than any other sector, at an astonishing 42.4 percent. Colorado’s general economic growth is at 3.5 percent and the U.S. average is 1.75 percent.
The growth analysis found a very interesting result that supports a primary argument for ending prohibition. 36.2 percent of the economic growth was the result of the disappearance of the black market.
When people are free to indulge in the personal behavior of ingesting a substance – as they can with alcohol – they will naturally choose to do so through the legal market, even if it means having to pay exorbitant taxes.
And Colorado is gladly raking in this tax revenue.
“In 2015, marijuana taxes were the second largest revenue source among excise products in the state (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, and gaming).
Combined marijuana excise and sales tax revenues were $63.4 million in 2014, and $121.2 million in 2015. 5 For 2015, they were 14 percent larger than casino/gaming revenues, 6 about 5 percent less than lottery revenues, and almost three times larger than alcohol revenues.”
The huge increase in tax revenue is primarily caused by the rapid increase in recreational use sales since legalization in 2014, and the fact that recreational products are taxed at a much higher rate than medical cannabis products.
Interestingly, the report noted that a significant portion of the cannabis industry growth is coming from visitors who go to Colorado on cannabis vacations, rather than some other reason like skiing or hiking.
“This visitor demand segment is poised to grow from 14 metric tons in 2015, to 55.1 metric tons by 2020, based upon these new, sole-purpose visitors choosing Colorado as a marijuana destination.”
If there is one negative aspect to the report, it is that small cannabusinesses are struggling to stay alive as the industry becomes dominated by larger companies. While some of this is the natural result of competition, it appears that many of them are being regulated out of business by the state.
“Private industry owners purport that consolidation is not being caused purely by price competition, but instead by high compliance costs. For example, the owner of one of Colorado’s largest retailers recently stated that many small operations are unable to properly comply with the state’s complex regulations, leading them to exit the market.”
There lies the hidden barb of legalization. There’s no question that ending prohibition is the right thing to do, but government tends to place needless, cumbersome burdens on free enterprise which favors larger conglomerates and smothers the little guy. This ultimately leads to less competition and the tendency for monopolies to develop, which makes it easier for government to siphon their taxes.
All in all, though, the analysis by the Marijuana Policy Group is heartening, and it shows other states how incredibly beneficial it is when people regain freedom and a new market is born. The report is especially timely, as nine states will be voting in less than a week to expand legal access to cannabis through recreational and medicinal means.
