[ARCHIVED THREAD] - So long BATF. (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 2/4/2013 12:33:44 PM EDT
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Hello BATMF, (Look for the red print)
SEATTLE - An effort is building in Congress to change U.S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a federal pot tax. Lawmakers from both parties have been quietly working on several bills, the first of which Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado plan to introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer told The Associated Press. Polis' measure would regulate marijuana the way the federal government handles alcohol: In states that legalize pot, growers would have to obtain a federal permit. Oversight of marijuana would be removed from the Drug Enforcement Administration and given to the newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, and it would remain illegal to bring marijuana from a state where it's legal to one where it isn't. The bill is based on a legalization measure previously pushed by former Reps. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Ron Paul of Texas. Blumenauer's bill would create a federal marijuana excise tax. Last fall's votes in Colorado and Washington state to legalize recreational marijuana should push Congress to end the 75-year federal pot prohibition, Blumenauer said. "You folks in Washington and my friends in Colorado really upset the apple cart," Blumenauer said. "We're still arresting two-thirds of a million people for use of a substance that a majority feel should be legal. ... It's past time for us to step in and try to sort this stuff out." Advocates who are working with the lawmakers acknowledge it could take years for any changes to get through Congress, but they're encouraged by recent developments. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last week came out in support of efforts to legalize hemp in his home state of Kentucky, and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is expected to introduce legislation allowing states to set their own policy on marijuana. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has indicated he plans to hold a hearing on the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws and has urged an end to federal "mandatory minimum" sentences that lead to long prison stints for drug crimes. "We're seeing enormous political momentum to undo the drug war failings of the past 40 years," said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, who has been working with lawmakers on marijuana-related bills. "For the first time, the wind is behind our back." The Justice Department hasn't said how it plans to respond to the votes in Washington and Colorado. It could sue to block the states from issuing licenses to marijuana growers, processors and retail stores, on the grounds that doing so would conflict with federal drug law. Blumenauer and Polis are due to release a paper this week urging Congress to make a number of reforms, including altering tax codes to let marijuana dispensaries deduct business expenses on federal taxes, and changing banking laws to make it easier for marijuana-related businesses to get bank accounts. Many operate on a cash basis because federally insured banks won't work with them, they noted. Blumenauer said he expects to introduce the tax-code legislation as well as a bill that would reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act, allowing states to enact medical marijuana laws without fear that federal authorities will continue raiding dispensaries or prosecuting providers. It makes no sense that marijuana is a Schedule I drug, in the same category as heroin and a more restrictive category than cocaine, Blumenauer said. The measures have little chance of passing, said Kevin Sabet, a former White House drug policy adviser. Sabet recently joined former Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy and former President George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum in forming a group called Project SAM -- for "smart approaches to marijuana" -- to counter the growing legalization movement. Sabet noted that previous federal legalization measures have always failed. "These are really extreme solutions to the marijuana problem we have in this country," Sabet said. "The marijuana problem we have is a problem of addiction among kids, and stigma of people who have a criminal record for marijuana crimes. "There are a lot more people in Congress who think that marijuana should be illegal but treated as a public health problem, than think it should be legal." Project SAM suggests people shouldn't get criminal records for small-time marijuana offenses, but instead could face probation or treatment. Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/political/effort-building-to-change-us-marijuana-laws-including-legalize-hemp-production--establish-tax#ixzz2Jy6NzF9D 
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I thought hemp production for industrial use was already legal? Noooope. And when you hear the drug warriors explain why, you won't know whether to laugh or weep. It really is a mental illness. You know, I had some friends growing up who kept telling me they smoked these muscodyne (wild) grape vines that grew on this big live oak tree in their yard. I never saw them do it, but I think I believed them that it would get them high, at the time. Are the drug crusaders thinking there's going to be teenagers walking around with little papers of rolled up rope fibers hanging from their lips or what? 
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So ... now instead of a ticket and a $50 fine from a local cop, we'll have a federal agency come shoot your dog and burn your house down for not paying for a stamp on your baggie? No thanks. Yeah. I hear you. We should probably go ahead and repeal the NFA and replace it with an outright ban on all SBRs, Silencers, DDs, aows, and Machine guns. |
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I'm all for legalization. What I'm not all for is the perception that the federal government is automatically and arbitrarily entitled to slap excise taxes on inantimate substances and objects just because of what they are.
There would be outrage if federal excise taxes were proposed on milk, eggs, vinegar or aspirin. |
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Pot people need to STFU. You get caught with pot you get a tiny slap on the wrist. Any alcohol, firearm, or tobacco related violations and they throw you in jail. The government wants to legalize pot so they can control you, not so you have more freedoms. Yeah, someone should tell all those MJ dispensaries that the Feds have been raiding that those were just "slaps on the wrist" |
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Pot people need to STFU. You get caught with pot you get a tiny slap on the wrist. Any alcohol, firearm, or tobacco related violations and they throw you in jail. The government wants to legalize pot so they can control you, not so you have more freedoms. In ohio you lose your driving privileges for 6 months even if your caught walking with it. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Pot people need to STFU. You get caught with pot you get a tiny slap on the wrist. Any alcohol, firearm, or tobacco related violations and they throw you in jail. The government wants to legalize pot so they can control you, not so you have more freedoms. In ohio you lose your driving privileges for 6 months even if your caught walking with it. Uh...no. |
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They will have to make a move sometime soon. WA and CO is forcing the issue. I don't think so. I could well envision a situation where 35 States legalized it, but the Feds refused to do anything. Not that we'll have 35 States legalize it any time soon. The only method the States have to force the issue is by constitutional amendment. And technically, that wouldn't be necessary since the power they'd be revoking was never granted to the Feds in the first place. |
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Quoted: You get caught with pot you get a tiny slap on the wrist. Any alcohol, firearm, or tobacco related violations and they throw you in jail. I only got a ticket when I was caught with illegal alcohol. (minor in possession) If it had been a joint they would have arrested me. |
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last week came out in support of efforts to legalize hemp in his home state of Kentucky, and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is expected to introduce legislation allowing states to set their own policy on marijuana.
And the Federal Government will continue to tax every fucking thing in the country. |
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Pot people need to STFU. You get caught with pot you get a tiny slap on the wrist. Any alcohol, firearm, or tobacco related violations and they throw you in jail. The government wants to legalize pot so they can control you, not so you have more freedoms. In ohio you lose your driving privileges for 6 months even if your caught walking with it. Uh...no. ORC 2925.11 Possession of controlled substances. (2) The court shall suspend for not less than six months or more than five years the offender’s driver’s or commercial driver’s license or permit. Seen it happen to more than a few people. |
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I'm all for anything that will give 50 million more people a reason to hate ATF 
strange bedfellows The single issue we should all agree on is liberty. I'm for supporting anyone's liberty to do anything they want, so long as their exercise doesn't infringe upon my own. But then again, I'm a founding member of the Arfcom Somalian Anarchists club. So take that with a grain of salt. |
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Pot people need to STFU. You get caught with pot you get a tiny slap on the wrist. Any alcohol, firearm, or tobacco related violations and they throw you in jail. The government wants to legalize pot so they can control you, not so you have more freedoms. How about you STFU. Small list of 25 people in a short period of time murdered because of pot |
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They will have to make a move sometime soon. WA and CO is forcing the issue. I don't think so. I could well envision a situation where 35 States legalized it, but the Feds refused to do anything. Not that we'll have 35 States legalize it any time soon. The only method the States have to force the issue is by constitutional amendment. And technically, that wouldn't be necessary since the power they'd be revoking was never granted to the Feds in the first place. When I say make a move I mean decide to allow states or not allow states to move forward with what they want to do. In this case we have 2 states taking a stance that the people of their states can have a drug claimed to be illegal by the feds without repercussions from any local authority. The Feds refusing to do anything as akin to allowing it to occur- IE a move to do nothing is still a move. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. |
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Quoted: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last week came out in support of efforts to legalize hemp in his home state of Kentucky, and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is expected to introduce legislation allowing states to set their own policy on marijuana. And the Federal Government will continue to tax every fucking thing in the country. KY is perfect for hemp production, sad shame the drug warriors are morons. A downside (depends on where you sit) to hemp production on a large scale is that it may impact marijuana grows because of stray pollen making it hard to get seed free females to full term (what the smokers want). |