“A medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco that gave out free marijuana to poor people is mostly empty after a raid by federal agents,” according to the San Jose Mercury News.
What? I thought President Obama said this wasn’t going to happen anymore? Did the San Francisco DEA team not get Obama’s memo?
“A source in San Francisco city government who was informed about the raid said the DEA’s action appeared to be prompted by alleged financial improprieties related to the payment of sales taxes,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In related news, “More than 100,000 questions were submitted, in the first live Internet video chat by a U.S. president, with the idea Obama would answer those that were most popular. But after 3.6 million votes were cast, one of the top questions turned out to be a query on whether legalizing marijuana might stimulate the economy by allowing the government to regulate and tax the drug,” according to the New York Times.
Obama’s answer surely disappointed his fans, “The answer is no, I don’t think that is a good strategy to grow the economy.”
So Obama doesn’t think marijuana sales can help our economy, hut he unleashed the DEA on a medical marijuana dispensary because they weren’t collecting and paying the right amount of sales taxes? Is it just me or does that not sound contradictory?
A writer at Mother Jones questioned this action by Obama’s administration thusly, “It’s difficult to gauge the Chronicle’s anonymous source, but if accurate, the explanation seems rather odd. Last I checked, there was no national sales tax in the United States, so why would the federal government be interested in that issue? Moreover, while I’m not sure whether it applies to medical marijuana, prescription drugs are exempt under the current California sales tax regime. ”
That same writer wrote that “Marijuana is the largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels’ multibillion dollar business north of the border.”
So, if we “Commodify the major cash crop through legalization, the idea goes, and its cost will plummet, putting a serious dent in the bad guys’ bank accounts.”
So why not legalize marijuana? Sure, it cannot be all that good for you. Smoking anything is ill-advised. However, you are going to have a heck of a time stopping folks from doing this, so why not allow it and tax it? And why are Obama’s people still harassing medical marijuana dispensaries?
I think we all expected better from Obama, at least on this issue.
You probably thought the war in Iraq would be over, too. Or that Obama stimulus packages and bailouts would be different from Bush stimulus packages and bailouts. The differences between Bush and Obama are almost purely cosmetic.
Remember the old song? “Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss.”
I respect Obama and though I understand he chooses reasons to play down the issue of “immoral” drug use, I believe he should have shown some respect to the issue and use the same meaningful insight and common sense honesty that he was elected for. During the inauguration Obama chose to highlight the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln a man who led this country through one of its most divisive times. The civil war was remarkable because it pitted brother against brother and displayed to history the inhumane brutality that Americans are capable of inflicting on one another when they fall on opposing sides of a powerful ideology. There are a lot of similarities between the war on drugs and that “civil” war of old. The war on drugs American has once again pitted American against American in a battle of suffering, divisiveness and bloodshed. We as Americans need to exercise our collective control of government and call, email or write a representative and by doing so make the drug war an issue that has to be dealt with now rather than a lingering one to be laughed off and prolonged as long as it is politically prudent to do so.
SunflowerPipes.com
I believe it’s gonna take some time guys.
what is so wrong with a miracle medicine u can grow in your backyard. its all about racism and money its toal crap how we as a “free country” have laws that allow the government to tell us what we can put in our bodies. i mean marijuana is a miracle pkant, and just selling it it would create new jobs and boost the economy so what is so wrong with that. enough with the lies obama and dea
I LOVE smoking pot I think it should be legalized just as cigarettes are sold in a pack. I would be a very patriotic citizen if pot was legalized. If pot is not legalized within the next 5 years I’m giving up hope on humanity.