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Drug Czar Blames Rising Teen Pot Use On Medical Cannabis Laws Rather Than Gov't Failed Policy
- Details
- Published on 19 June 2012
- Written by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Since 1975 the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor has been tracking students self-reported use of cannabis and other intoxicants, and every year their use of these substances trends either up or down from the prior survey. Predictably, when self-reported use goes down, drug war lackeys like Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske claim that drug prohibition is working. Conversely, when use trends upward - as it did this past year - drug warriors respond by pointing the blame at everyone else.
White House Drug Czar: Teen Marijuana Use on the Rise via ABC News
Teenagers are beginning to think of marijuana as medicine, and more and more young people are toking up as a result, White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske argues upon the release of a major survey on teenage drug use.
The 2010 Monitoring the Future Survey queried 50,000 eighth, 10th and 12th graders about their use of, and attitudes toward, illicit drugs.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy survey found that daily pot use among high school seniors is at 6.1 percent, its highest point since the early 1980s. In the past month, 21.4 percent of 12th graders said they had used marijuana, continuing an upward tick that began in the middle of the decade. Monthly, more seniors now smoke pot than cigarettes, a phenomenon not seen in nearly three decades.
It's the decreasing perception of the harm of marijuana that is leading to increased pot use, according to the drug czar.
Colorado Collects Millions in Medical Marijuana Taxes
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- Published on 19 June 2012
- Written by Scott Morgan, StoptheDrugWar.org
Opponents of marijuana legalization are habitually dishonest and wrong about all sorts of things, but one of their most recklessly fraudulent claims is that legal marijuana won't generate significant tax revenue. This isn't even a matter of speculation. Medical-marijuana dispensaries are now putting hundreds of thousands of dollars a month into state and city treasuries in Colorado.
So far this year, the state has collected more than $2.2 million in sales tax from dispensaries. In Denver, which has more dispensaries than any other city in Colorado, the businesses have also paid more than $2.2 million this year in local sales tax. Colorado Springs has collected about $380,000 in local sales tax.
And yet it remains frustratingly easy to find prohibition supporters smugly insisting that it can't be taxed because it grows on trees or because it's illegal under federal law. That is the level of discourse being brought to the table by our opposition and this is but one particularly devastating example of how plainly and profoundly false their arguments always are.
Implicit in all of this is the fact that by attempting to refute the concept of cannabis taxation, our critics have unintentionally acknowledged the significance of the issue. As is often the case in the contemporary debate over marijuana policy, the opposition's preferred talking points amount to little more than a series of desperate attempts to obscure the widely understood benefits of legalization. Lying about basic verifiable facts is a miserably unsustainable debate tactic, but this group of people isn't known for being intimidated by the truth.
For more article by Scott Morgan see StopTheDrugWar.org
DC to gain revenue by taxing Medical Marijuana
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- Published on 18 June 2012
- Written by Allen St. Pierre
Washington, DC: Members of the DC City Council are anticipated to vote on a proposal to impose a six percent sales tax on cannabis sold at city-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.
The District of Columbia's top financial officer estimates that the new tax could raise over $400,000 in funding over five years. Total tax revenue could be much higher depending on how many District patients register with the city to use cannabis medicinally.
In May, District lawmakers unanimously passed legislation calling on DC Health Department officials to oversee the creation of up to five facilities to dispense medical cannabis to authorized patients. Under the plan, patients with qualified illnesses and a recommendation from their physician will be able to possess and purchase medical cannabis from authorized dispensaries.
