Oakland Passes Marijuana Tax
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| Thu, 07-23-2009 - 10:31am |
Legalise & tax all marijuana.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/22/oakland-passes-marijuana-tax/
In an attempt to ease the economic pain caused by the recession, the Oakland, Calif., City Council has passed a 1.8 percent tax on medical marijuana sold within city limits. An estimated 200,000 California residents use marijuana for medical purposes, and they already pay a state sales tax on their purchases. So how much revenue could the new tax bring to the cash-strapped city? Via The Wall Street Journal:
A city tax on medical marijuana could generate at least $400,000 and perhaps more than $1 million annually, said Rebecca Kaplan, the Oakland City Council member who pushed the proposal.
Sounds good, but that will make only a small dent in the estimated $83 million budget gap that Oakland faces for the coming year.
A bill has also been introduced in the California legislature that would levy a $50 per ounce tax on medical marijuana sold statewide. If it passes, that measure could raise as much as $1.3 billion.



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Having been in Oakland numerous times while visiting my daughter in San Francisco, it may very well be cheaper to just level the entire city and start over. A tax on marijuana won't put a dent in that town's budget crisis. Mismanagement, along with a crime rate that seems to double from year to year spell doom and gloom I'm afraid. Everyone that's still employed has vacated the urban areas and have all moved to the outer suburbs, leaving the city with nobody that actually pays any taxes. It's quite a mess out there. Even the A's & Raiders are looking to leave.
The first time I ever went out to visit my daughter after they moved there, she suggested we go down to this pizza place for dinner that first night we were there. I always grab the check (that's what dad's do I guess), so when we were finished I glance at the bill and damn near choked....lol. We had one large pizza...2 pichers of beer and 2 glasses of wine......with tip I had to fork over a $100 bill. OMG. Talk about shocked. Mortified a better word for it.
That same thing here in Ohio would have been $45......tops.
I forget the famous author's name that's from Oakland.....Jack London possibly? There's a statue erected right by the bay, and a little tourist area with a small tavern there......it's such a pretty place.....2 blocks from there you run the risk of being shot by drive by killers. It can be unsettling to say the least. Be careful the next time you go out there.
Holy smokes, how could I forget last September? We lost power for 9 straight days.....ugh. Worst stretch of days I've ever went through friend. My next door neighbor was down in Cincinnati at a Bengals game that afternoon....while my house wasn't damaged, he came home to 4 huge trees down, one of which took out power lines, cable, telephone, and ripped one side of his house off. It was terrible.
Don't you love the ice storms though....they're so pretty....right up until the moment the extra weight they put on the power lines causes them to snap and there's power outages for miles....lol. Ah yes, O-H-I-O......where I've seen a weather swing of 75 degrees in a 2 hour period, where the blizzards get so bad you can't see an inch in front of you, and then the humidity...ahhhh....that's the best.....where you can go for a swim, step out of the pool, and never have to bother with toweling yourself off....just wait about 30 seconds, and you're dry, then wait another 30 seconds and you're soaked again.....in your own perspiration....sweet!!! Was that too graphic?
I'm one of the lucky one's. I was only without power for 24 hrs. I live close to a Nursing Home. My Mom's car had $1500 worth of damage. A big limb hit her car.
Yes, just love the ice storms.(insert eye roll) I was stuck on my apt. for a week. I finally put on 3 layers of clothes and went to the store. It was about 10 degrees with wind chill of 20 below. I had to walk about a mile in that mess.
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