By Mickey Jones
Prop 205 isn’t about legalizing marijuana, it’s about making billionaires out of the owners of the 85 or so existing medical marijuana dispensaries.
And using the existing laws to throw anybody into prison who cuts into the profits of their lucrative monopoly on growing and selling recreational marijuana.
Here are a few reasons I am against Prop 205.
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I’m 100% for legalizing not only marijuana, but all drugs.
But I’m against Prop 205, which is the phoney baloney MPP or Marijuana Policy Project initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona because it’s 99% about creating a monopoly on growing and selling recreational marijuana for the existing 85 medical marijuana dispensaries, by giving them a monopoly on recreational marijuana.
Yea, those are the same 85 or so medical marijuana dispensaries that financed the initiative with about $2.5 million dollars of their money.
Prop 205 or Proposition 205 is called the “Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol” or “CRMLA”.
Prop 205 still allows people to be charged with felonies for numerous victimless marijuana crimes.
Prop 205 creates a new “marijuana police force” to arrest people for victimless marijuana crimes. And the folks at MPP want us to think they are “legalizing marijuana”. What rubbish!!!
Under Prop 205 it is still a felony to possess more then 2.5 ounces of marijuana. It will be a misdemeanor to possess over 1 ounce of marijuana but less then 2.5 ounces.
It is still a felony under Prop 205 to possess more then 5 grams or a fifth of an ounce of concentrated marijuana.
Under Prop 205 it is still a felony to grow 7 marijuana plants for a single person.
It is still a felony under Prop 205 to grow 13 marijuana plants for a household.
Under Prop 205 city and county governments are allowed to ban growing of marijuana. And if city and county governments treat recreational marijuana with the same “Reefer Madness” attitude they have treated medical marijuana you can expect it to be illegal in most cities and counties in Arizona to grow recreational marijuana.
Marijuana lawyer Tom Dean says he thinks it should be a misdemeanor to illegally grow marijuana plants if they are banned. But I think he has also said that prosecutors may try to charge people will felonies for violating the ban.
Under Proposition 205 it’s a felony to sell that unused marijuana you paid $300 an ounce for to a friend.
Proposition 205 slaps an outrageous 15% tax on marijuana sales. That is in addition to the current 8% or more sales tax you will pay on marijuana purchases. Remember the Boston Tea Party was over a lousy 1.75% tax on tea. [I have also seen a 3% figure for the Boston Tea Party tax]. Marijuana users will be paying around a 23% tax on marijuana when you combine the 15% marijuana tax, and the current sales tax of 8%.
If recreational marijuana sells for around $300 an ounce like medical marijuana does, you will be paying a tax of $70 for each ounce of marijuana you buy, bringing the total cost of an ounce of marijuana to around $370 an ounce.
Remember illegal black market marijuana sells for around around $50 to $100 an ounce. If legal recreational marijuana sells for $370 an ounce after taxes, the law will not end the crime associated with black market marijuana. In fact the law will allow illegal black market marijuana sellers to raise their prices, because legal marijuana will cost around 4 to 8 times what illegal black market marijuana costs.
Proposition 205 creates a new government bureaucracy to regulate marijuana, which is the “Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control”. We don’t need more government bureaucrats in Arizona.
Proposition 205 allows the owners of medical marijuana dispensaries to modify Prop 203 or Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act. Half of the members of the board will be owners of medical marijuana dispensaries, and half will be appointed government bureaucrats. Many people suspect that Prop 203 will be gutted to increase profits for the dispensaries. Like it is now being done in Washington and other states that have passed similar MPP laws.
The number of recreational marijuana stores in Arizona will be limited to a maximum of 160. That’s one store for almost every 40,000 Arizona residents. That number is based on 10 percent of the series 9 liquor licenses. BUT the department doesn’t have to issue all 160 licenses. They only have to give the existing 85 or so stores with medical marijuana licenses a recreational marijuana license. And I expect that is what will happen. If that is true there will be one marijuana store for every 80,000 Arizona residents.
Proposition 205 allows “Department of Marijuana Licenses and Control” to control “head shops” or “smoke shop”, which means all the current “head shops” or “smoke shops” probably will be made illegal, and only the 85 or so stores which will be given a monopoly on selling recreational marijuana will be allowed to sell marijuana smoking accessories. If you own a “head shop” or “smoke shop” Prop 205 could drive you out of business.
Proposition 205 does NOT give automatic pardons to anyone convicted in the past of marijuana crimes, which would be legal under the law.
If you want to legalize marijuana the right way, sign the Safer Arizona 2018 petition to legalize marijuana when it comes out on November 9, 2016 and vote for it in the 2018 election.
And please vote no on the phoney baloney MPP initiative and tell these corporate whores they are not welcome in Arizona and send them back to Washington D.C. where they belong with all the other government crooks.
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Kc Palos made this interesting comment:
“Everybody crying that they can’t
afford a medical card but can
afford 23% tax on all their
medicine blows my mind”
Let’s see, if you buy an ounce of that rip off $300 an ounce recreational marijuana you are going to be paying $69 in taxes.
If you get a new medical marijuana card at Dr. Reeferalz it will cost your $50. When you add in the $150 the state of Arizona rips you off for your medical marijuana card it will cost you a total of $200.
You can pay that off that $200 doctor visit and medical marijuana card in under 3 months of the taxes you pay on the recreational marijuana.
So if you smoke more then 3 ounces of marijuana a year, its cost effective to vote down the MPP initiative and get a medical marijuana card.
One more reason to vote NO on Prop 205.
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On October 12th, 2016, The Arizona Republican party had a Tele-Town Hall with Robert Graham and Attorney Sheila Polk. The call and question can be found below: