Poll: Marijuana Law Reform

[Raoul Duke]

[video=youtube_share;ewF2P4m7jfM]http://youtu.be/ewF2P4m7jfM[/video]

[video=youtube_share;Q62fH2RflKk]http://youtu.be/Q62fH2RflKk[/video]

[video=youtube_share;CLwhxN_DNpQ]http://youtu.be/CLwhxN_DNpQ[/video]

 

[ZombieHunter]

my niece takes methotrexate. <-- click link for side effects

she's been taking the pill since october, and has just begun supplementing with an injection. she travels to shriners hospital in louisiana for treatment, and will be making a trip to st. jude's soon.

the financial burden is oberwhelming, not to mention the physical and emotional toll it takes on her and her family.

medicinal cannabis would at least help with pain management and loss of appetite, if not replace the chemo alltogether as treatment for her disease. but a plant that has been used for millennia is too dangerous for her, so she takes medication that may cause her skin to disintegrate.

I am sorry your medical options have been limited by the Government, but to ease your suffering, go to Colorado, get a PO box, and Get a RED card, you will absolutely find more compassion from folks in a Medical Cannabis situation than you'll ever find in traditional medicine. Might I suggest researching Rick Simpson Oil...It is an Oil you can INGEST by dabbing it on your finger and licking it. Cures Cancer, and a multitude of other ailments, and it is PROVEN.

 

[otis147]

I am sorry your medical options have been limited by the Government, but to ease your suffering, go to Colorado, get a PO box, and Get a RED card, you will absolutely find more compassion from folks in a Medical Cannabis situation than you'll ever find in traditional medicine. Might I suggest researching Rick Simpson Oil...It is an Oil you can INGEST by dabbing it on your finger and licking it. Cures Cancer, and a multitude of other ailments, and it is PROVEN.

my sister is probably about to start that process. if she does, she'll have to stay in CO and find more specialists for my niece. monthly blood testing could be a problem. she doesn't want to lose all her children.

 

[otis147]

 

[Raoul Duke]

http://kfor.com/2014/02/18/oklahoma-councilman-wants-his-city-to-become-safe-haven-for-marijuana-users/

OKLAHOMA CITY &#8211; A local city councilman would like his city to become the first in Oklahoma to allow residents to possess marijuana in small amounts.
The Village City Councilman Jerry Broughton proposed the ordinance idea at last week’s city council meeting but he received no support from his peers.
Councilman Hutch Hibbard said it would only encourage pot smokers to move to The Village to use and grow the drug, which would conflict with their efforts to be a family friendly community.
Broughton says jails and the court system are unnecessarily clogged with young marijuana users who are not dangerous to the community if they use a small amount of the drug in their own homes.
He also believes it’s time to allow Oklahomans to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

[video=youtube_share;-NrzqEuwclQ]http://youtu.be/-NrzqEuwclQ[/video]

 

[vvvvvvv]

Colorado pot market exceeds tax revenue hopes

 

[0311]

Colorado pot market exceeds tax revenue hopes

RickN won't like this!

 

[Singularis]

I am all for the increase in liberty, but I really hate to see all that money going to the State.

 

[AKguy1985]

RickN won't like this!

Nope!!!! Not one bit.

 

[Raoul Duke]

From a purely economic perspective, Oklahoma should get ahead of the Green Rush and get established as a dominant force in this market now, instead of letting this opportunity for sustainable economic growth pass us by(wanna fix the capital, put storm shelters in schools, offset income tax cuts, etc, etc; here's the funding source):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/06/marijuana-venture-capital_n_3393061.html

In the latest sign of marijuana’s continued evolution from contraband to legitimate commodity, two California entrepreneurs on Wednesday unveiled an investment fund aimed at providing seed capital to pot-related ventures.

The fund, Emerald Ocean Capital, plans to steer clear of growing operations and retailers, instead investing in business that support those industries, such as online payment processors, security firms and hydroponic equipment manufacturers. The fund will also function as a venture capital incubator, providing office space within an 8,000-square foot Denver facility to select start-up companies.

The fund began raising money in March, according to Justin Hartfield, one of its two general partners. He portrayed American investors as eager to capitalize on a swiftly growing emerging market with improving prospects, and according to the San Francisco Business Times, the fund aims to raise between $10 and $25 million by the end of this year.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-09/legal-pot-the-gateway-drug-to-state-run-banking

If ever a hippie dream existed, it would probably look something like what’s being proposed in Washington by Democratic State Senator Bob Hasegawa. He wants to open a state-run bank specifically to serve Washington’s newly legal marijuana industry. The proposal would solve two real problems: Pot businesses would no longer be trapped in an all-cash economy thanks to federal laws that prohibit banks from handling drug money, and the state would send less money to Wall Street.

There’s just one state-run bank in the country: the Bank of North Dakota. It uses the revenue collected through taxes and other government income to provide capital for low-interest loans to state residents, including students, homeowners, and farmers. The bank’s operations return millions to the state’s coffers. (It’s worth noting that the bank has nothing to do with pot.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-administration-clears-banks-to-accept-funds-from-legal-marijuana-dealers/2014/02/14/55127b04-9599-11e3-9616-d367fa6ea99b_story.html

Financial firms could be handsomely rewarded for banking legal marijuana business. The legal U.S. industry is expected to reach $2.57 billion in sales this year, according to ArcView Market Research.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/the-growing-business-of-marijuana/

In the past few weeks, a cannabis-focused private equity firm hired a former DEA agent and a publicly traded marijuana company brought on a former executive at Yahoo and Microsoft as its president. A former Congressman is also bidding for three dispensary business licenses in Massachusetts.

The reason for the mainstream interest is simple: This is a legitimate business with many attractive opportunities, and it’s now one of the fastest-growing industries in the country.

U.S. medical marijuana sales hit an estimated $1.5 billion in 2013 &#8211; up about 15% from the year before, according to our 2013 Marijuana Business Factbook.

Impressive, but that’s only the start. Overall marijuana sales in states where cannabis is legal could double in 2014 to hit $3 billion, according to our estimates, as Colorado and Washington begin selling cannabis to adults 21 and over.

Earlier this year, we projected that sales will hit $6 billion by 2018. However, the outlook has improved drastically since then (in large part because the federal government said it will take a hands-off approach to states that legalize marijuana for adults). Marijuana legalization could spread like wildfire, and industry sales might therefore end up being much higher.

What’s more, these figures are just for marijuana transactions. Hundreds of millions of additional dollars are being spent on professional services, ancillary products and other offerings. Like any industry, the medical cannabis sector needs everything from lawyers and accountants to human resources professionals, insurance specialists, and consultants. There are hundreds of other companies making packaging, equipment to extract cannabis oils from the plant, inventory software, you name it.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2013/05/29/industrial-hemp-a-win-win-for-the-economy-and-the-environment/
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32725.pdf

In 2012 the U.S. hemp industry was valued at an estimated $500 million in annual retail sales and growing for all hemp products, according to the Hemp Industries Association, a non-profit trade organization consisting of hundreds of hemp businesses.

Not only can hemp be used for an astonishing number of products, its net environmental benefit is impressive. Among the more salient features, hemp grows in a variety of climates and soil types, is naturally resistant to most pests, and grows very tightly spaced allowing it to outcompete most weeds. A natural substitute for cotton and wood fiber, hemp can also be pulped using fewer chemicals than wood because of its low lignin content. Its natural brightness can obviate the need to use chlorine bleach.