Pubdate: Mon, 09 Apr 2007
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: 2007 The Scotsman Publications Ltd
Contact: http://members.scotsman.com/contact.cfm
Website: http://www.scotsman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/406
Author: Craig Howie, in Los Angeles
Cited: Americans for Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Americans+for+Safe+Access
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Compassionate+Use+Act
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Harry+Anslinger

CALIFORNIA IN BID TO IMPOSE 7.25% SALES TAX ON CANNABIS

FOR decades, smoking marijuana has been an illicit affair, a key 
anti-establishment ritual for America's counter-culture underground.

But the legalisation of the drug for medicinal purposes in California 
has presented its advocates with a dilemma: to remain firmly on the 
wrong side of the law or accept a demand to pay taxes on its sale.

Marijuana prescribed by a doctor for health reasons was 
decriminalised in a state-wide referendum in 1996 and has grown into 
a billion-dollar industry.

About 25,000 patients and carers are now members of the so-called pot clubs.

Chris Moscone, an attorney who represents the Hemp Centre, a San 
Francisco dispensary, said: "There are basically two camps: those 
that want to be treated like legitimate businesses, and the other 
side, who are still rebels and don't want to be taxed."

The situation is further clouded by differences between federal and 
state law. California's 150 to 200 owners of medicinal marijuana 
dispensaries have operated legally under state law since 1996 - but 
illegally under federal law.

And while a demand from state authorities to pay tax is seen by some 
as further legitimising their business in terms of the state laws, 
many dispensary owners fear the tax is self-incriminating and will 
result in punitive measures from the federal government.

The dispensaries have received a state notice urging them to obtain a 
sales permit for tax reasons. Every purchase of marijuana, which can 
be bought with a doctor's prescription, would be subject to 
California's 7.25 per cent sales tax.

But there appears to be substantial resistance among dispensaries to 
the idea - only 27 dispensary owners currently have a sales permit.

But financial considerations rather than counter-culture affectation 
may be the reason. Kris Hermes, of Americans for Safe Access, a 
medical marijuana advocacy group, said more dealers would probably 
agree to pay the tax if the bill did not include a provision for back 
taxes on sales over the past eight years.

THE federal Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, introduced by Harry Anslinger, 
an anti-cannabis campaigner and commissioner of the Federal Bureau of 
Narcotics, stipulated anyone dealing in the substance had to pay one 
dollar for each trade, or be fined up to $2,000. This effectively 
criminalised dealers and led to a nationwide crackdown.

In 1970, federal authorities recognised cannabis as a Schedule 1 
narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act.

Last year, the Supreme Court upheld federal authority to prosecute 
the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The state of California, however, decriminalised marijuana in 1976 
and the 1996 Compassionate Use Act established its use for conditions 
including cancer, MS and AIDS. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake