As part of the wave of public opinion, now a California Representative has introduced a bill to TAX reefer as a way to pay for needed state expenses... like drug education! 

One fact is that this would be a VOLUNTARY tax... Only people that purchase Grass would pay... I like that, I wouldn't pay a penny, and if you do? Bless you!

Tom Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale — a move that could mean billions of dollars for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity — milk and cream — which brings in $7.3 billion a year, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion a year in much needed revenue, offsetting some of the billions of dollars in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.
gregvanderlaan.com

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Amazing candidate this Gravel.  I totally agree with his stand on marijuana, but I am wondering how everyone else feels about meth, cocaine, heroin.....Yes it is one's personal choice to use these substances, but marijuana is in a class of it's own, the perfect, fix-all! 

Regarding the three evils, heroin, coke, meth, yes, treatment, not jail, is the answer.  That is just my opinion.

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http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0108/Its_a_killer_alright.html

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Speaking to a group of students at Phillips Exeter Academy, he said that he believes people should be able to buy marijuana in package stores.

"Alcohol is a heck of a lot worse than marijuana, and I'm sure a lot of you have tripped out on alcohol," Gravel said. "It's a lot safer to do it on marijuana."

http://www.wmur.com/politics/14990118/detail.html

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David 

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http://www.gravel2008.us/?q=node/1180

Independent Iowa: Yeah, I’m 37, I think most people in my generation agree with that point on marijuana. What about cocaine and meth?

Sen. Gravel: We need to legalize the regulation of drugs. The drug problem is a public health problem. It’s not a criminal problem. We make it a criminal problem because we treat people like criminals. You take a drug addict, you throw him in jail, you leave him there, and he learns the criminal trade so that when he gets out you have recidivism.

Iowa Indepdendent: Within the last week I heard you and the actor-activist Sean Penn make very similar statements. You both said you believe President Bush should be in jail for his manipulation of information with regard to Iraq. Could you explain that and defend that?

Sen. Gravel: If you had an FBI agent knock at your door today and you lie to that agent, you commit a felony and you go to jail. If that’s the way it is for ordinary citizens what about the president of the United States who lies to the American people, fraudulently sells them on a war that 50 million Americans don’t want and over 3,000 Americans get killed as a result of that and thousands and thousands or Iraqis gets killed do you not think that’s a felony? It’s criminal.

Iowa Independent: You are responsible for one of the most significant anti-war actions in American history, the release of the Pentagon papers during the Vietnam War. Where has your anti-war voice been since you left the Senate in 1981? I’m a close student of politics, and no offense, but I had not heard of you until I saw you on the stage the other night.

Sen. Gravel: I left the Senate in 1981 disgusted with government, disgusted with politics, and left and I hid for a decade. Then I came out of it because I’m a student of politics and I started to analyze, well, what is the solution to human governance. That’s when I came to the conclusion: It’s very simple. The answer is with the people, not the leaders. The leaders cannot address the needs of the people.

I would vote for Gravel in a heart beat...  I just hope the Old Hippie makes it to the run-offs!

David

Dixie

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Iowa Independent: The Progressive magazine reports that you think marijuana should be legal and available next to beer in liquor stores. Is that true?

Sen. Gravel: It sure is true. When are we are going to learn. We went through the Depression and we realized how we created all the gangsters and the violence. When FDR came in he wiped out Prohibition. We need to wipe out this whole war on drugs. We spend $50 billion to $70 billion a year. We create criminals that aren’t criminals. We destabilize foreign countries. With respect, to marijuana, Doug, I’ll tell you what: Go get yourself a fifth of scotch or a fifth of gin and chug-a-lug it down and you’ll find you lose your senses a lot faster than you would smoking some marijuana.

http://www.iowaindependent.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=131

http://www.gravel2008.us/

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