1984
The Changing Politics of Marijuana
The issue of civil rights and Federal overreach has been front and center lately. Whistleblower, Eric Snowden had exposed the details of Just how closely our government is watching us. It appears every email, text, and phone call may be recorded. It is no surprise, that George Orwell’s classic “!984” has enjoyed an almost 10,000% rise in sales.
The issue reminds us of just how much our civil liberties have eroded. For marijuana activists, the idea of restricting rights is always present. What sick patients do to improve their quality of life need not be up to government officials. The politics of marijuana had always been a dirty game, complete with decades of lies and propaganda.
It may finally be time for activists to fight back with politics. Members of the marijuana industry ate now lobbying Congress to overhaul the tax code for dispensaries. With overly inflated tax rates, dispensaries are having a hard time keeping their doors open. Many dispensary owners are not looking for special treatment. They would like to pay their fair share of taxes, and take standard deductions that help many small businesses keep their doors open. One of the lobbyists, Aaron Smith, director of the National Cannabis Industry Association told Washington reporters “We are asking to be taxed. We are one of the only industries in this country coming to D.C. asking, ‘Tax us, but tax us fairly.”
In the near future it is likely that over half of our states in America will permit the use of medical marijuana. The industry is clearly on the rise and could provide desperately needed economic growth. As Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) said in a recent press conference, “Medical marijuana is now used by over a million people in the United States, and it’s critical for them… And while the states have expanded the legal economic opportunities, the federal drug, tax and banking laws continue to limit these emerging small businesses.” Unfortunately, the federal government seems to only use forward thinking when it comes to surveillance.