Health

Oregon Proposes Medical Marijuana Tax

by Jordan Yerman | March 12, 2009 at 08:04 pm

376 views | 31 Recommendations | 4 comments

Following in the footsteps of California, Oregon has its own proposal for taxing marijuana... and this one's from a Republican.

Currently, medical marijuana is legal in Oregon, but grow sites are private. Representative Ron Maurer's bill would make the state the sole provider of medical marijuana, ostensibly controlling an avenue by which weed gets to the streets.

The state would take over growing and distributing marijuana to patients in the medical-marijuana program under a bill introduced Wednesday. Sponsored by Rep. Ron Maurer, R-Grants Pass, House Bill 3274 imposes a $98-per-ounce tax, which would cover the state's cost of operating and securing the production center.

"I'm not a pot guy, but the water's under the bridge. That's not the issue," Maurer told The Oregonian newspaper. "Let's not even discuss that. Let's discuss is the program working? The answer is unequivocally no, that the program is not working."

The reasoning is sound regarding medical marijuana distribution, but state-run gropw-ops will in no way prevent random people from growing-- and selling-- their own.

Also, what would nearly $100/ounce tax do to the price, i.e. would state-sponsored weed have a lower base price, or would Oregon start with street price? Either way, this bill is unlikely to pass.

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Roy C

at 22:33 on March 12th, 2009

I once took a very good psycho-pharmacology course. Dr Vogel showed us a picture of a marijuana plant he had found growing in a crack in the sidewalk of Philadelphia. His comment was that it was impossible to wipe this weed out.

Taxing it would be ok with me.

Hey, and just to show how the world does not correspond to our beliefs, I once posted an article by Buckley, the conservative, who thought that Holland's way of dealing with the marijuana issue was superior to ours.

Paschen

at 04:36 on March 13th, 2009

Did Canada not try this approach as well with the Government not being able to grow the Marijuana as well as the they though. I remember some Jokes in the press about this some years back ridiculing the Chretien Government of the time and a large bust at a former Molson brewery in Ottawa of illegally grown once that did much better.

AlvarezGalloso

at 07:21 on March 13th, 2009

The idea of taxing it would be detrimental to everyone including the patient.

Mary Rose

at 07:24 on March 13th, 2009

What a different bill. It condones addiction. There could be loopholes for addicts. I hope that they will try menopause remedies. Oh! I am just kidding aside but to face this dire bill is really a no no to me. This is what I think.