[Daniel_Plainview]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')size=150]California's pot crop is a $14-billion industry, putting it above vegetables ($5.7 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion). If so, that could mean upward of $1 billion in tax revenue for the state each year.[/size]

[vision-master]

[quote][--THC impairment is visually and chemically difficult to measure but nonetheless dangerous. It can not be easily measured (like alcohol) so inappropriate or dangerous behavior is not easily predicted or prevented.
/quote]

How is it dangerous?

[Kristen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '-')-

So even if it were legalized (unlikely) it could not be taxed. Wwho would you tax, the gardener?

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Kristen', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '-')-

So even if it were legalized (unlikely) it could not be taxed. Wwho would you tax, the gardener?

[TreeFarmer]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')--THC impairment is visually and chemically difficult to measure but nonetheless dangerous. It can not be easily measured (like alcohol) so inappropriate or dangerous behavior is not easily predicted or prevented.
/quote]

How is it dangerous?

[Maddog78]

Great idea but it will go nowhere.
The US is in love with it's "War On Drugs."
The LEO's and Prison guard unions will fight it tooth and nail.
They love the job security and having those helicopters and SUV's to play with that the War On Drugs provides.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TreeFarmer', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')--THC impairment is visually and chemically difficult to measure but nonetheless dangerous. It can not be easily measured (like alcohol) so inappropriate or dangerous behavior is not easily predicted or prevented.
/quote]

How is it dangerous?

[vision-master]

Can-o-butter.

[Kristen]

Well they might as well legalize it. As if California's driving could get anyworse anyway, right? This is such a huge issue for people. Half the country is doped on pharmacueticals most the time.

[vision-master]

Cheech and Chong at the Welfare Office

[Maddog78]

Too funny.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Maddog78', 'G')reat idea but it will go nowhere.
The US is in love with it's "War On Drugs."
The LEO's and Prison guard unions will fight it tooth and nail.
They love the job security and having those helicopters and SUV's to play with that the War On Drugs provides.

[TWilliam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DoomWarrior', 'I')f pot were legalized, the demand for pot would skyrocket (presumably); thus, that $14-billion California market would likely balloon by many times.

[hironegro]

Weed is over-rated stimulant, and the novelty would wear off.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')url=http://rawstory.com/news/2008/California_lawmaker_introduces_pot_legalization_bill_0223.html]California lawmaker introduces pot legalization bill[/url]


The bill would remove "all penalties under California law for the cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, and use of marijuana, natural THC and paraphernalia by persons over the age of 21"; would "prohibit local and state law enforcement officials from enforcing federal marijuana laws"; and would create a $50 state fee for each ounce of marijuana sold, beyond whatever pot will cost once it becomes legal, the newspaper reported.

Speaking Monday at the San Francisco press conference, a retired Orange County judge said "the most harmful thing about marijuana today is prison ." Judge James P. Gray, who recently retired from his 25-year post and has run for Congress as a Republican, said prohibition of pot "clogs the court system."

[Maddog78]

Wow, that is a huge step.
Does it have any chance of passing?

I'll have to check out the B.C.M.P. (British Columbia Marij. Paty) site.
I'm sure they will be ecstatic about this development.

[charliebrownout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '
')
Seems like during times of great stress - financial stress - such as the country is experiencing now - that big changes, such drug legalization, become more probable.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Banker fury over tax ‘witch-hunt’

Bankers on Wall Street and in Europe have struck back against moves by US lawmakers to slap punitive taxes on bonuses paid to high earners at bailed-out institutions.

Senior executives on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday warned of an exodus of talent from some of the biggest names in US finance, saying the “anti-American” measures smacked of “a McCarthy witch-hunt” that would send the country “back to the stone age”.

“Finance is one of America’s great industries, and they’re destroying it,” said one banker at a firm that has accepted public money. “This happened out of haste and anger over AIG, but we’re not like AIG.”

he banker added: “It’s like a McCarthy witch-hunt...This is the most profoundly anti- American thing I’ve ever seen.”

Vikram Pandit, Citigroup’s chief executive, told employees in a memo that some anger about executive compensation was “warranted”. But he hit out against the idea of a special tax. “The work we have all done to try to stabilise the financial system and to get this economy moving again would be significantly set back if we lose our talented people because Congress imposes a special tax on financial services employees,” he wrote.

[ AND HERE COMES THE THREAT ]

Some policymakers expressed concern that banks may try to break out of the government’s embrace by paying back public capital even if the price is a more severe credit squeeze.

[ YUP, THAT WAS A THREAT -- THEY'RE SAYING THEY'LL MAKE THINGS WORSE IF THEY DON'T GET THEIR FULL BONUSES ]

In Frankfurt one employee at a US investment bank said the new tax measures would “send [the US] back to the stone age”.

[AGAIN, THE STONE AGE DRAMATICS ]

“Commodity traders are already moving to companies like BP where they can make as much money as they used to,” said another banker at a US firm.

[ DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YA, ENJOY YOUR FISH AND CHIPS MATE ]

Bankers at Deutsche Bank said it could benefit from the proposed legislation by poaching its US rivals’ most talented employees.

[ PLEASE, DO SEND ALL THIS TALENT TO GERMANY! CAN YOU TAKE CNBC WITH YOU?]

[Jotapay]

The banker bullies are threatening to beat us up if we don't hand over our lunch money again.