Marijuana Sales Tax/ Grown Industrial Hemp

The State Board of Equalization has stated that tax sales of marijuana to adults over the age of 21 is anticipated to exceed $1 billion annually. It's time to break through the myths of marijuana and legalize with full normalization of and a free market for industrial hemp which would significantly increase job opportunities and state revenues.

Treating marijuana as an illegal drug is certainly creating revenues for the city of LA and the privatized prison system but it's also infringing upon people's right to a medicinal herb that has been badly misrepresented. It is time to legalize cannabis. With thirty-one other nations growing industrial hemp and the United States representing the largest consumer and industrial market for its products, America is poised to take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity.

A bio-regional economy focuses on obtaining high value for the resources of the local land, recycling the waste and end products ad infinitum and thereby creating a “closed circle” of farming and industry. One of the central principles of this practice is that a significant portion of local needs should be provided for with resources grown or produced in that same region. This includes food, shelter and energy as well as the talent and labor required for the society to function and grow. The resources must be managed by taking care of the environment and eliminating waste. When a society can care for its land and provide for itself without needing to import or trade with others for its basic necessities, it is self-sufficient, sovereign and powerfully immune to the dictates of private or public entities whose interests may run counter to their own.

As an industrial crop, hemp is particularly well suited for the bio-regional model because it fits every tenet of its philosophy:

· Hemp is a boon for the environment; typically pesticides are not required and weeds are suppressed along with some soil-borne pests, thus improving the soil structure for the subsequent crops.

· Hemp’s leaves return nitrogen back to the soil, i.e. they convert nitrogen fertilizer into organically bound nitrogen, which improves soil fertility.

· Hemp has the potential to provide food, clothing, shelter and energy for the local population.

· Hemp has been found to be superior to most major monocrops in terms of limiting damage to bio-diversity.

· Because of the bulkiness of hemp stalks, hemp fiber demands local processing.

· Everything produced from hemp can be recycled back into industry or back into the land.

Hemp is unique among other crops, in that every part of the plant has utility and potential market value. Hemp’s oilseed makes high-grade food and beauty products.

The stalks produce fiber and cellulose for everything from automotive parts and fine clothing to building products and fuel.

Source: Erik Rothenberg, Vote Hemp, Inc. The Case for Hemp in the 21st Century America

Paid for by the Friends of Lisa Green, Assembly 2010, Laura Barnet Treasurer

2554 Lincoln Blvd, PMB 189 Venice, CA 90291 (310) 272 - 0949 or email lisagreen@votelisagreen.net