Green thumb? Check. Extensive knowledge of the black market? Check. Throw in impeccable academic credentials and decades of experience with government agencies, and you have Washington’s marijuana consultant — a team advising officials on all things pot as they develop rules for the state’s new industry in legal, heavily taxed marijuana.

The Washington Liquor Control Board introduced Massachusetts-based BOTEC Analysis Corp. as the presumptive winner of the consultant contract during a news conference Tuesday. The team is led by a University of California, Los Angeles, public policy professor and includes a former executive of the company that is the sole licensed supplier of medical marijuana in the Netherlands. It also includes researchers with the RAND Corp. who will help figure out how much marijuana state-licensed growers should produce.

“These are, by far, the top consultants available,” said Randy Simmons, who oversees the implementation of the legal weed law for the board. “We’re serious about doing this the right way.”

Washington and Colorado last year became the first states to pass laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and setting up systems of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores where adults over 21 can walk in and buy up to an ounce of heavily taxed cannabis. Sales could begin at the end of the year.

The votes left state officials with a daunting task: figuring out how to build a huge pot industry from scratch. The state’s Liquor Control Board must determine how many growers and stores there should be, how much pot should be produced, how it should be packaged, and how it should be tested to ensure people don’t get sick.

The board is doing a lot of its own research, with buttoned-up bureaucrats traveling to grow operations in California and Colorado as well as within Washington state. But the consultant’s advice will also be important. The state is aiming to produce just enough marijuana to meet current demand: Producing too little would drive up prices and help the black market flourish, while producing too much could lead to excess pot being trafficked out of state.

BOTEC — it stands for “back of the envelope calculations” — is a 30-year-old think tank headed by Mark Kleiman, a UCLA public policy professor with a doctorate from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. The firm has evaluated government programs and provided consulting relating to drug abuse, crime and public health. It studied the results of an effort to crack down on heroin dealers in Lynn, Mass., and in the early 1990s advised the Office of National Drug Control Policy on drug-demand reduction programs.

Kleiman has written several books on drug policy and crime, including “Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know,” and he has argued that states can’t legalize marijuana — federal officials would never stand for it.

“Pot dealers nationwide — and from Canada, for that matter — would flock to California to stock up,” he wrote in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times in 2010, when California was considering legalizing marijuana. “There’s no way on earth the federal government is going to tolerate that. Instead, we’d see massive federal busts of California growers and retail dealers, no matter how legal their activity was under state law.”

For that reason, some marijuana advocates questioned how committed his team would be to carrying out the will of the voters. But Alison Holcomb, the author of Washington’s new law, said the choice of a consultant who isn’t a pot cheerleader sent a message that the state is taking its responsibilities seriously.

That’s a crucial concern because state officials are trying to persuade the federal government not to sue to block the law from taking effect. Gov. Jay Inslee has said he stressed to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that Washington will have the best-regulated system possible, but the Justice Department still has not announced its intentions.

Steven Davenport, BOTEC’s managing director, said that with more than 30 people involved, the team comprises a wide range of opinions on marijuana legalization, but none is relevant to the task at hand: figuring out how it can best be accomplished, balancing the needs of a working marijuana distribution system with the interests of public health.

“We understand the significance and the size of the task in front of us,” Davenport said. “Our intent is to make sure the board does this correctly.”

Other team members include Michael Sautman, former CEO of Bedrocan International, the international affiliate of the only company licensed to produce medical marijuana for patients in the Netherlands; the company is overseen by the Dutch Ministry of Health, according to BOTEC’s bid for the contract.

Sautman “has consulted lawmakers and regulators in Canada, Israel and several U.S. states regarding how medical marijuana is produced and distributed in the Netherlands,” the bid reads.

Beau Kilmer, co-director of RAND’s Drug Policy Research Center, said RAND is already under contract with the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy to develop a new approach for estimating the number of marijuana users across the country and how much pot they consume. His group will build off that work to estimate use by county in Washington state, and that it could involve Internet-based surveys asking people to detail their cannabis use — to the extent of asking them to explain the size of their most recent joint, as compared with a photograph of a joint next to a credit card or ruler for scale.

“That’s going to be a challenge, but I’m excited to work on it,” Kilmer said.

The value of BOTEC’s contract has not been set, but it is expected to exceed $100,000. The losing bidders have 10 days to contest the award.

Source: Washington Post (DC)
Author: Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
Published: March 19, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Washington Post Company
Contact: letters@washpost.com
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Earlier today, the Maryland Senate passed SB 297 by a vote of 30-16. The bill will now move to the House of Delegates where it will need to be approved by the House Judiciary Committee and the full House of Delegates before being sent to Gov. O’Malley.

Dan Riffle, MPP Deputy Director of Gov’t Relations

If S.B. 297 is passed in the House and signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, it would no longer be a criminal offense to possess up to about one-third of an ounce of marijuana in Maryland. Instead, police would simply issue a citation, and violators would pay the $100 ticket by mail. No arrest, no jail, just a small fine. That’s still not as good as Colorado or Washington, but it’s a dramatic improvement.

Also on the agenda in Maryland today was a hearing for H.B. 1453, which would tax and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. MPP’s Dan Riffle testified in support of the bill, which was the first of its kind to get a hearing in the Maryland Legislature.

Have you ever wondered how many hours law enforcement officers waste on arresting and processing people for low-level misdemeanor marijuana possession? The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) has the answer, and it’s in the seven digits.

Michael Bloomberg (Photo by Time.com)

The DPA reviewed low-level misdemeanor marijuana possession arrests carried out by the New York Police Department (NYPD) during Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s tenure and found that NYPD used approximately 1,000,000 hours of police officer time to make 440,000 marijuana possession arrests over 11 years. That’s 1,000,000 hours that could have been spent investigating and solving serious, violent crimes. And that is just one city.

Additionally, the report, which was prepared by professor of sociology at Queens College Dr. Harry Levine, a recognized expert on marijuana possession arrests, estimates that the people arrested by NYPD for marijuana possession have spent 5,000,000 hours in police custody over the last decade.

The only people who profit from a police force high on marijuana arrests are the real predators. How many more hours will be squandered until lawmakers realize that targeting non-violent marijuana users is putting our communities at risk?

A citizens’ group opposed to a large-scale recreational marijuana industry in Colorado has hired two powerhouse lobbyists in preparation for the state legislature’s coming pot fight.

Smart Colorado formed as a nonprofit group within the last several weeks, group leader Doug Robinson said. After collecting donations, Robinson said the group has hired former congressional candidate Mike Feeley and longtime Capitol lobbyist Sandra Hagen Solin to represent it as legislators write the laws for the forthcoming recreational marijuana industry.

It will be the first time in the last several years that a citizens’ group devoted to restricting marijuana will have such high-powered representation at the Capitol. While medical-marijuana businesses have had lobbyists for awhile, anti-marijuana lobbying has often been done by law-enforcement groups or a disjointed collection of advocates.

Robinson said members of Smart Colorado — whom he described as “basically, a bunch of moms” — decided they needed to be better organized and represented to make a difference. Though Smart Colorado shares a name with the campaign committee opposed to Amendment 64, the measure passed in November legalizing limited marijuana possession and sales, Robinson said the two groups are separate.

“We have organized for one reason, and that is to keep Colorado the best state in the nation,” Robinson told lawmakers on Friday during a meeting of a special legislative committee drafting the bill on recreational marijuana. “We are deeply concerned that the way 64 is implemented could threaten this.”

Robinson said the group respects that Colorado voters legalized marijuana in November, but he said the group wants to keep the recreational marijuana industry as small and contained as possible. Group members testifying before the legislative committee said they fear greater availability of marijuana will lead to big public health and safety problems, especially with kids.

“It looks like we are heading down the path of socializing the costs and privatizing the profits,” group member Gina Carbone said.

The legislative committee, though, rejected on Friday one suggestion from Smart Colorado: state-run marijuana stores. The group said state-run stores will prevent marijuana leaks to kids. But a state task force that suggested regulations for recreational marijuana recommended against state-run stores. Such stores would likely provoke a strong response from the federal government.

The legislative committee on Friday sided with the task force’s recommendation against state-run stores.

The committee put off decisions on a number of other issues — including whether to allow pot sales to out-of-state visitors or requiring marijuana stores to grow what they sell. It is scheduled to meet again next Friday, but lawmakers also discussed adding extra, early-morning meetings to complete the work.

The committee must have bills for recreational marijuana written by the end of the month. The full legislature will then have 38 days to pass the bills before the end of the session.

Newshawk: The GCW
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Author: John Ingold, The Denver Post
Published: March 15, 2013
Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/

Colorado’s Marijuana Task Force issued its final recommendations for how the state ought to implement Amendment 64, though the actual regulations will be made by state lawmakers. The 165-page report released Wednesday included 58 recommendations to be reviewed by the governor and state legislators.

Task Force Co-Chair Jack Finlaw, the Governor’s Chief Legal Counsel, called the report “very comprehensive” and said that it laid the groundwork for regulation.

“The Task Force recommendations will now need to be perfected through the legislative process and rulemakings by various state agencies,” Finlaw said in a statement.

Click here to read the report in full: http://www.colorado.gov/cms/forms/dor-tax/A64TaskForceFinalReport.pdf

Task force leaders agreed that legislators will have to put a “Marijuana Products Sales Tax” initiative on the November ballot, but left the taxation rate to legislators.

According to a 7News report, some in the task force recommended a 25 percent sales tax, but others were concerned that it would continue to perpetuate the underground market for cheap pot.

The task force also recommended that during the first year of licensing “only entities with valid medical marijuana licenses should be able to obtain licenses to grow, process and sell adult-use cannabis.”

Smoking marijuana in bars should be banned in establishments covered by the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act as well as other places where tabacco smoke is tolerated, the report says.

Consistent with alcohol rules, the task force also recommends that the Legislature prohibit open packages of marijuana in vehicles.

“This was ground-breaking work and the Task Force process went very well,” task force co-chair Barbara Brohl said. “It was supported by many committed and astute individuals who took the Governor’s charge very seriously. Task force members represented differing viewpoints, they addressed all issues in a well-thought-out manner and worked hard to develop sound solutions. The Task Force did all the ‘heavy lifting,” but now a lot of follow up work has to be done in the coming months.”

Source: Huffington Post (NY)
Published: March 13, 2013
Copyright: 2013 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC
Contact: scoop@huffingtonpost.com
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

According to the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, Sgt. Gary Wiegert, a 32-year veteran of the St. Louis police force (SLMPD) and former Show-Me Cannabis lobbyist, is suing the department for violating his first amendment rights.

Gary Wiegert

The phrase “lobbyist activities in Jefferson City” did not raise any eyebrows last month when Sgt. Wiegert filled out the necessary forms to work a second job. However, after word of Sgt. Wiegert’s off-duty activities spread, the SLMPD rescinded its permission.

The police veteran was told that he would need to obtain a business license if he wished to continue lobbying for the marijuana reform organization. Interestingly enough, the department took no issue with Sgt. Wiegert’s politicking three years ago when he began working for the St. Louis Tea Party.

Sgt. Wiegert’s attorney, Albert Watkins, alleges that his client’s superiors further infringed on his free speech rights when they issued a verbal “gag order” last Friday, requesting that he refrain from making any political statements until they could meet to discuss his lobbying.

Seeking a court injunction to prevent officials from quieting Sgt. Wiegert, Watkins filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court against the city’s Board of Police Commissioners and its five members.

“Gary Wiegert is not advocating that anybody break the law,” stated Watkins. “He is advocating as a lobbyist for an organization that wants to create a new law … and that falls soundly within his First Amendment constitutional rights.”

Sgt. Wiegert is not alone in his advocacy. On February 7, multiple lawmakers co-sponsored a bill that would reform Missouri marijuana possession penalties, which are currently some of the strictest in the nation. More recently, Rep. Mike Colona (D-St. Louis) sponsored legislation that would allow patients with debilitating conditions to use and possess marijuana for medical purposes if their doctors recommend it.

According to a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, nearly two-thirds of Minnesota voters support changing state law to allow people with serious and terminal illnesses to use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it. The poll also found that the majority of voters would disapprove of their county sheriff or county attorney working to defeat such a bill.

Joni Whiting (Center) (Photo by Andrew VonBank)

“Personal medical decisions should be guided by someone who graduated from medical school, not law school or the police academy,” said Joni Whiting of Jordan, whose late daughter, Stephanie, used medical marijuana to relieve the extreme pain and nausea associated with cancer and chemotherapy. “Medical marijuana made life bearable for my daughter in her final months. No elected official should have the power to take that away.”

The results of the statewide survey come as state lawmakers prepare a bipartisan bill that would make it legal for Minnesota residents with debilitating medical conditions to access and use medical marijuana if recommended to do so by their physicians. The bill is expected to be introduced within the next two weeks.

Aren’t marijuana growers, dealers and dispensaries just trying to pay their taxes and make a profit like everybody else? In the staid world of tax law, it can seem downright strange to be worried whether someone has “trafficking” tax problems. Such is the odd symbiosis between conflicting federal and state laws.

Federal law still outlaws marijuana even in states that legalize it. Reminiscent of Al Capone, that makes taxes a big problem. 18 states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana. Massachusetts was most recent. See Medical marijuana law passes in Massachusetts. Colorado and Washington legalized even recreational use. See Colorado, Washington First States to Legalize Recreational Pot.

But legal dispensaries are still drug traffickers to the feds, so Section 280E of the tax code denies their tax deductions. Intended to prevent tax deductions by drug dealers, it covers medical marijuana too. The IRS says it must enforce Section 280E no matter what state law says.

Indeed, of all the federal enforcement efforts, taxes hurt most. “The federal tax situation is the biggest threat to businesses and could push the entire industry underground,” the leading trade publication for the marijuana industry reports. One answer is for dispensaries to deduct other expenses distinct from dispensing marijuana. See Californians Helping to Alleviate Medical Problems Inc. v. Commissioner.

If a dispensary sells marijuana and is in the separate business of care-giving, the care-giving expenses are deductible. If only 10% of the premises are used to dispense marijuana, most of the rent is deductible. Good record-keeping is essential. See Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Persist Despite Tax Obstacles.

Another idea is that Marijuana sellers might operate as nonprofit social welfare organizations. See Growing the Business: How Legal Marijuana Sellers Can Beat a Draconian Tax. That way Section 280E shouldn’t apply. A social welfare organization must promote the common good and general welfare of people in its neighborhood or community. Operating businesses in distressed neighborhoods to provide jobs and job-training for residents? That could fit a dispensary nicely.

Meanwhile, Congressmen Jared Polis (D-CO) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced a bill to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and allow it to be taxed. This legislation would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. That way growers, sellers and users could no longer fear violating federal law. Their Marijuana Tax Equity Act would also impose an excise tax on cannabis sales and an annual occupational tax on workers dealing in the growing field of legal marijuana.

Robert W. Wood practices law with Wood LLP, in San Francisco. The author of more than 30 books, including Taxation of Damage Awards & Settlement Payments (4th Ed. 2009 with 2012 Supplement, Tax Institute), he can be reached at Wood@WoodLLP.com. This discussion is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional.

Source: Forbes Magazine (US)
Author: Robert W. Wood, Contributor
Published: March 13, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Forbes Inc.
Contact: readers@forbes.com
Website: http://www.forbes.com/

Mercy: Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one’s power

Media outlets reported yesterday that the Minnesota Vikings are trading all-pro wide receiver Percy Harvin to the Seattle Seahawks. Based on Harvin’s history, it is almost as if fate is telling the NFL it is time to change one of its most unjust and irrational policies.

Percy Harvin (AP)

It’s no secret that Percy Harvin has used marijuana. Percy tested positive for marijuana at the 2009 NFL combine, which was the reason why he was selected late in the first round instead of being a high pick. It’s also no secret that Percy – like many of us – suffers from severe migraines. Many have speculated that Percy used marijuana to treat these notoriously untreatable and unbearable headaches. In fact, Percy missed significant game and practice time with the Vikings due to migraines once he was forced to abstain – due to NFL rules (PDF) – from using marijuana as a treatment option.

Percy is now on his way to Washington, where this past November, voters made the use of marijuana legal for all adults 21 and over. Percy is now free, under state law, to use marijuana in the privacy of his own home. It is a right he should be able to enjoy as a citizen.

The NFL, as we all know, is an organization flush with advertising and sponsorship money from the alcohol industry. It is time for the league to stand up to its alcohol masters and reverse its policy that punishes players who simply choose to use a far less harmful substance.

It was close, but by a vote of 37-33 the New Mexico House passed legislation removing the possibility of jail time for possession of marijuana. Next, the bill will move to the Senate where it will be assigned to a committee. It will then need to win the support of the majority of committee members, then a majority of the full Senate.

If it passes in the Senate and is not vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez, H.B. 465 would make the first offense for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana a civil offense, punishable only by a $50 fine. Possession of one to four ounces would also be punishable by a civil fine of up to $100. Second offenses would be petty misdemeanors subject to double the fine amount, but would still carry no risk of jail time. Possession of four to eight ounces would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $300.

If you live in New Mexico, please don’t wait – contact your senator now and urge him or her to support H.B. 465. When you’re done, forward this to your friends who live in New mexico and ask them to do the same.