Virginia To Appoint Subcommittee To Study Potential Revenue of Legalizing Marijuana

NeighborhoodThreat

NeighborhoodThreat

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From the Virginia General Assembly's Website
[Source]

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 140
Offered January 11, 2012
Prefiled January 11, 2012
Establishing a joint subcommittee to study the potential revenue impact on the Commonwealth of legalizing the sale and use of marijuana, with certain restrictions and conditions, and selling it through Virginia's ABC stores. Report.
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Patron-- Englin
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, a growing number of states have legalized the use of marijuana with certain restrictions and conditions, such as for personal medical use under the care of a doctor; and

WHEREAS, as society changes, products that were deemed illegal at one time are made legal and even sold by stores that are operated by government agencies in the attempt to control the sale of the products; and

WHEREAS, the sale of alcoholic beverages by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has served the purpose of controlling the sale of alcoholic beverage products while at the same time generating millions of dollars to help fund state government programs; and

WHEREAS, a growing number of states continue to examine the possibility of legalizing the use of marijuana under various conditions and restrictions; and

WHEREAS, it may be time to study the potential revenue impact on the Commonwealth of legalizing the sale and use of marijuana, under certain conditions and restrictions, and regulate its sale in the same way the Commonwealth regulates the sale and use of distilled spirits by selling them through Virginia's ABC stores; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That a joint subcommittee be established to study the potential revenue impact on the Commonwealth of legalizing the sale and use of marijuana, with certain restrictions and conditions, and selling it through Virginia's ABC stores. The joint subcommittee shall have a total membership of eight members. Members shall be appointed as follows: five members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates; and three members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. If a companion joint resolution of the other chamber is agreed to, written authorization of both Clerks shall be required. The joint subcommittee shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership.

In conducting its study, the joint subcommittee shall examine the feasibility and practicality of selling marijuana under the restrictions and conditions as allowed by law, the impact of these sales in Virginia's ABC stores and on its patrons, as well as the potential revenue impact upon the Commonwealth.

Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates. Legal, research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the joint subcommittee shall be provided by the Division of Legislative Services. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the joint subcommittee for this study, upon request.

The joint subcommittee shall be limited to six meetings for the 2012 interim, and the direct costs of this study shall not exceed $15,040 without approval as set out in this resolution. Approval for unbudgeted nonmember-related expenses shall require the written authorization of the chairman of the joint subcommittee and the respective Clerk. If a companion joint resolution of the other chamber is agreed to, written authorization of both Clerks shall be required.

The joint subcommittee shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2012, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2013 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state whether the joint subcommittee intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document. The executive summary and the report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.

Implementation of this resolution is subject to subsequent approval and certification by the Joint Rules Committee. The Committee may approve or disapprove expenditures for this study, extend or delay the period for the conduct of the study, or authorize additional meetings during the 2012 interim.
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Pretty interesting stuff for us Virginians...there was a decriminalization bill last session that got shut down pretty quick but this is different, if it goes through smoothly, hopefully the lawmakers will realize what we've known all along, legalizing and taxing cannabis would bring the state large amounts of desperately needed funds. In Virginia, hard liquor is only sold at state-owned Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control ("ABC") stores, giving the state a complete monopoly on hard liquor and bringing in millions of dollars of revenue to the state. In 2010, the Virginia ABC stores brought in over 560 million dollars in alcohol sales revenue [source].

Now, the question is, how much money could the Commonwealth make by selling cannabis alongside alcohol in its state-owned stores?
 
I hope that more states do this.
Ultimately they will all end up facing the same tax conundrums that some dispensaries in Cali have run into (and perhaps elsewhere).
The gov't will gladly accept the states tax dollars, but they require the state to pay more than normal because certain deductions that would normally be afforded are no longer valid since in their eyes the state would be a drug trafficker.

It would also be interesting to see multiple reports, preferably from 3rd parties, on the actual economics of cannabis sale. I've seen so many different figures quoted for how much money Cali could be saving/making etc by taxing cannabis, its hard to know what is real and what is a drastic exaggeration for the purpose of making a point.
 
General Assembly bid to get marijuana reclassified fails

A Virginia lawmaker's push to get the governor to petition the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug has failed.

The resolution filed by Democratic Del. David Englin of Alexandria was tabled on a voice vote Tuesday evening by the House Rules Committee.

Englin has another resolution pending that would launch a study of the potential revenue impact of selling marijuana through state-run liquor stores.

Under that resolution, eight members of the General Assembly would look at the feasibility and practicality of selling pot at the more than 330 ABC stores in Virginia. Findings would be due by the first day of the 2013 legislative session.
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http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/feb/01/general-assembly-bid-get-marijuana-reclassified-fa-ar-1655537/
 
fuk we got some backwards ass people in va. we really do need the tax dollars here, and not to mention we have abc stores everywhere. Plus, i know everyone here smokes pot, so its not like a stretch of the imagination to sell weed at abc stores. for fuks sake theres already so many stores that sell all this synthetic bullshit! we need to quality cannabis. oh, and lol not to mention that the people that wrote and subsequently put down this bill probably smoke weed. Everyone does here. Were the moonshine capitol of the world (at least where i live) so a legitimate course would be awesome.
 
I understand this is a step in the right direction, but I think this is autrocious.

Why should ONLY the state profit off of this? Don't the PEOPLE in this country need more ways to take a stab at the American Dream of owning a business? Why can't a privately owned business sell the marijuana and give a tax on each sale to the state?

Again, I understand this is an attempt at a good thing, but it's very misguided. That kind of revenue needs to go to the public to help the economy, not back into the state where people have virtually no say in how that money is budgeted and spent. We all know that if this law passes, the state will NEVER amend it to allow the public to profit, too. Once this money is locked into the state's revenue, it's just another missed opportunity to help people and try to fix this financial mess we're in.
 
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Well the FDA would need all kinda of new regulations for that to take place legally.
If they let independent business do the selling (i'm not saying this is a bad thing at all) they'd still have to come up with some way to regulate it so you don't end up with people buying tainted material full of fertilizers etc... in the same way the the RC market is a gamble, and unregulated legal pot market could pose some similar risks. I think for the most part it wouldn't be an issue but it would need to be dealt with to some degree or else every story in the media would be about how the new legal pot store sent someone to the hospital from fertilizer poisoning or something of that nature, which would then be blown out of proportion..
 
i dunno how much risk there would be really. I mean, givin california and colorados current cannabis status where it is not legal, yet thousands are growing their own, and even more using it for whatever medicinal reason. We dont see alot of harmful bullshit from these growers, that mainly comes from cartel fuckers who dont care about anyone. If you put itin the hands of the people they will grow good pot, if only because they like to smoke good pot.

Besides, instead of the fda, create a new agency based on the earned taxes that will direct the entire process, similar to how HAACP works within the restaurant and food buisness. We need regulation and education. plain and simple.
 
Wow there's SO much movement lately, it's amazing.
For some reason tthe past 2 years, I've noticed that whatever I want to happen, it always seems to happen.
Like everything is working for me, it's so great! xD
 
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