Men, women, and children who have been run off of their lands in Central and South America by corrupt governments - often put in place by the US - wind up being enslaved in the US...
The horse left the barn. Cannabis has become a social issue where tax revenue is a motive to make it legal. Stores open on nearly every corner and are loosely regulated. In parallel illegal grows appear but their pot isn’t taxed. Now we hear of forced labor to amplify profits.
Not sure we are able to put the problem away without a better informed public. With the States supporting cannabis use the public has been ill served. Medical use can be managed but not recreational use.
Back to more cops on a difficult job. So much for added taxes. And many more hopeless on the streets.
Have severe monetary penalties for the *sale* of the stuff (seizure of goods, fines, etc.) and prison terms, for large quantities - but make it legal for people to grow, say, five pounds per year, that's 60 ounces, a bit more than an ounce per week. Seeds, of course, would be legal to both sell and possess - but at a regulated price, say $5 for a packet of 20 seeds. Destroy the profit motive, and destroy the market. And no more taxes to be "spent on education" for states - if the stuff has no cash value, you can't charge taxes on it. No more stores or "dispensaries", illegal grows get plowed up and composted with manure, the owners lose their property - or go to jail for trespass, etc.
All that before the States found a new revenue stream to waste our resources with. Public attitudes must change. If only a few realize the harms for some of our citizens in casual use.
Instead of funding schools, we should be opening and funding state hospitals - a sort of "self-licking ice cream cone"? Just get the money out of it entirely.
The horse left the barn. Cannabis has become a social issue where tax revenue is a motive to make it legal. Stores open on nearly every corner and are loosely regulated. In parallel illegal grows appear but their pot isn’t taxed. Now we hear of forced labor to amplify profits.
Not sure we are able to put the problem away without a better informed public. With the States supporting cannabis use the public has been ill served. Medical use can be managed but not recreational use.
Back to more cops on a difficult job. So much for added taxes. And many more hopeless on the streets.
Have severe monetary penalties for the *sale* of the stuff (seizure of goods, fines, etc.) and prison terms, for large quantities - but make it legal for people to grow, say, five pounds per year, that's 60 ounces, a bit more than an ounce per week. Seeds, of course, would be legal to both sell and possess - but at a regulated price, say $5 for a packet of 20 seeds. Destroy the profit motive, and destroy the market. And no more taxes to be "spent on education" for states - if the stuff has no cash value, you can't charge taxes on it. No more stores or "dispensaries", illegal grows get plowed up and composted with manure, the owners lose their property - or go to jail for trespass, etc.
All that before the States found a new revenue stream to waste our resources with. Public attitudes must change. If only a few realize the harms for some of our citizens in casual use.
Instead of funding schools, we should be opening and funding state hospitals - a sort of "self-licking ice cream cone"? Just get the money out of it entirely.