Federal authorities have renewed a crackdown on state-sanctioned medical marijuana facilities despite promises by Barack Obama, the president, to keep the issue low on his list of priorities.
Local authorities are now also trying to stop people from making money off the medicinal cannabis industry, as it is meant to be a non-profit venture, of course the States still raises tax revenue.
This of course follows in the wake of a discussion which took place between all the American nations where the US stood out as the only nation not in favour of some degree of de-criminalisation, but as it is an election year it probably was not the best time for radical and therefore risky new ideas.
During the last election I was delighted to be the cause of some discussion, the 'Are hustings fit for purpose?' debate being a notable discussion raised directly by me.
I was delighted today to read the latest magazine from the JEP 'Confidential' that one of my main election issues has been taken up and now is the subject of discussion in the States (at least back rooms), the question of how much regulation is enough and how much is too much.
Now it seems to me that should I decide to run at the next election then part of my platform will be the legalisation of locally grown Marijuana for consumption on the island.
So that means that local farmers will have a new crop, the tourism industry will have a new draw, the customs officers will still have jobs stopping the import and export of the crop and there will be an additional revenue stream for the States of Jersey, who by then will likely be desperate for 'new ideas'.
A survey I conducted during the last election showed the public were split exactly evenly on the issue and one has to surmise that only those who actually bothered to vote took the time to enter the survey, that would suggest to me that the majority of the Island are in favour of some degree of de-criminalisation of Marijuana.
The economic case (merely in terms of the cost of enforcing the law against the will of the people) was excellently compiled by Deputy Dorey back in 2003 to 2005 whilst serving on a shadow scrutiny panel but the matter was never debated in the States.
Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Oakland, California in the following video...
During the last election I was delighted to be the cause of some discussion, the 'Are hustings fit for purpose?' debate being a notable discussion raised directly by me.
I was delighted today to read the latest magazine from the JEP 'Confidential' that one of my main election issues has been taken up and now is the subject of discussion in the States (at least back rooms), the question of how much regulation is enough and how much is too much.
Now it seems to me that should I decide to run at the next election then part of my platform will be the legalisation of locally grown Marijuana for consumption on the island.
So that means that local farmers will have a new crop, the tourism industry will have a new draw, the customs officers will still have jobs stopping the import and export of the crop and there will be an additional revenue stream for the States of Jersey, who by then will likely be desperate for 'new ideas'.
A survey I conducted during the last election showed the public were split exactly evenly on the issue and one has to surmise that only those who actually bothered to vote took the time to enter the survey, that would suggest to me that the majority of the Island are in favour of some degree of de-criminalisation of Marijuana.
The economic case (merely in terms of the cost of enforcing the law against the will of the people) was excellently compiled by Deputy Dorey back in 2003 to 2005 whilst serving on a shadow scrutiny panel but the matter was never debated in the States.
Could farmers grow Marijuana in Jersey if allowed? I thought it required all that hydroponic stuff because we dont have the right conditions weather wise. I suppose they could use greenhouses but would that still require investment into hydroponic stuff. I am a bit ignorant on this, when I use the word hydropnic I assume it means strong lamps and the like and therefore couldn't just simply be grown in our climate outdoors.
ReplyDeleteI would also expect you to come across the argument that land lost to growing Marijuana would be land lost for food crops and we are losing that land already bit by bit.
Having said that, although I dont smoke the stuff myself I dont see any viable legal reason for not decriminilising it and growing it here. People are always going on about alcohol fuelled violence but you dont tend to get that with Marijuana. The only places you get it are in countries such as America with their gang problems but that is down to the gangs wanting to control trade. Often you see in films the gangs taking a hit of weed before going on a drive by etc but thats nothing to do with the weed itself. That is another possible argument you might come up against that weed can cause people to become violent. Its not the weed its the gang culture.
You'd get my vote if you could make some inroads on this. Like I said I dont smoke the stuff, used to but cant stand it anymore yet I think its time to sort out the criminalisation of it and perhaps put some money into the coffers from it. A cash crop I believe.
I have no idea how to grow anything, other than what has come to me from watching documentaries and they don't go into too many details on this particular crop.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it, the climate is not suitable and it would require greenhouses to be converted to just the right conditions... I do believe that the initial investment would see an appropriate return though.
Jersey is a perfect place to grow the crop openly however, as its production could be effectively regulated, its harvest overseen by authorities and its distribution tightly controlled. There has to be some use for all those government employees.
ReplyDeleteIt would also provide economic security for Jersey should it decide to be independent in a way that the finance industry never can.