When I was developing this site, I knew I wouldn’t have the manpower to cover all things marijuana. I’d have to find a niche, or two, and mine those areas to the best of my ability. I saw that locally (Denver), medical marijuana stories were being covered perfectly well by the weekly Westword, and by the daily Denver Post — to name a few — as well as startup magazines like Kush Colorado. National media was all over these stories as well.
Conversely, neither local or national media could tell me much about the revenue (taxation) issue. For some reason, I find calculating billions and billions in MPMTR (maximum pot-tential marijuana taxation revenue) oddly pleasurable. I decided to focus on that. I also admire the various angles people have identified to prosper in a partially legal climate. Several stories featuring these opportunities are underway. As things evolved, revenue and opportunity became niche one and niche two for Cannabis Commerce.
Delving deeply into the revenue issue, as I’ve done these past few months, I’ve largely ignored the ever-shifting sands of medical marijuana legislation – since that’s not my niche. As an advocate for total legalization, perhaps I lost sight of the fact medical marijuana opened the door for all the conjecture about legalization in the first place.
Specifically, I might have lost sight that this movement took hold in response to patients’ rights. And some of these patients are really, truly, chronically ill — and really, truly destitute. As much as I’m motivated to seek out MPMTR, destitute patients with debilitating illnesses should definitely receive a tax pass.
As for what agent or agency gets to makes this determination, and what criteria it will be based upon, this blog can’t presently tackle that issue.
However, there is an organization that can – and does. It’s called Sensible Colorado, http://sensiblecolorado.org/. This organization, comprised in part by attorneys volunteering their time, cares for the rights of patients who have no one else to fight for them. This coming Sunday, May 30, Sensible Colorado is holding a free strategy and networking session. Here’s a shoutout for all interested parties to RSVP (yes, people have been turned away at recent gatherings) and support people too ill to support themselves.
So, I’ll keep at my task, turning over rocks and finding pot-ential cannatax revenue. That won’t change. The difference is now I acknowledge that there are certain individuals who should never have to pay it.
Update 8/1/2012: This was written before I had an eiphany about MMJ’s downside. Like everyone else, I was initially mesmerized by patients rights. That’s before I realized everyone’s rights supercede patients rights.
Appreciation for the Medical Marijuana Movement
When I was developing this site, I knew I wouldn’t have the manpower to cover all things marijuana. I’d have to find a niche, or two, and mine those areas to the best of my ability. I saw that locally (Denver), medical marijuana stories were being covered perfectly well by the weekly Westword, and the daily Denver Post – to name a few – as well as startup magazines like Kush Colorado.
Conversely, these fine publications couldn’t tell me much about the revenue (taxation) issue. For whatever reason, I find calculating billions and billions in MPMTR (maximum pot-tential marijuana taxation revenue) oddly pleasurable. I decided to focus on that. I also admire the various angles people have identified to prosper in this quasi-legalization climate. Several stories about these opportunities are planned for the site. So revenue and opportunity have become niche one and niche two for Cannabis Commerce.
Delving deeply into the revenue issue, as I’ve done these past few months, I’ve largely ignored the ever-shifting sands of medical marijuana legislation – since its not my niche. As an advocate for total legalization, perhaps I lost sight of the fact medical marijuana opened the door for all the conjecture about legalization in the first place. Specifically, I might have lost sight that this movement came as a response to patients’ needs. And some of these patients are really, truly, chronically ill and really, truly destitute. As much as I’m motivated to seek out MPMTR, those patients should definitely receive a tax pass.
As for who gets to makes this determination, and what criteria it will be based on, this blog can’t presently tackle that issue.
However, there is an organization that can – and does. It’s called Sensible Colorado, http://sensiblecolorado.org/. This is an organization, comprised in part by attorneys volunteering their time, which cares for the rights of people who have no one else to fight for them. This coming Sunday, May 30, they are holding a free strategy and networking session. Here’s a shoutout for all interested parties to RSVP and support people too ill to support themselves.
So, I’ll keep at my task, turning over rocks and finding pot-ential marijuana taxation revenue. That won’t change. The difference is now I acknowledge that there are certain people who should never have to pay it.
