"I'm a stoner and I vote...."
Bill Maher, on Real Time with Bill Maher 03.30.07
The Forgotten War on Drugs
America's Forgotten War - Five Part Series
Stories in This Series
Part 1: War on Drugs Hasn't Stemmed Flow Into U.S.
Part 2: Deep in the Colombian Jungle, Coca Still Thrives
Part 3: Winning the War on Drugs One Life at a Time
Part 4: Release of Drug Offenders Strains Communities
Part 5: Drug Czar Blasted for Lack of Leadership
NORML Affiliates To Protest Pot Prohibition On Tax Day
Washington, DC: On Monday, April 16, 2007, NORML chapters around the country will hold protests at their local post-offices to call on elected officials to tax and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco.
"No day is more appropriate for America's citizens to protest their government's criminalization of cannabis than tax day," said NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. "Cannabis consumers may be the only community in America who are demanding the federal government to tax and regulate our product of choice."
Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to alcohol could produce combined savings and tax revenues as high as $14 billion per year, St. Pierre said �- citing a 2005 study by Boston University economist Jeffrey Miron.
A 2006 study reported that cannabis ranks as the top cash crop in twelve states and is worth more than $1 billion per year in five states: California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii, and Washington.
Most recently, California's Board of Equalization announced that it will seek to collect taxes on the state's 150 to 200 medicinal cannabis dispensaries.
'This tax day, when millions of Americans are lamenting filing their paperwork with the IRS, federal officials should remember that at! least o ne community is standing up and demanding to be counted," St. Pierre said.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500, or visit: http://www.norml.org.
About the War on Drugs
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