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Kesto’S New Provisioning Centers Act Unveiled September 22


bobandtorey

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i mean that anyone who thinks they can run a provisioning center under this bill will find that the numbers do not add up to a profitable end. nor are the protections for the facilities enough to ensure a simple infraction does not lead to jail time for all involved.

 

this opinion is based on the last revision of this stupid bunny muffin pile of a bill that i read. it might have changed since then, and i know it will change more before it is voted/passed.

 

heres what happens in arizona if you dont get a license

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/north-phoenix/warrant-served-at-one-of-five-illegal-marijuana-dispensaries

 

probably what they will use the database for is finding welfare patients and then taking away welfare because "they done spent their welfare check on the pot".

 

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2015/01/16/az-dispensaries-sell-more-medical-pot-as-fewer-people-are-able-to-grow-their-own

 

interesting tidbit

 

as long as i'm looking for dispensary news in other states...

http://www.koat.com/news/nm-to-unveil-identities-of-pot-dispensaries-workers/34212856

 

 

Thanks

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i mean that anyone who thinks they can run a provisioning center under this bill will find that the numbers do not add up to a profitable end. nor are the protections for the facilities enough to ensure a simple infraction does not lead to jail time for all involved.

 

this opinion is based on the last revision of this stupid bunny muffin pile of a bill that i read. it might have changed since then, and i know it will change more before it is voted/passed.

 

heres what happens in arizona if you dont get a license

http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/north-phoenix/warrant-served-at-one-of-five-illegal-marijuana-dispensaries

 

probably what they will use the database for is finding welfare patients and then taking away welfare because "they done spent their welfare check on the pot".

 

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archives/2015/01/16/az-dispensaries-sell-more-medical-pot-as-fewer-people-are-able-to-grow-their-own

 

interesting tidbit

 

as long as i'm looking for dispensary news in other states...

http://www.koat.com/news/nm-to-unveil-identities-of-pot-dispensaries-workers/34212856

There will be profitable ones... Those that generate enough customer throughput. Most of the smaller and mid-sized spots will have a harder time, esp because of the inflated prices. Those that serve thousands of patients per month and own/operate massive commercial grows will be able to undercut the others based on volume and integration. It will squeeze the smaller guys out and leave weed depot and walweed as the primary suppliers, and they will likely make millions.

 

Id say this is the ultimate plan behind the bills, and someone's nephew to drive it all around. Quality and selection wont matter, price will be all important, and eventually with all the production coming from a very small number of sources (or a group of similarly growing and producing facilities), they will be in position to redifine quality as what they produce... Most consumers will never have access or ever see high quality meds so they just wont know any different. The market will revolve around price and volume.

 

No small guys, no quality.

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The ones that survive will be the ones that have large cash reserves. They will also need to buy in LARGE quantities in order to purchase merchandise at a price they will still be able to turn around for a profit. I would guess they would also need multiple sale points, a franchise, like Herbmart or McBuds.

 

They won't be buying 2 ounce overages from random caregivers. They'll be buying truck loads at a time like the cartels do now. I don't see any other way a profit could be made under this system.

 

If you do have a few million to invest and purchase your politicians wisely you should be able to clean up after all the little guys are out of the way.  Ready for some "free market" competition?

 

48dd4c92abac8474f1e3f179a6f37b52.jpg?ito

Edited by Wild Bill
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Bill, lol, some are already there... And some of the ones backing the varying models out there... We could brainstorm and come up w a list pretty easily. But totally, if u dont have a 10pack (big, or more), they just dont want to bother w u... Apparently too much hastle to offer it up only to be out by the weekend. They want continuous stock to have it in the menu everyday, every week, all year long. Only thing that qualifies is mass produced warehouses. Even if the quality is exceptional, it doesnt work w their biz model of distribution. Which gets back to redefining quality... The best just isnt going to be offered at such places. Even if they do bite, it will go to their personal head stash, not what is put on the shelves. Same dealio that happens in cali and colo... And wash and ariz, et al

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  • 2 weeks later...

LANSING- Yeah, they're going to do it.

Lansing sources tell me the Michigan House of Representatives will take up and pass on Wednesday a trio of bills that will modify the state's seven-year old medical marijuana program to establish a big-government system of rigorously-regulated distribution centers- and a fleet of armored cars designed to haul the pot around.

HBs 4209, 4210 and 4827 offer so many changes to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act and the patients/caregivers who register with it that it's impossible to categorize them all in one spot. A few highlights:

4209 will end all the existing dispensaries in the state and require them to get a new local and state authorization to reopen. It establishes a big government program to control growth/production/sale of marijuana to registered patients through commercial facilities. Commercial distribution of medical marijuana has been prevalent in Michigan since 2010 and is a pure market that is unregulated, robust and encompasses most of the state's 175,000 registered patients.

Production of cannabis is already regulated through the state's medical marijuana program. Michigan has approved approx. 30,000 licensed caregivers, who sell their extra cannabis to the dispensaries. Under the 4209 program, that all goes away. Not the caregivers, or the extra cannabis, just the safe and legal place for them to sell it. Where will people get rid of all their extra marijuana, when the dispensaries refuse to take it?

_________

READ THE LATEST VERSIONS OF ALL THREE BILLS HERE: 4209 H-5   4210 H-2   4827 H-1

__________

HB 4209 would create a new 3% excise tax on medical marijuana- better than the 8% approved by the Judiciary Committee in September but still ridiculous. The language expands the AG's office, creates a new division of government under the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Department, requires armored cars to carry bud from place to place as it is sold from commercial facility to producer to distributor, and adds over 110 full-time inspectors to the state payroll and health care plans.

4210 re-legalizes the medical use of non-smoked forms of cannabis. It requires labels, packages, and containers for commercial production of foods, bans the use of butane extraction methods indoors, and contains penalties for failure to comply.

BOUGHT AND SOLD: HB 4827

Language in HB 4827 authorizes purchase of a computer program from California that tracks every marijuana plant commercially grown in all 82 Michigan Counties from seed to fully mature plant, and afterward. As explained by the computer program's vendor (not the Representative who introduced the bill), their program requires extensive weighing of processed marijuana at every post-plant stage of  its life.

Consider: Each and every time someone touches the cannabis under the proposed program it must be recorded in the computer's program. The same with weighing the cannabis. Weights are required to be taken and recorded FOR EACH PLANT at the time of harvest and before being given to a shipper, then again after the shipper puts the cannabis in storage, then again when it is sold to the production facility, and then the finished product AND the discarded refuse must be weighed and recorded before it can be given back to the shipper who again records the weight when transporting the cannabis to the distribution center, where it is weighed upon receipt, and upon sale.

The language of HB 4209 allows for marijuana gardens in Michigan of 1,500 plants. That's a ridiculous amount of data entry for even a single one of these facilities, and an enormous program for the state to embark upon. I thought Republicans wanted smaller government, anyway?

BAD ACTORS

What started out four years ago as a way to get the legislature to stop dispensary and caregiver raids has turned into a farcical play where business and police play legislators like marionettes. Michigan has been given a grade of F for ethics in government, a ranking Rep. Klint Kesto seems determined to earn singlehandedly.

Kesto wrote a bill (HB 4827) and held a hearing on it BEFORE it was introduced to the House of Representatives and before it was assigned to his Committee. Or, more appropriately, the Seed-To-Sale Bill was written by a company from California that's trying to get the Michigan state government to buy their tracking software program to the tune of millions of dollars, and Kesto put his name on it. The inappropriate 'hearing' held on HB4827 took place before the bill was made available to the public and consisted almost entirely of a slideshow and dialog from the two company representatives.

It's easy to minimize citizen input when you don't let people know what you're talking about and don't give them any time to speak. It's just normally referred to as bad governing.

So is taking a vote before hearing any testimony. Kesto did this, too, and once again it was for his HB4827 bill with HBs 4209/4210. Same Judiciary Committee, too. He ran through amendments and voting before letting the citizens speak on the nature of the bills that the Representatives had just voted on. Ethical? Hell no. Stiflingly efficient? Hell yeah!

You can't really blame Kesto as much as we might want. Rep. Michael Callton was the first to sell out to the new money operatives in the fall of 2014 who were already planning this 2015 hijacking of HB 4209 - coincidentally, just before the bill he sponsored was mysteriously shut down by the Michigan Sheriffs Association. Or was it? Things that make you go "Hmmmm..."

We DO know it was snake-like former Senator Randy Richardville from Monroe who showed the Conservatives how to properly slither legislation through on the low-low. When he ushered the Prairie Plant Systems-bought bill called SB 660 through both houses of legislature and onto the Governor's desk in less than three months in 2013, he showed everyone how to pass a bad marijuana bill and get away with it.

You just have to run fast enough that the stink doesn't catch up to you.

GOOD ACTORS

Who is The Man? Rep. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) is, that's who. Rep. Irwin, along with the National Patients Rights Association and the lobbying firm of McKinney and Associates, has fought to tame the cash-frenzy the House sharks are circling through. The excise tax on medical marijuana is reduced from 8% to 3% in the current versions of the bills, and if Michigan gets legalized that tax goes all the way away. Misdemeanor crimes have been reduced to civil infractions in HB 4210, and there's a cap on the cash the state can demand from commercial enterprises of $10,000.

Also changed: the language on butane extractions. Instead of banning them completely, as the Judiciary version had done, the new Substitute Bill allows patients and caregivers to use the controversial process in outdoor settings where there is no danger of fume combustion.

Positive change will be hard to find once the bill enters the Land of Mordor- the Michigan Senate- where law enforcement holds sway through the powerful grip of Sen. Rick Jones, himself a former Sheriff and the strongest argument in favor of term limitations the state has produced since Randy Richardville.

 

http://thecompassionchronicles.com/2015/10/06/house-to-vote-on-historic-marijuana-legislation-october-7/

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how many of irwins amendments or substitutes will be approved? i love irwin and i see him at the table in committee offering amendments all of the time to fix problems in bills. but those repubs always vote no on his donkey.

 

call your represenative now to vote no on this stupid bunny muffin!

 

it sucks the people who pushed for these bills, NPRA and MCDA wont feel the effects of these bills when passed. i'm not talking about dispensaries here but patients and caregivers.

 

h-5 ?? theres so many more amendments and changes that will be added on the floor.

 

maybe the sherriffs will do a last minute bill killing like they did last time...

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You really have to hand it to the Republicans though. They know that people are stupid, uninformed, and uninvolved. They can push through legislation that violates their "core beliefs" (small government, fewer regulations, less taxes) and the average voter will yawn and say "So what".

 

Somebody is getting paid under the table here.

 

I don't just hate Republicans. I detest them. They are slimy maggots who feed off the misfortune of others. They are giddy over the fact that they can display their hypocrisy for the whole world to see and nobody appears to give a darn.

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with party switching being age old and numbering in the hundreds I'd say both parties by now are "slimy maggots who feed off of the misfortune of others".

After all, what other reason would one aspire to be a politician in the first place?  two party system=hoax

 

" The key feature is an electoral system based on two political parties, the Soft Party and the Hard Party. The Soft Party plays the role of "people's advocate", mouthing rhetoric suggesting that it is really for ordinary people, as opposed to the wealthy people (WP). The Hard Party is designed to be more harsh than the Soft Party with respect to style and the measures it advocates. It is more openly supportive of the WP. However, both parties are largely financed by WP, tho not necessarily to the same extent by the same individuals. Their basic principles are the same: to maintain and enhance the power of the WP. Having two parties gives different WP opportunities to debate minor differences in tactics, and gives more of them chances to gain public attention. The Soft Party often starts with positions opposed to the interests of the WP, but almost always backs down in the face of strong, often angry, opposition from the Hard Party, which rarely retreats on any issue."

 

kids in school are taught how rich industrialists exploited people in the 1800s and America got rich stealing wealth form all minorities. Our kids are then easily steered into the next political justice movement and gladly hand over their freedoms so that they can make this a better world.

 

"Then the pendulum swings the other way after people wake up with a sore butt after their political orgy. (Rinse and repeat)

 

The Democrat and Republican two party system is a scam which takes advantage of this political ebb and flow. Each generation rebels against the last and the pendulum swings."

 

"One of the core reasons the two-party stranglehold on our political system persists is that whenever one party uses its power to an extreme degree it sets the conditions for the other party—its partner in the conspiracy—to take over. Then the other takes its turn in wielding excessive power. Most Americans—at least those that vote—seem incapable of understanding that the Democrats and Republicans are two teams in the same league, serving the same cabal running the corporatist plutocracy. By keeping people focused on rooting for one team or the other, the behind-the-scenes rulers ensure their invisibility and power."

 

People voting for one of these two parties are co-conspirators in this huge criminal conspiracy. The rulers need power shifting between the teams to maintain popular trust in the political system. Voting manifests that trust—as if changing people will fix the system. It doesn't."

 

I don't know anyone in my lifetime who voted for any president and was satisfied with either victor of the dem/repub team conspiracy. go figure. they've won

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Grassmatch, that type of pabulum just glosses over the fact that Republicans are especially terrible.

Likely. Its just that we've been voting the way you would have us vote for a lifetime, yet many life things are worse, getting worse. We do the same thing over and over(voting for the lesser of these two evil party members) and then yell when we get the same results as the last time we did it. Lets not forget the millions putting Democrats in office only to see(some, sometimes see) the atrocities they commit also. Opinions vary, thank you for yours.

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until you get a large amount of people willing to pledge to vote 3rd party, we will be stuck in the lesser of 2 party system though. just look at any of the past elections to see this in action, yes even the nader votes of 2000.

 

so we need to start a "pledge the 3rd" type movement.

 

or even get a law like australias where you vote for a 3rd party, but if the 3rd party does not get enough votes your secondary choice is voted for instead.

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contact the senate judiciary now if you want to make comment on bills.

 

http://www.senate.michigan.gov/committee/judiciary.html

 

 

 

Senator Rick Jones 

Committee Chair

Welcome to the Judiciary Committee Webpage. The committee's regularly scheduled meeting time is Tuesdays at 3:00 p.m. in room 110 of the Farnum Building in Lansing. I welcome citizens to contact me or other committee members regarding bills or proposals our committee is addressing. Individuals needing special accommodations to participate in a committee meeting may contact my office to request the necessary assistance.

 

Thanks T

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Voting for the lesser of two evils, and getting it wrong due to systematic deception by the Republicans is more likely. Also, more people than ever do not vote. Decreased participation seems to favor Republicans. Ask them.

 

Historically the lower the turnout at the polls the better the Republikans do. Their voter base is more loyal and will turn out in a blizzard to vote for the swine of their choice. The Demokrat voters are not as single minded.

 

Many do not vote because they have nothing to vote for, "Would you rather have us poke out your right eye or your left eye? The free choice is yours!".

 

The modern Republikan party seems to be turning into some kind of weird religious cult. True believers.

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Hi Wild Bill,

 

One thing both parties haven't grasped is they and their core supporters represent only a small minority of the total votes that party receives.

 

I truly believe that while stimulative in the shorter term, debt is inevitably toxic in the long run. To me our ever increasing debt-to-gdp ratio is frighteningly high and our current levels of government spending unsustainable. Naturally therefore, for me it was unsettling watching the recent Democratic debate with trillions of proposed new spending.

 

How could anyone believe or support a party so determined to continue the decline in per-capita wealth Americans have endured these past ten years?

 

The Republicans with their associated Arrest-and-Punishment are no better, of course. The holier-than-thou right-wing Christian bigots are no different from any other religious sect. Compassionate and tolerant conservatives? Haven't seen any of those lately, have you?

 

I can assure you my interest here is related to supporting medical marijuana patients, not either party. I hold them both in contempt. In the main politicians of either party are first and foremost interested in their own well-being.

Edited by outsideinthecold
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I am all for placing blames but when 80% of one party supports us and only 20% of the other party does, it does not make them equally responsible.

 

Trying to use Both Siderism is part of the problem; and really intellectually lazy.

 

They have a thing called primaries for a reason.  The least people show up for primaries where it is actually decided who gets to run for office.

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Exactly,  Get involved,  Join your county party and become a precinct delegate.

Bernie Sanders IS a  3rd party candidate running on the dem ticket and Winning  a  two party race.

 

Turnout will be record high for 2016.  People are sick of the fknrepublicans treating US and the  president like Django and Bernie Sanders appeals to folk on both sides.  

 

If you dont Feel the Bern,   see your doctor immediately 

Vote  It's All we got

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Offshore Shell Games 2015

 

http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2015/10/offshore_shell_games_2015.php#executive <--- Must read

 

 

Story(not from link):

 

 

How many times have we heard corporate-funded conservatives and "centrists" whine about "deficits" and demand cuts in the things government does to make people's lives better? How many times?

"We're broke." "Taxpayers can't afford these ... (pensions, health programs, infrastructure repair, food stamps, high-speed rail systems, scientific studies, you name it)." Over and over we are subjected to demands that our own government cut back on the things it does -- teachers and schools, roads, food programs, dams, bridges, scientific research, health care (but never, ever on military corporate contracts).

This "deficits" drumbeat is incessant because it is so well funded with corporate cash.

 

Fortune 500 Corporations Owe $620 Billion In Taxes

What would you say if you learned that the same corporations funding this corporate-conservative anti-government "deficit" propaganda actually owed the government more than $600 billion (billion with a 'B'), and another $90 billion each year?

Last week, Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund released an important report showing how Fortune 500 companies use tax-haven subsidiaries to keep $2.1 trillion out of the country to dodge up to $620 billion in U.S. taxes. These are profits already on the books, so the taxes are due – except for a "deferral" loophole that was quietly inserted into the tax code in the 1986 tax "reform" law.

The CTJ/PIRG report is titled, "Offshore Shell Games." (Read the whole thing if you can, skim it if you can't.) From the Executive Summary:

U.S.-based multinational corporations are allowed to play by a different set of rules than small and domestic businesses or individuals when it comes to the tax code. Rather than paying their fair share, many multinational corporations use accounting tricks to pretend for tax purposes that a substantial portion of their profits are generated in offshore tax havens, countries with minimal or no taxes where a company’s presence may be as little as a mailbox. Multinational corporations’ use of tax havens allows them to avoid an estimated $90 billion in federal income taxes each year.

Congress, by failing to take action to end this tax avoidance, forces ordinary Americans to make up the difference. Every dollar in taxes that corporations avoid by using tax havens must be balanced by higher taxes on individuals, cuts to public investments and public services, or increased federal debt.

 

 

This tax dodging also costs about $90 billion every year in lost federal tax revenue.

Again, the corporations that are funding this anti-government, conservative propaganda machine that is demanding cutbacks in everything that makes our lives better (but never, ever on military corporate contracts) are dodging $620 billion in taxes and another $90 billion every year.

Tax Repatriation Holiday

But wait, there's more. (They have almost everything but they always want more.)

The giant corporations are engaged in a campaign to get out of paying those taxes they owe – now and in the future. They are demanding that the government cut the tax rate, not only on those taxes they already owe, but on future taxes as well.

This is a bit tricky, but just remember the word "repatriation." If you hear someone in Congress talk about "repatriation" they are almost always talking about letting these corporations off the hook on this tax bill.

For example, when you hear that the "highway bill" can be "paid for" using "repatriation" (click the link to get a sense of this) they are saying they'll let these corporations pay significantly less then they owe, and then use what's left over (if any) to pay for the highway bill.

When you hear a politician say they will "raise money" using "corporate tax reform," what they are saying is let these corporations off the hook for a chunk of their taxes now and in the future. (When you hear the word "reform" in Washington these days it means get ready to get hit upside the head with a hammer.) In this usage, "How Tax Reform Could Help Save U.S. Infrastructure" actually means let these corporations pay significantly less than the $620 billion they owe, and use the rest for ... whatever.

Apologies in advance for the cliché here, but hearing corporate-conservative complaints about deficits when the corporations funding them are dodging hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes is like the child who shoots his parents and then asks for leniency because he's an orphan. Enough about deficits and cuts already; make them pay their taxes.

Petitions

CAF petition: Tell your Senators: No tax breaks for corporations that shift profits and jobs offshore.

Americans for Tax Fairness petition: Tell Congress it’s time that corporations pay what they owe – their fair share! And when they do, we can invest in America’s future.

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Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap...

 

How many times have we heard corporate-funded conservatives and "centrists" whine about "deficits" and demand cuts in the things government does to make people's lives better? How many times?

"We're broke." "Taxpayers can't afford these ... (pensions, health programs, infrastructure repair, food stamps, high-speed rail systems, scientific studies, you name it)." Over and over we are subjected to demands that our own government cut back on the things it does -- teachers and schools, roads, food programs, dams, bridges, scientific research, health care (but never, ever on military corporate contracts).

This "deficits" drumbeat is incessant because it is so well funded with corporate cash.

 

 

These are the same tactics being used here in our State to abscond with our Cities assets under the Emergency Management Program.  Like the DIA and the City of Detroit Water Co. 

 

What they fail to mention is that all of those corporations are multinationals.  They have different laws. Paid for by them and passed by the politicians that received the payments. In essence pocketing the lost taxes as well as losing access to the bulk of the wealth. 

Edited by solabeirtan
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No! Don't get involved with either of the major parties unless you think things are going good the way they are now.

 

Same parties, same results.

Too late, i am involved up to my eyeballs. Our mission is to fill township, city, county and state seats with cannabis friendly representatives. Democrats

I can assure you there is a strong and growing cannabis constituency in the dem party that has taken up the torch and are not letting go. The systematic molestation of the MMMP by the GOP has motivated a huge number of Voters to Register as dems and actively campaign for Bernie Sanders in this state.

Cannabis has increased dem membership unlike any other issue. We the People want to Free the Weed.

I can empathize with you but if we want change we are going to have to make It happen.

 

We can do this.

Vote every republican OUT of office.

Vote in every election , not just the presidential race.

The local elections are just as important.

It is your community...own it.

 

Free the Weed

Edited by beourbud
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I have come to believe that local elections are of the utmost importance.

Pay attention to our own back yard and vote in those we feel will best represent

our views and values 1st and foremost.  These are the folks that will be moving

forward in years to come into higher offices.

 

imho the prez election is a shell game (rigged).

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