More Green for the Green Stuff

I'm a little surprised this took so long.

The activists had gathered to talk about the abrupt, and sizable, fee hike in state-issued medical marijuana ID cards.

The California Department of Health Services sent out the bland letter with the big news in late December. The annual state fee is rising from $13 to $142, in addition to the $33 fee card holders pay to the city. While patients on MediCal will get a price break, veterans and elderly patients who are receiving federal benefits will not, since the federal government still isn't down with California's medical marijuana experiment.

That's the way this stuff always dies, isn't it? It's like a 1000 percent sin tax on people who aren't sinning.

Comments

[Conan]

That tax is only what a carton of cigarettes costs in CA.Too low to cover the "externalities"
and all.Why a tax that low is a de facto SUBSIDY.

[Russ 2000]

Thank God for the black market.

[Warren]

MedMJ is useful in exposing the drug warriors as sadistic fanatics. I use to be afraid that they would make the pragmatic move, and allow medMJ even as they condemned it, thus killing it as a political issue. However their paranoia seems to be their defining characteristic. They can be counted on to insist on delusional extremes at every opportunity. I just wish we could get more of a backlash going, especially in the press.

[TF]

I'm confused. When are we for the government paying an individual's health treatment again?

I'm just trying to keep a running tally here of when it is cool and not cool to want federal government interference in this type of thing.

[Warren]

TF,
No need to be confused, we are always opposed to socialized medicine. I see none of that in this story.

[TF]

My bad, I thought the article implied that it was unfair that the federal government didn't help pay for the state's new ID fee.

Yep, no love toward a federal medical reimbursement plan there. Nothing to see here.

[Andy]

TF,

Step one, that's just a statement of fact.
Step two, that section is part of the quote from the original source, not a Reason opinion (if it were even an opinion.)
Step three, the reason that qualifier is necessary is because everyone's reaction to any medical cost story these days is "it's not a big deal, somebody else pays for my medical coverage, wake me up when they're talking about gasoline"

which brings us back to (our anti-state medicine) doe.

[Eryk Boston]

Those with long memories will remember that the federal law against pot started as an inflated tax. (back in the days when people thought the feds had limited powers)

[Aaron Smith]

The entire alphabet soup of medical marijuana advocacy groups (SAN, ASA, NORML, MPP and DPA) are lobbying the CDHS to hold off on this enormous fee hike. If you live in California and oppose a more than 1000% increase on the application fee for the medical marijuana registry program, CLICK HERE to send a message to CDHS Director Sandra Shewrey and Governor Schwarzenegger.

Thank You,
Aaron Smith
Safe Access Now
[e-mail]