Homeless in Arizona

Articles on Legalizing Marijuana

RAD - 100% legalization of marijuana

The RAD or Relegalize All Drugs initiative was written to make marijuana 100% legal.

z_98747.php created November 23, 2018

Source Also see: ¹

The RAD or Relegalize All Drugs initiative was written to make marijuana 100% legal.

We could have just wrote one line that says marijuana is now 100% legal.

But the government could have came back and passed zoning regulations to terrorize marijuana businesses and users. Or zoning regulations so draconian that marijuana use would be effectively illegal.

And of course the government could also pass tax laws to make marijuana so expensive that it is effectively illegal. Or just pass draconian taxes to rob marijuana users.

So we added a few lines to prevent that.

We also think it's wrong for the government to treat marijuana users as second class citizens. So we added a line to prevent that.

And we think anyone convicted of a marijuana crime in the past should have a complete pardon. So we added two lines to do that.

Here is a link to the RAD or Relegalize All Drugs 2020 initiative to legalize marijuana in Arizona.

http://relegalize.100webspace.net/legalize_marijuana_2020.php

Here is the text of the RAD 2020 initiative. After each line of text is an explanation on why the line was included in the RAD initiative.

100% complete re-legalization of marijuana & hashish

1. The government shall recognize that marijuana abuse is NOT a criminal problem but a medical problem.

[Many people have the false impression that we want to legalize marijuana so people can be stoned 24/7.
And those people often refuse to sign it.
This line tells people that we think that drug abuse should be a medical problem if it is a problem, not a criminal problem.
Often after reading this line, a lot of those negative people will sign the initiative.
This line doesn't really have any legal use, other than to tell people the intent of the initiative.]

2. The government shall NOT tax, regulate, or pass any laws governing marijuana or marijuana activities.

[This line does most of the work of the initiative.
If we just said, marijuana is 100% legal in Arizona that wouldn't cut it.
The special interest groups that shovel money to politicians would get them to quickly pass laws to get around that and make life difficult for marijuana users.
Mainly the special interest groups that make big bucks from the "War on Drugs", such as the police unions.
One way politicians can make something illegal is to put heavy taxes on it to make it effectively legal.
That's why we said the government can't tax marijuana.
In 2011 Kyrsten Sinema tried to slap a 300%, $900 an ounce tax on medical marijuana for her buddies in the police unions.
Here is a link to that law:

https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/hb2557p.pdf

That would have effectively made medical marijuana illegal by raising the price from $300 an ounce to $1,200 an ounce.
In October 2018, the city of Phoenix tried to slap $280 a square foot tax on businesses that sell medical marijuana.
That tax would have slapped a tax of almost $1 million a year on a 3,500 sq foot business the size of most Circle K's. The tax would have been $980,000 tax on a Circle K business of 3,500 sq feet.
In October 2018, the city of Phoenix also tried to slap $50 a square foot tax on businesses that grow medical marijuana.
That tax would have put a $2 million a year tax on JP Holyoak's business that grows medical marijuana. Effectively putting him out of business.
In 1937 when the Federal government made marijuana illegal with the "1937 Marihuana Tax Act", they slapped a tax of $100 an ounce on cannabis.
A $100 an ounce might not sound that much, but in 1937 you could buy a brand new car for $600. So the tax on 6 ounces of marijuana would be the price of a brand new car.
When the Federal government made machine guns illegal with the The National Firearms Act they did it by slapping a huge $200 tax on machine guns.
In those days you could buy a machine gun from the Sears catalog for $20.
The $200 Federal tax was 10 times the price of a brand new machine gun.
Another way politicians make things illegal is to put draconian zoning regulations on them.
In Tempe to make life difficult for medical marijuana dispensaries they passed zoning laws that only allow them in industrial areas.
Tempe also passed zoning laws that severely limit the hours of medical marijuana dispensaries.
To make like difficult for medical marijuana users, Chander passed a zoning law that requires medical marijuana dispensaries to be at least 1 mile a part.
If you remember I mentioned that $200 tax the Feds put on machine guns with The National Firearms Act of the 1930's.
The Federal government also drags its feet when it issues the $200 tax stamps for machine guns.
The requirements to buy a machine gun are the same as the requirements to buy a gun under the Brady Bill. While a Brady Bill check usually takes less then 24 hours, the Federal government often takes over a year to approve a $200 tax stamp for machine guns.
The government could pass zoning laws that make it almost impossible for marijuana businesses to open or opperate.
The RAD initiative says that the government can't regulate marijuana businesses and that fixes that problem.
The RAD initiative doesn't say marijuana businesses don't have to obey zoning laws. They do.
The RAD initiative just says the government can't pass zoning laws that apply ONLY to marijuana businesses.
I'm willing to modify the RAD initiative and allow the government to tax marijuana as long as it's a small tax like the current sales tax.
I'm also willing to modify the RAD initiative to allow the goverment to put an age limit on marijuana use. Something like 18 years.
Both of those would make a "politically correct" law, which would have a better chance of passing.]

3. The government shall NOT assist any other government entities, such as Federal, foreign, world, Native American or state governments in enforcing any laws against marijuana.

[This is to prevent the state of Arizona from helping the Federal government or Indian tribes enforce their laws against marijuana users.
It was created because the Border Patrol teamed up with Yuma County to rob people traveling on I-8 from Phoenix and Tucson to San Diego.
The Border Patrol claims it doesn't need "probable cause" to stop and search people within 50 miles of the border.
The Border Patrol sets up roadblocks and stops and searches people along I-8 near Yuma.
Anybody they find with drugs, they don't arrest for Federal drug law violations.
Instead they turn them over to the Yuma County Sheriff where they are prosecuted under Arizona laws.
The Border Patrol splits the fines with Yuma County.
This line was written to stop that nonsense.]

4. The government shall NOT pass any guide lines, rules, regulations or laws discriminating against people or entities that use marijuana. Such as laws that limit a marijuana user's guns rights or parental rights.

[This line was added to keep the government from passing laws that discriminate against people that either use marijuana, or people that are involved in the marijuana industry growing, selling or processing marijuana.
Under Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act, the government has often said that people who use marijuana are horrible people and tried to take away their children.
We suspect the Arizona government might say that people who use marijuana are horrible people and can't have guns.
This line is to prevent that.]

5. Any person convicted of any marijuana offense in the past shall automatically have their criminal record cleared of those charges and automatically receive a full pardon for those charges.

[This line is designed to give an automatic pardon and clear the record of any person who went to trial and was convicted of a victimless marijuana crime.]

6. Any person arrested for any marijuana offense in the past who accepted a plea bargain for reduced charges shall automatically have their criminal record cleared of those reduced charges and automatically receive a full pardon for those reduced charges.

[This line is designed to give an automatic pardon and clear the record of any person who accepted a plea bargain after being arrested for a victimless marijuana crime.]

7. Any person, government employee, agent, elected official, judge, law enforcement officer or prosecutor that falsely arrests a person, violates a person's rights, passes a law or issues a ruling, guideline or edict that that interferes with a person's marijuana use rights defined here shall be personally and civilly liable to each person for each incident for a minimum of $1 million in damages or 10 times the actual amount of damages whichever is greater. There shall be no immunity to a person who claims to be "acting in good faith" or for any other reason.

[Travis Vandenbrul suggested this line.
If the RAD initiative is passed it won't stop the Federal government from arresting people for victimless Federal marijuana crimes in Arizona.
This line is intended to severely punish Federal law enforcement officers who illegally search or illegally question people suspected of Federal marijuana crimes.
Travis Vandenbrul suggested that it be a crime for cops to do this. But we all know cops rarely if ever arrest themselves for crimes they commit.
So we made it a civil violation where the cop that commits the violation could be sued personally.
It would also stop judges and cops who who make up imaginary laws related to this initiative. Such as the imaginary laws that Arizona cops and judges routinely make up about Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act.]

8 . All government courts shall accept cases involving marijuana use, and decide the case based on the oral, written, or other contracts of the parties involved. Courts may not refuse cases by saying that marijuana is illegal under Federal law, international law, or other laws.

[Eric Johnson was responsible for this line when we were writing the Safer Arizona Initiative.
Courts are not allowed to accept lawsuits which address illegal activities.
And since marijuana is illegal under Federal law, Arizona courts won't take cases involving marijuana disputes.
Eric Johnson mentioned a case where some people in the legal medical marijuana business had a dispute about a contract involving growing medical marijuana.
The Arizona courts wouldn't take the case because marijuana is illegal under Federal law.
This line fixes that problem.]

9. Definitions: For this initiative the word "marijuana" refers to any form of marijuana, cannabis, hashish or hemp and includes concentrated forms such as THC, CBD, hash, hash oil, wax, shatter and all other forms. This includes all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds of such plant, the resin extracted from any part of a plant of the genus cannabis; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of such plant, its seeds or its resin; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of such resin or tetrahydrocannabinol. This includes, but will not be limited to; all paraphernalia for marijuana use, such as pipes, bongs, cigarette papers or dabbing tools.

[This line just defines what marijuana is. Under Prop 203 and under Arizona law, some people have said hashish and concentrated forms for marijuana are not really marijuana and not covered by Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act.
This line includes the state of Arizona's definition of marijuana. It also includes our definition of marijuana which is much broader.
This line should make any thing that contains marijuana legal.]

10. "Marijuana activities" shall be defined as; but shall not be limited to: using, smoking, vaping, eating, consuming, drinking, snorting, transdermal delivery, injecting, sale, transfer, growth, cultivating, manufacture, processing, cooking, production, storage, possession, giving legal advice, transportation, or importation of marijuana. This includes any form of "marijuana use": recreational, religious, medical, commercial, industrial or any other use.

[This line just defines what marijuana activities are. And per line two the government can't tax or regulate any of these activities.
When we were writing the Safer Arizona initiative marijuana criminal defense lawyer Tom Dean pointed out that lawyers were not allowed to give advice to people on how to get around Federal marijuana laws.
We added "giving legal advice" to fix that problem.
So the government won't be able to pass laws making any of these activities illegal or tax them.]

List of all articles on legalizing marijuana

Homeless in Arizona

Homeless In Arizona counter is screwed up

	Source Also see: ¹ The RAD or Relegalize All Drugs initiative was written to make marijuana 100% legal. We could have just wrote one line that says marijuana is now 100% legal. But the government could have came back and passed zoning regulations to terrorize marijuana businesses and users. Or zoning regulations so draconian that marijuana use would be effectively illegal. And of course the government could also pass tax laws to make marijuana so expensive that it is effectively illegal. Or just pass draconian taxes to rob marijuana users. So we added a few lines to prevent that. We also think it's wrong for the government to treat marijuana users as second class citizens. So we added a line to prevent that. And we think anyone convicted of a marijuana crime in the past should have a complete pardon. So we added two lines to do that. Here is a link to the RAD or Relegalize All Drugs 2020 initiative to legalize marijuana in Arizona.
http://relegalize.100webspace.net/legalize_marijuana_2020.php
	Here is the text of the RAD 2020 initiative. After each line of text is an explanation on why the line was included in the RAD initiative. 100% complete re-legalization of marijuana & hashish 1. The government shall recognize that marijuana abuse is NOT a criminal problem but a medical problem. [Many people have the false impression that we want to legalize marijuana so people can be stoned 24/7. And those people often refuse to sign it. This line tells people that we think that drug abuse should be a medical problem if it is a problem, not a criminal problem. Often after reading this line, a lot of those negative people will sign the initiative. This line doesn't really have any legal use, other than to tell people the intent of the initiative.] 2. The government shall NOT tax, regulate, or pass any laws governing marijuana or marijuana activities. [This line does most of the work of the initiative. If we just said, marijuana is 100% legal in Arizona that wouldn't cut it. The special interest groups that shovel money to politicians would get them to quickly pass laws to get around that and make life difficult for marijuana users. Mainly the special interest groups that make big bucks from the "War on Drugs", such as the police unions. One way politicians can make something illegal is to put heavy taxes on it to make it effectively legal. That's why we said the government can't tax marijuana. In 2011 Kyrsten Sinema tried to slap a 300%, $900 an ounce tax on medical marijuana for her buddies in the police unions. Here is a link to that law:
https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/hb2557p.pdf
	That would have effectively made medical marijuana illegal by raising the price from $300 an ounce to $1,200 an ounce. In October 2018, the city of Phoenix tried to slap $280 a square foot tax on businesses that sell medical marijuana. That tax would have slapped a tax of almost $1 million a year on a 3,500 sq foot business the size of most Circle K's. The tax would have been $980,000 tax on a Circle K business of 3,500 sq feet. In October 2018, the city of Phoenix also tried to slap $50 a square foot tax on businesses that grow medical marijuana. That tax would have put a $2 million a year tax on JP Holyoak's business that grows medical marijuana. Effectively putting him out of business. In 1937 when the Federal government made marijuana illegal with the "1937 Marihuana Tax Act", they slapped a tax of $100 an ounce on cannabis. A $100 an ounce might not sound that much, but in 1937 you could buy a brand new car for $600. So the tax on 6 ounces of marijuana would be the price of a brand new car. When the Federal government made machine guns illegal with the The National Firearms Act they did it by slapping a huge $200 tax on machine guns. In those days you could buy a machine gun from the Sears catalog for $20. The $200 Federal tax was 10 times the price of a brand new machine gun. Another way politicians make things illegal is to put draconian zoning regulations on them. In Tempe to make life difficult for medical marijuana dispensaries they passed zoning laws that only allow them in industrial areas. Tempe also passed zoning laws that severely limit the hours of medical marijuana dispensaries. To make like difficult for medical marijuana users, Chander passed a zoning law that requires medical marijuana dispensaries to be at least 1 mile a part. If you remember I mentioned that $200 tax the Feds put on machine guns with The National Firearms Act of the 1930's. The Federal government also drags its feet when it issues the $200 tax stamps for machine guns. The requirements to buy a machine gun are the same as the requirements to buy a gun under the Brady Bill. While a Brady Bill check usually takes less then 24 hours, the Federal government often takes over a year to approve a $200 tax stamp for machine guns. The government could pass zoning laws that make it almost impossible for marijuana businesses to open or opperate. The RAD initiative says that the government can't regulate marijuana businesses and that fixes that problem. The RAD initiative doesn't say marijuana businesses don't have to obey zoning laws. They do. The RAD initiative just says the government can't pass zoning laws that apply ONLY to marijuana businesses. I'm willing to modify the RAD initiative and allow the government to tax marijuana as long as it's a small tax like the current sales tax. I'm also willing to modify the RAD initiative to allow the goverment to put an age limit on marijuana use. Something like 18 years. Both of those would make a "politically correct" law, which would have a better chance of passing.] 3. The government shall NOT assist any other government entities, such as Federal, foreign, world, Native American or state governments in enforcing any laws against marijuana. [This is to prevent the state of Arizona from helping the Federal government or Indian tribes enforce their laws against marijuana users. It was created because the Border Patrol teamed up with Yuma County to rob people traveling on I-8 from Phoenix and Tucson to San Diego. The Border Patrol claims it doesn't need "probable cause" to stop and search people within 50 miles of the border. The Border Patrol sets up roadblocks and stops and searches people along I-8 near Yuma. Anybody they find with drugs, they don't arrest for Federal drug law violations. Instead they turn them over to the Yuma County Sheriff where they are prosecuted under Arizona laws. The Border Patrol splits the fines with Yuma County. This line was written to stop that nonsense.] 4. The government shall NOT pass any guide lines, rules, regulations or laws discriminating against people or entities that use marijuana. Such as laws that limit a marijuana user's guns rights or parental rights. [This line was added to keep the government from passing laws that discriminate against people that either use marijuana, or people that are involved in the marijuana industry growing, selling or processing marijuana. Under Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act, the government has often said that people who use marijuana are horrible people and tried to take away their children. We suspect the Arizona government might say that people who use marijuana are horrible people and can't have guns. This line is to prevent that.] 5. Any person convicted of any marijuana offense in the past shall automatically have their criminal record cleared of those charges and automatically receive a full pardon for those charges. [This line is designed to give an automatic pardon and clear the record of any person who went to trial and was convicted of a victimless marijuana crime.] 6. Any person arrested for any marijuana offense in the past who accepted a plea bargain for reduced charges shall automatically have their criminal record cleared of those reduced charges and automatically receive a full pardon for those reduced charges. [This line is designed to give an automatic pardon and clear the record of any person who accepted a plea bargain after being arrested for a victimless marijuana crime.] 7. Any person, government employee, agent, elected official, judge, law enforcement officer or prosecutor that falsely arrests a person, violates a person's rights, passes a law or issues a ruling, guideline or edict that that interferes with a person's marijuana use rights defined here shall be personally and civilly liable to each person for each incident for a minimum of $1 million in damages or 10 times the actual amount of damages whichever is greater. There shall be no immunity to a person who claims to be "acting in good faith" or for any other reason. [Travis Vandenbrul suggested this line. If the RAD initiative is passed it won't stop the Federal government from arresting people for victimless Federal marijuana crimes in Arizona. This line is intended to severely punish Federal law enforcement officers who illegally search or illegally question people suspected of Federal marijuana crimes. Travis Vandenbrul suggested that it be a crime for cops to do this. But we all know cops rarely if ever arrest themselves for crimes they commit. So we made it a civil violation where the cop that commits the violation could be sued personally. It would also stop judges and cops who who make up imaginary laws related to this initiative. Such as the imaginary laws that Arizona cops and judges routinely make up about Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act.] 8 . All government courts shall accept cases involving marijuana use, and decide the case based on the oral, written, or other contracts of the parties involved. Courts may not refuse cases by saying that marijuana is illegal under Federal law, international law, or other laws. [Eric Johnson was responsible for this line when we were writing the Safer Arizona Initiative. Courts are not allowed to accept lawsuits which address illegal activities. And since marijuana is illegal under Federal law, Arizona courts won't take cases involving marijuana disputes. Eric Johnson mentioned a case where some people in the legal medical marijuana business had a dispute about a contract involving growing medical marijuana. The Arizona courts wouldn't take the case because marijuana is illegal under Federal law. This line fixes that problem.] 9. Definitions: For this initiative the word "marijuana" refers to any form of marijuana, cannabis, hashish or hemp and includes concentrated forms such as THC, CBD, hash, hash oil, wax, shatter and all other forms. This includes all parts of any plant of the genus cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds of such plant, the resin extracted from any part of a plant of the genus cannabis; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of such plant, its seeds or its resin; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture or preparation of such resin or tetrahydrocannabinol. This includes, but will not be limited to; all paraphernalia for marijuana use, such as pipes, bongs, cigarette papers or dabbing tools. [This line just defines what marijuana is. Under Prop 203 and under Arizona law, some people have said hashish and concentrated forms for marijuana are not really marijuana and not covered by Prop 203 or Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act. This line includes the state of Arizona's definition of marijuana. It also includes our definition of marijuana which is much broader. This line should make any thing that contains marijuana legal.] 10. "Marijuana activities" shall be defined as; but shall not be limited to: using, smoking, vaping, eating, consuming, drinking, snorting, transdermal delivery, injecting, sale, transfer, growth, cultivating, manufacture, processing, cooking, production, storage, possession, giving legal advice, transportation, or importation of marijuana. This includes any form of "marijuana use": recreational, religious, medical, commercial, industrial or any other use. [This line just defines what marijuana activities are. And per line two the government can't tax or regulate any of these activities. When we were writing the Safer Arizona initiative marijuana criminal defense lawyer Tom Dean pointed out that lawyers were not allowed to give advice to people on how to get around Federal marijuana laws. We added "giving legal advice" to fix that problem. So the government won't be able to pass laws making any of these activities illegal or tax them.]