Homeless in Arizona

This proposed Phoenix marijuana tax of $280 a square foot on businesses that sell marijuana would be a $700,000 tax on a 2,500 sq ft traditional sized Circle K or 7/11, or a $1,120,000 tax on the larger sized Circle K or Quick Trip QT gas station.

I'm not sure if that is a yearly tax or a one time fee, but either way it's outrageous.

I have said this before, but if the govenrment is allowed to heavily tax marijuana, it can simply pass an outrages tax on marijuana like this to effectively make marijuana illegal.

Same if the govenrment is allowed to pass outrageous zoning laws against marijuana businesses. It can pass outrageous zoning laws that effectively make marijuana businesses illegal.

This isn't the first time the govenrment has tried to pass outrageous taxes to make marijuana illegal.

In 2011 Kyrsten Sinema introduced a bill which would have effectively made medical marijuana illegal in Arizona by slapping a 300%, $900 an ounce tax on medical marijuana. That law would have raised the price of medical marijauana from $300 and ounce to $1,200 an ounce.

When Uncle Sam made marijuana illegal with the "1937 Marihuana Tax Act" it slapped a $100 an ounce tax on marijuana. That may not sound like much, but in 1937 you could buy an brand new car for $600. So the tax on 6 ounces of marijuana in 1937 was the same as the cost of a brand new car.

The RAD initiative is the only initiative that would prevent govern men tyranny like this.

The RAD 2020 marijuana initiative says:

2. The government shall NOT tax, regulate, or pass any laws governing the use of marijuana.

We didn't allow the government to tax marijuana anymore then the sales tax on food.

And we also said the govenrment couldn't pass zoning regulations aimed specifically at marijuana businesses, like this Phoenix tax is.

But marijuana criminal defense attorney Tom Dean came along and pretty much gutted the protections we put in the initiative for marijuana consumers and allowed them to slap any tax on marijuana and allowed them to put zoning regulations on marijuana businesses.

So these proposed Phoenix marijuana taxes would be legal under the Tom Dean version of the Safer Arizona initiative.

I was kicked off of the Safer Arizona board of directors for complaining that Tom Dean was turning the Safer Arizona initiative into a mini-version of the evil Prop 205 written by MPP or the Marijuana Policy Project.

Source Also see: ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10}

Phoenix Mayor Proposes Massive Taxes on Medical-Marijuana Dispensaries

JOSEPH FLAHERTY | SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 | 9:38AM

The mayor of Phoenix is prepared to levy a significant new tax on medical marijuana businesses that could decimate the city's dispensaries and raise costs for patients.

In a letter to the Phoenix city manager on Thursday, Mayor Thelda Williams proposed an occupational licensing tax on medical-marijuana businesses in order to fund Phoenix's police and fire departments.

The letter, obtained by Phoenix New Times, directs City Manager Ed Zuercher to place a possible tax and licensing program for marijuana-related operators in Phoenix on the October 2 City Council agenda.

The city's looking at options with big numbers, like maybe an occupational license tax based on 17 percent of the previous year's gross receipts, or a flat-rate registration tax of $560,000 on medical marijuana retail businesses and $920,000 on cultivation sites.

J.P. Holyoak, the founder of medical-marijuana supplier Arizona Natural Selections, said that a $560,000 tax on retail locations would be prohibitive.

“That puts us all out of business. Every single one of us,” he told New Times on Thursday.

"What they’re trying to do is they’re trying to tax us out of existence. They’re essentially trying to overturn the medical-marijuana law by taxing it out of existence,” Holyoak said.

In Williams' view, the city would essentially use pot to fund police officers.

“We have recently received information from the Police and Fire Chiefs indicating that our public safety resources in Phoenix are strained," Williams wrote. "It is clear to me that we are unable to keep up with the public safety needs of our City due to financial constraints.”

In order to bring in revenue for public safety, Williams added, her office has been examining new revenue sources. She proposes a new structure to license and tax medical-marijuana operators.

Williams wrote in her letter that the new tax option is meant "to protect the local concerns of public health, safety, quality of life and the well-being of the City’s residents and visitors.”

According to a report attached to Williams’ letter, the program would require an occupational license or a registration tax to operate a dispensary cultivation site, retail dispensary location, or public consumption lounge.

Several potential options for the new tax are outlined in the letter, with backup plans for a new tax in case the courts invalidate the first option.

One tax is calculated based on square footage: $50 per square foot for cultivation and infusion sites and $280 per square foot for retail locations or lounges.

If that is invalidated by the courts, a second option is listed as 17 percent of the operator's gross business receipts during the previous year. [Remember the Boston Tea Party was over a lousy .75% or 3% tax depending on which story is correct] Finally, if that possibility is ruled out, a third option is for a flat-rate registration tax of $920,000 on each cultivation site and $560,000 on each retail location or lounge.

However, if all those tax types are invalidated by the courts, the report says, Phoenix will require dispensaries transporting marijuana to use certified secure transport providers to ferry their products to and from locations with a service fee not to exceed $175 per mile.

In an emailed statement to New Times, Williams said, "Phoenix’s Police and Fire departments have many needs and face serious challenges. Today, funding for public safety is simply not where it needs to be."

"On Oct. 2, the City Council will consider a creative approach to finding a new revenue source to help fund public safety," Williams continued. "The proposal is in no way an attempt to single out medical marijuana businesses that operate legally in the city, but a proposal to establish a revenue structure for a growing industry that adds pressure to public safety.”

Despite the claim of public safety issues, though, city staff say in an October 2 agenda for the Planning and Economic Development Subcommittee, "Based on the numerous reviews of existing non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries, there are not significant public-safety issues or detrimental effects from these establishments."

Because dispensaries aren't a problem, staff recommend allowing them to extend their hours to 10 p.m.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that one registration tax proposal is based on 17 percent of the marijuana operator's gross profits during the previous year. The proposal is to tax gross receipts, not profits.

Initiative to re-legalize Marijuana & Hashish in Arizona

100% complete re-legalization of marijuana & hashish 1. The government shall recognize that marijuana abuse is NOT a criminal problem but a medical problem.

2. The government shall NOT tax, regulate, or pass any laws governing the use of marijuana.

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.

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.

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.

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.

7. Any government employee, agent, elected official, judge, law enforcement officer or prosecutor that 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 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.

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.

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 any form of "marijuana use": recreational, religious, medical, commercial, industrial or any other use. 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. Shall include, but not be limited to; all paraphernalia for marijuana use, such as pipes, bongs, cigarette papers or dabbing tools.

10. "Marijuana use" 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.