The $14 billion check total represents the combined savings and tax revenues that would be generated by regulating the sale and production of cannabis like alcohol, according to a 2005 analysis by Harvard University senior lecturer Jeffrey Miron and endorsed by over 500 distinguished economists.

Media representatives from CNN, Fox News, Sirius Satellite Radio, and other news outlets were on hand to cover the event.

“On a day when so many Americans lament having to pay state and federal income taxes, we’re representing America’s millions of otherwise law-abiding cannabis consumers, who are ready, willing, and able to contribute to our struggling economy — while providing truly ‘green’ jobs and allowing police to focus on more important priorities,” NORML told reporters. “All we ask in exchange for our $14 billion is the right to enjoy pot responsibly and in peace.”

Additional background information and photos from this morning’s event are available at The Huffington Post here, and at The Hill’s Congress blog here. As always, NORML encourages you to leave your feedback in support of marijuana law reform at these to influential blog sites.

NORML is holding follow up, public protest later today at 4:20pm est. We hope to see you there!

What would you do with an extra $14 billion dollars? NORML will be asking the Obama administration that very question tomorrow when Executive Director Allen St. Pierre will present a mock check to the U.S. Treasury Office at a press conference on the steps of the General Post Office in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

WHO
Representatives of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, including NORML’s National Director Allen St. Pierre, and New York NORML

WHAT
Marijuana law reformers will present a $14 billion check to the U.S. Treasury

WHEN
April 15th, 2009 at 8:00 AM (press conference with mock check) and 4:20 PM presentation of check with NORML supporters.

WHERE
The steps of the General Post Office in Manhattan
441 Eighth Ave
New York, NY

If you reside in the New York area, please consider showing your support for marijuana legalization by attending this event.  Taxing and regulating doesn’t just make sense, it makes ‘cents’ too!

Legalizing Pot Makes Lots of Cents for Our Cash-Starved Government
via Alternet.org

What could you do with an extra $14 billion dollars? Members of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and other likeminded organizations will be asking government officials that very question on Wednesday, April 15th, when they present a mock check to the U.S. Treasury Office.

“We represent the millions of otherwise law-abiding cannabis consumers who are ready, willing, vocal and able to contribute needed tax revenue to America’s struggling economy,” says Allen St. Pierre, NORML’s Executive Director. “All we ask in exchange for our $14 billion is that our government respects our decision to use marijuana privately and responsibly.”

But it’s not just NORML that is calling on lawmakers to tax and regulate marijuana. In today’s economic climate, the question is: who isn’t?

Late last month, during President Barack Obama’s first-ever Internet Town Hall, questions pertaining to whether legalizing marijuana like alcohol could help boost the economy received more votes from the public than did any other topic. The questions’ popularity — and the President’s half-hearted reply (”No,” he laughed.) — stimulated a torrent of mainstream media attention. In the past two weeks alone, commentators like David Sirota (The Nation), Kathleen Parker (Washington Post), Paul Jacob (TownHall.com), Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune), and Jack Cafferty (CNN) have all expressed sympathy for regulating pot. Even Joe Klein at Time Magazine weighed in on the issue, writing this month that “legalizing marijuana makes sense.”

It makes cents too.

According to a 2005 analysis by Harvard University senior lecturer Jeffrey Miron — and endorsed by over 500 distinguished economists — replacing pot prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcohol would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year.

A separate economic analysis, conducted by George Mason University professor Jon Gettman in 2007, estimates that the total amount of tax revenue derived from cannabis could be far higher. According to Gettman, the retail value of the total U.S. marijuana market now stands at a whopping $113 billion per year. Using standard tax percentages obtained from the Office of Management and Budget, he calculates that the diversion of this market from the taxable economy deprives taxpayers of $31.1 billion annually.

For local and state governments, taxing and regulating pot could help reduce growing deficits. For instance, in Oakland, California the City Council gave preliminary approval last week to a proposal to raise the business tax paid by city-licensed medical marijuana dispensary operators. Council members estimate that the new tax will raise anywhere from $400,000 to a “couple million” dollars annually.

Likewise, lawmakers in Massachusetts and California are debating statewide measures to tax and regulate the production and sale of cannabis to adults. Both state proposals would impose a fixed excise tax on the retail production of marijuana — non-retail cultivation would remain untaxed — as well as sales taxes on the commercial sale of the drug to anyone 21 years and older.

“The revenue effect of the proposed Act is an estimated annual revenue gain of $1.339 billion,” says the California State Board of Equalization and Taxation, which is backing the measure. A more liberal economic assessment performed by California NORML’s Dr. Dale Gieringer estimates that the annual revenues raised via the advent of a legal cannabis industry in California could be far higher.

“A comparable example would be California’s wine industry,” Gieringer wrote in a 2009 report. “With $12.3 billion in retail sales, the wine industry generates 309,000 jobs, $10.1 billion in wages, and $2 billion in tourist expenditures. Extrapolating these figures to a legal marijuana market, … one might expect $12 to $18 billion in total economic activity, with 60,000 to 110,000 new jobs created, and $2.5 to $3.5 billion in legal wages, which would generate additional income and business taxes for the state.”

Finally, taxing and regulating cannabis would have the added bonus of taking the production and trafficking of pot out of the hands of criminal enterprises and, increasingly, drug gangs. According to the Associated Press, marijuana is the “biggest source of income” for Mexican drug cartels. Legalizing pot would eliminate this primary income source for these cartels and, in turn, eliminate much of the growing violence and turf battles that currently surround the drug’s illegal importation from Mexico.

Any way you look at it, legalizing cannabis just “makes sense.” So why aren’t we doing it?

SMOKE THE VOTE: A Benefit Concert for NORML

Date: Sunday, Oct. 26th
Time: Doors open at 7pm
Location: Don Hill’s, NYC

511 Greenwich St. at Spring St.
New York City
212-219-2850

Host: comedian Rob Cantrell
Performers: Schram-8pm, The Stoned-9pm, Black Water Rising-10pm, Warrior Soul-11pm

Tickets: $12

C’mon out to Don Hill’s this Sunday for a smokin’ night of fun, music and pot-n-politics– all in support NORML’s cannabis law reform advocacy work in New York and nationwide.

Many thanks and praises to longtime supporters High Times, Bobby Black, Rob Cantrell and all the great bands.

If drug policy reform is to make the large strides that its important mission and sense of purpose aspires, it can’t achieve such without the participation of both minorities and women in substantially larger numbers.

This important seminar is free to the public and provides continuing legal education (CLE) credits for lawyers.

The Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice is comprised of eleven members appointed by the ABA President and is committed to:

-eliminate racial/ethnic bias in the justice system by educating and involving lawyers and their bar associations

-engage lawyers and their bar associations in programs designed to eliminate racial/ethnic bias in their communities.

Alternative Solutions to the Impact of Drugs on Communities of Color

Saturday, August 9, 2:00-3:30pm, Marriott Marquis, Music Box, Majestic Complex, 6th Floor

Conclave with the leaders of color from the medical, dental, legal and other pertinent professions to discuss the impact of drugs and drug policies on communities of color. Crucial issues that confront communities of color that are combating these issues will be addressed, and an in-depth discussion on how to obtain the necessary resources, networks and tools will be discussed. This will be a complimentary CLE program.

Houston? Atlanta? Dallas? Birmingham? New Orleans? Miami?

According to a new and comprehensive report, would you believe the five boroughs that make up New York City?

What was the New York City Police’s reaction to the data? In the New York Times today they of course attack the groups involved in bringing to the public’s attention the department’s overly aggressive and expensive enforcement of what are supposed to be decriminalized cannabis laws, and then make the amazing claim that there were not 350,000 cannabis-related arrests from 1997-2006, but a mere 8,770.

What the ?!*%$?!#@*^$#<:+={/#@7$!!!

The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, has denied that the city’s police officers are using racial profiling in conducting street stops.

The department’s chief spokesman, Paul. J. Browne, said on Tuesday that the report was flawed. He said there were 8,770 marijuana-related violations from 1997 to 2006. In a statement, Mr. Browne said:

The N.Y.C.L.U. has used an advocate for marijuana legalization to mislead the public with absurdly inflated numbers and false claims about bias. (Note that the report was underwritten by the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization organization). If the N.Y.C..L.U. is for legalization it should just say so without resorting to smears. It has repackaged
virtually the same flawed presentation Harry Levine made to the marijuana legalization lobby group NORML in Los Angeles last year. The report erroneously claims that most of the over 300,000 persons arrested between 1997 and 2006 were not smoking marijuana in public and that they possessed only small amounts of marijuana; in other words, the
infractions were violations. But the actual violations total for 1997-2006 was 8,770; not the 350,000. Between 2002 and 2006, the total was 3,449. Here’s the breakout by year:

1997: 1062
1998: 987
1999: 810
2000: 1394
2001: 1068
2002: 758
2003: 701
2004: 663
2005: 623
2006: 704 (It was 683 in 2007)

Hmmmm….I wonder who is telling the truth here, public advocates or the cops?

At least when NORML confronted Mayor Bloomberg on his 100th day in office in 2002 to stop the NYPD’s then controversial practices such as ‘Operation Condor’ that exploded the cannabis arrest from around 2,000 per year to over 55,000, the NYPD’s public spokesperson did not come out and, shall I say, prevaricate regarding New York City’s verifiable criminal justice data. Back then, the NYPD’s top brass in effect said to NORML and the national media ‘So what if there was an increase in arrest? We were tasked with a quality-of-life, ‘clean up New York City’s streets’ campaign under Mayor Giuliani…’

The documentation of New York City’s massive increase cannabis arrests have been well documented for years (and affirmed by both state and federal data!), so why is the NYPD attempting to now downplay, in such a dramatic way, their nearly 15-year old aggressive policing policy regarding minor cannabis offenses?

In a report released yesterday in coordination with the New York City Civil Liberties Union that should and hopefully will shake up the way the Bloomberg Administration and the NYPD conduct their cannabis law enforcement, Harry Levine, Ph.D of Queens College and Deborah Peterson Small, Esq. in remarkable breadth and detail reveal startling criminal justice data of excess and institutional racism in New York City’s criminal justice system.

Also included, which provide interesting insight, are on-the-record interviews with NYPD law enforcement personnel that help to explain the motivations (preview: ‘Dollar$ For Collars’) behind what is now truly a deviant cannabis prohibition enforcement policy in the United States—and the world.

Who’d thunkit?!

Key Points from The Marijuana Arrest Crusade in New York City: Racial Bias in Police Policy 1997-2007

New York City’s 400,000 marijuana arrests were…

…racially skewed. From 1997 to 2007 police arrested and jailed nearly 220,000 blacks, more than 112,000 Latinos, but only 58,000 whites. Over that period, whites represented the largest percentage of the city’s population. Government surveys consistently show a higher rate of marijuana use among young whites than in other racial groups.

…extremely skewed by gender. About 91 percent of people arrested were male.

…ineffective in reducing serious and violent crime. The arrests may well increase crime by diverting police officers and resources from more effective anti-crime work.

…often the result of stop, frisk and search encounters. In 2007, the NYPD stopped nearly 469,000 people. The vast majority (87 percent) of people stopped were innocent of any wrongdoing.

New York City’s 400,000 marijuana arrests were not…

…in line with the marijuana arrest rates of other large cities. New York City now arrests and jails more people for possessing marijuana than any city in the United States or the world.

…part of a similar increase in marijuana arrests nationwide. While marijuana arrests more than doubled in the U.S. from 1990 to 2000, they have spiked tenfold in New York City and now represent 10 percent of all arrests in the city.

…the result of an increase in marijuana use, which peaked nationally around 1980.

…primarily of people caught smoking marijuana in public. Most people arrested for marijuana possession in the city had small amounts of the drug concealed in their possessions, often in a pocket, purse or backpack.

…of people caught for more serious crimes who happened to be possessing marijuana. In all of these arrests, marijuana possession was the highest charge and often the only one.

…the result of people committing crimes. Simple possession of less than one ounce of marijuana is not a crime under New York state law, which classifies marijuana possession as a violation, like a traffic violation.

NYC Media Coverage 

Jim Dwyer – NY Times – “On Arrests, Demographics, and
Marijuana”   THE ABSOLUTE BEST!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/nyregion/30about.html?pagewanted=print

Newsday – “Report: NYPD targets blacks, Hispanics on marijuana”  by
Rocco Parascondola
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nymari0430,0,1720357,print.story

NY TIMES on line, with reader comments
“A Little Stop-and-Frisk May Turn Up a Little Pot”
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/a-little-stop-and-frisk-may-turn-up-a-little-pot/index.html?scp=2&sq=marijuana&st=cse

NY Daily News – Racial slant in pot busts?
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/04/29/2008-04-29_racial_slant_in_pot_busts.html
41 on line comments as of 2 PM April  30

Village Voice – “The NYPD ‘Weeds’ Out Blacks and Latinos:  New study
outlines racial disparity in NYC’s staggering number of pot
busts”  by Sean Gardiner    VERY GOOD!
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0818,weeding-out-blacks-and-latinos,427158,2.html

Gothamist – NYCLU Reports NYC’s Pot Arrests Up “Tenfold”
http://gothamist.com/2008/04/30/pot_1.php

Nat Hentoff – Village Voice – Ray Kelly for Mayor? A Voters’ Guide
In this proudly cosmopolitan city, the NYPD and its leader are far
from color-blind
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0818,kelly-for-mayor-a-voters-guide,427148,4.html

1010 WINS NEWS RADIO
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/2093876.php?

NATIONAL MEDIA
Reason – New York City’s ‘Marijuana Arrest Crusade’  by Jacob Sullum
http://reason.com/blog/show/126253.html

Associated Press – NYCLU says city is now world’s ‘marijuana arrest
capital’  By Tom Hayws http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny–nyc-potarrests0429apr29,0,4022052.story
Also in CBS New (California)  Study: NYC Is World’s ‘Marijuana Arrest Capital’
http://cbs2.com/watercooler/nyc.marijuana.arrests.2.712135.html

Associated Press – NYCLU says city is now world’s ‘marijuana arrest
capital’  By Tom Hayws
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny–nyc-potarrests0429apr29,0,4022052.story

Also in CBS New (California)  Study: NYC Is World’s ‘Marijuana Arrest Capital’
http://cbs2.com/watercooler/nyc.marijuana.arrests.2.712135.html

1010 WINS NEWS RADIO – NYCLU Says City Is Now World’s ‘Marijuana
Arrest Capital’
http://www.1010wins.com/pages/2093876.php?

Starting with the NORML Foundation’s bold and assertive ad campaign in 2002 challenging then new mayor, and admitted cannabis user, Michael Bloomberg to stop the NYPD’s practice of mass harassment of cannabis users which had started under Rudolph Giuliani (Under Giuliani NYC exploded the number of annual cannabis arrests from around 2,000 to over 58,000 in less than 6 years!), there are now renewed efforts underway to challenge the NYPD’s resource-draining deviation from the statewide practice in New York of simply issuing a small fine to minor cannabis offenders—rather than arresting, holding, booking and then citing them for $100.

Based principally on the eye-opening research work of Harry Levine, Ph.D and Deborah Small, Esq., (along with the longstanding criminal justice research of Bruce D. Johnson, Ph.D) the New York City Bar Association meets April 30 to review and discuss the current legal status of cannabis in NYC, law enforcement patterns and motivations regarding targeting cannabis consumers and alternative policing policies and practices.

Dr. Levine spoke at NORML’s 2007 conference in Los Angeles about his surprising research into law enforcement practices in NYC regarding cannabis.

The public and local media are invited and encouraged to participate.

What: Lecture on ‘New York City’s Marijuana Arrest Policy: Thirty Years After Decriminalization’

When: Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 6:30 PM

Where: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036