MARIJUANA = MONEY?

The New York Times (Jan. 9) reports that marijuana dispensaries in
our Bay Area are undergoing new scrutiny in the form of IRS
investigations to uncover unreported profits. The IRS has raided
several dispensaries to inspect their books, finding in some what it
considers questionable bookkeeping practices.

There is no reason to suppose marijuana dispensaries are any less (or
more) inclined toward tax fraud than pizza parlors; dispensaries
should be inspected and regulated like any other business. But it
hardly seems accurate to paint all dispensaries as law violators on
the basis of a few bad apples.(San Jose has 98 dispensaries!)

Here's the most interesting statement in the Times story:

The medical marijuana industry has continued to flourish since a
state proposition to legalize cannabis was defeated in November.
Oakland finance officials estimate that the city's three dispensaries
generated $35 million to $38 million in revenue last year, up from
$28 million in 2009.

Can anyone say, "Ka-Ching!" Does anyone in city hall know how much
our dispensaries generate in sales? Is anyone writing a regulation to
ensure that these businesses are on the up-and-up, and paying taxes?
How much do they pay in taxes? How many employees do they have? How
many shoppers and diners do they bring downtown? Or is the assumption
that marijuana patients are all low-lifes who contribute nothing to
society? Is our city attorney preparing an ordinance to regulate our
dispensaries (and tax them) or is he preparing another law suit to
get an injunction against another dispensary, closing it down and
creating another empty space?

Apart from the smoke and smell, is there a downside to dispensaries?
re they better than empty stores? Do you walk around downtown? It is
a ghost town. Then there is the morality issue. Are our children
being led down the road to drug addiction? Are they sold marijuana in
these dispensaries? If we accept dispensaries (like we have anything
to say about it; they are clearly legal under state law), will it be
strip clubs next or whore houses?

Why don't we take a rational approach this time? Dispensaries are so money.

James D. Davis

Vallejo