The tax man, a new weapon in the war against marijuana
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Posted: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 12:00 am
|
Updated: 6:52 am, Wed Oct 19, 2011.
The tax man, a new weapon in the war against marijuana
Put from underground and out of the shadows, the dope dealer is
now a “bud tender” and wears a suit as he sells his wares in a
mahogany-paneled waiting room with mood music wafting through the
air-conditioned, nicely appointed office, protected by two security
guards in case the environment turns rowdy.
Stockton has reached her milestone of attaining her first
“cannabis canteen” or “medical-pot dispensary,” with more
franchises on the way. This “wellness facility” ain’t no candy
store, man — it’s a dope score sure as shootin’.
Speaking of shooting, on Sept. 27 in Ione, five gang members
robbed a medical pot farm and murdered the farm operator. The
gangsters were arrested following the shooting.
Also, the Stockton Police Department discovered an east Stockton
warehouse in the 1800 block of Vicki Lane full of marijuana plants
at various stages of growth and with 15 employees. Is this
warehouse growing operation legal, and is it part of any local
medical pot dispensary?
Stockton’s new upscale dope stores might soon want to expand in
order to accommodate the “cottage industry” of al the usual
suspects — massage spa therapy, liquor and hard drugs, gambling and
money laundering, pornography and topless “bud tenders.”
The federal government has found a new weapon in its war on
marijuana — the tax man. Example: the very large (94,000 member,
$22M annual sales) Oakland medical pot dispensary, Harborside
Health Center, was slapped with a bill for back taxes, penalties
and interest by the IRS to the tune of $2.4 million.
Certainly Stockton’s new dope outlet will be open to the
scrutiny of and watched closely by the city auditors and the
IRS.
William Van Amber Fields
Morada
Posted in
Letters
on
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 12:00 am.
Updated: 6:52 am.
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Robert Chapman posted at 2:27 pm on Sat, Oct 22, 2011.
Darrell, I too have caught misspellings in lots of posts and simply ignored them and concentrated on the message content. But, Joanne Bobin makes a major issue about posts with misspelled words, typos or grammatical errors. She delights in jumping on people, calling them idiots, etc for these errors. Fun to see she herself is (maybe) half human and not as perfect as she would like people to think she is??
Darrell Baumbach posted at 4:27 pm on Fri, Oct 21, 2011.
Joe stated...OMG, Joanne misspelled a word in her post
Good catch Joe...I misspelled “Google” the other day and she immediately put down the content of my post because of it... I also catch her misspellings at times but let it go... she claims she does not do such a thing yet here it is in plain view...
I of course could care less about her spelling. It's her content and perceptions that I object to.
Joe Baxter posted at 2:43 pm on Fri, Oct 21, 2011.
Nothing new about taxes. Check out the federal & state taxes on cigarettes, gasoline, liquor just to name a few. Perhaps they will legalize bank robberies but make the robbers pay taxes on their loot.
Joe Baxter posted at 11:21 am on Fri, Oct 21, 2011.
OMG, Joanne misspelled a word in her post.... The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Be sure not to run out into the trafficK when you panic.
Ron Werner posted at 11:00 pm on Thu, Oct 20, 2011.
You're right, Joanne. I immediately assumed they were Mexican gangsters. I feel much better now that I know they were Southeast Asians. Thanks for clarifying that for me. I guess i'm MexicanGangophobic. I need to work on being more tolerant of gangs from other cultures.
Joanne Bobin posted at 6:17 pm on Wed, Oct 19, 2011.
Two interesting facts:
The gang members who killed the marijuana grower in Ione are all Southeast Asians. How many reading this letter immediately assumed they were Mexican gangsters?
The IRS, a la the days of Al Capone, have found a loophole in their favor - businesses that traffick in controlled substances cannot deduct standard business expenses such as rent, wages, etc., according to IRS code - they were not evading taxes as the letter suggests.