Judge Pushes For Tax on Medical Marijuana In California

According to Livesteez, a judge in Cali is acting like he is pushing for the legalization of marijuana, but it’s already legal in Cali. Throwing a heavy tax on the Buddha is what he’s actually trying to do:

James P. Gray, former Orange County judge of 25 years, urges a congressional movement to legalize, regulate and tax the sale of marijuana. According to the L.A. Times, Gray believes that pot consumers over the age of 21 should be able to legally purchase the drug at state regulated government stores. His argument is marijuana “causes nowhere near the amount of death and disease as alcohol. The state would need to see how that works,” he said “before moving on to legalizing the sale of harder drugs.” Grays admits that legalization could lead to a massive escalation of usage but believes it will eventually decrease once the excitement diminishes….…Those who believe his progressive ideals send the wrong message to children often criticize the former judge, however, Gray stays firmly convinced that “Anyone who wants illegal drugs can easily get them, but doing so may put them in harm’s way. Wouldn’t it be smarter to sell the drugs at government stores, so advertising could be outlawed, taxes collected on one of California’s biggest cash crops and drug gangs eradicated?”

As stated by the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Gray established and operated a series of programs that promoted fundamental social reform during his judicial career. For example, he launched a program called the Peer Court System that trekked juvenile offenders to a school outside of their district to have their case tried by other teenage students.

In 1992, Gray held a news conference in Santa Ana, CA defending his perspective on drug legalization. He argued that the U.S. war on drugs is equivalent to throwing away tax dollars and furthermore puts the lives of countless citizens and police officers in jeopardy.

Gray applauded Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on her recent visit with Mexican officials to discuss efforts to combat the war on drugs. She prefaced her travels acknowledging U.S. illegal drug consumption as a culprit to the violence stemming from drug trade at the U.S.-Mexico border. Gray told L.A. Times reporters, “But she got the facts right and the solution wrong, just as everyone else has in a war that’s been escalating for decades.”

“Please quote me,” Gray insisted, “What we are doing has failed. My personal opinion is that we couldn’t have done worse if we tried.”

Leave the pot laws alone. Medicinal purposes and clinics are good enough, we do not need bud sold to kids at liquor stores like alcohol or cigarettes.