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thelocalliberal-blog · 8 years ago

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The Marijuanna Movement

Marijuana is a natural herb, otherwise known as weed. It is most popularly known for being smoked giving the smoker a mind altering affect. Although this is the most commonly known aspect of marijuana it is not only recreational but can be used for a variety of medical purposes. It can also be formed to make a hemp clothing and for use in cooking. With the growing research of the so-called illicit drug becoming more and more public, the once unanimous belief in the danger of marijuana is fading. With twenty-eight states allowing medical uses and eight states as well as Washington D.C. now allowing the recreational use, it is becoming very clear that the fears behind the deemed illicit drug are nonexistent. Nevertheless, the federal government's views have not changed and instead, they have cracked down more than ever on the sum fourteen states that still have the drug completely prohibited. As for those thought to be protected by state law are not as safe as they had thought although rare the federal government can still prosecute and convict those in legal states. As the marijuana business is growing the fears of farmers and small dispensaries are not just that of the federal government, but the fear of white collar weed. Between the federal government and these white collar weed dispensaries, it is near impossible for the small farmers who began the movement to keep their place. As the marijuana business grows the number of mom and pop farms and dispensaries are left with nothing to do but to wait and see if there will still be a place for them as corporate with the help of our own government sweeps through yet another industry.

Since the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, much has changed as Americans are waking up to the benefits marijuana can offer. Our realization is nothing compared to the billions of dollars our government receives every year thanks to the 1971 War Against Drugs which was initiated by president Nixon. The federal illegalization of marijuana is an easy concept to understand, it all comes down to the money. Although the weed business is a multibillion dollar business and has been expected to reach 35 billion dollars of revenue if legalized in all 50 states, it is still nothing compared to the money they receive from small and large-scale drug busts throughout the United States including states that have legalized marijuana. Yes, that’s correct legally licensed farmers can and dispensers can and are still searched and seized for their marijuana plants. These searches and seizures can go much further than the dispensaries and the farms where the marijuana is grown, it often can go as far as to searching the owner’s homes where the marijuana is not even grown. Thanks to civil asset forfeitures this allows the police to come in and take anything and everything they find to be profitable from the home of the alleged criminal this can go anywhere from bikes, cars, televisions, and even personal belongs such as birthday cards containing money to a nine-year-old as reported by a Michigan Family who was purely a medical dispensary. It does not end there though they even have gone on to seize entire properties

under the civil asset forfeitures. States such as New York and many others claim to have no idea of the amount of money they have received through seizures, many claiming that it would break the computers.

With all of these great risks why even consider the legalization? These dangers of the marijuana business are only in the ones who started the movement your small scale growers and farmers, the white collar weed companies are coming in and sweeping the industry. America is a country built on corporations, the ability to get ahead is nearly impossible without the millions you need to back it. There is no room for the little man in our industrial economy. The heart you have is nothing compared to the money the men above you have. This corporate America is evident more than ever through the marijuana movement. It’s easier to attack the little man when they do not have the means to fight back. Laws are legalizing marijuana but not at a negotiable rate. Some applications to even hold a dispensary start at almost 10,000 dollars and that’s just to apply. To actually submit the application, you are looking at another 200,000 dollars. For farmers who already have the land and materials alone, this is a difficult amount of change to come up with. Not to mention those who are just attempting to turn their passion into a legal business, prices for simply buying all the materials at a minimum will run about 500,000. With these prices is it any surprise that corporations are getting ahead of the rest. With business being lost to this corporation are passionate farmers are left with nothing. Many of which have dedicated their life to the industry are finding themselves with nothing. Some with no help due to their loss and revenue and some of them without a dollar to their name due to everything being seized. These corporations are not only taking over the industry in the legal states, but they are already ahead in their attempts to get licenses before any smaller business has a chance. Making it impossible for these mom and pop business to ever get the chance. They are mass consolidating the marijuana movement when it has barely just begun.

In some states where at least an application is an option Ohio where the legalization was on the ballots in November wanted to create it completely impossible for a mom and pop organization to even exist. They did this by selecting ten hand-picked investors who funded a campaign called the Green Rush Bus Tour, in hopes to raise votes for the legalization in Novembers ballots. These ten hand selected corporations even went as far as to creating a face to their multibillion-dollar endeavor. His name is Buddy, and if the name itself already did not give it away Buddy is just that a bud from a Marijuana plant. If this particular bill were to be passed it would prevent anyone else in the state to have a cannabis farm. Essentially creating a monopoly, giving these ten investors exclusive sites and legalization to grow and sell marijuana for commercial purposes. If this bill were passed it would completely go against our constitutional rights that were made to protect all of us, not just a select few. Luckily this bill was shut down hard by Ohioans, with 64% voting no to legalizing marijuana. This is just one of many attempts for white collar industries to take over.

Companies such as Livewel one of Colorado’s largest grow operations have wiped through making mass amounts of cannabis more than the small farmer could ever imagine. Companies that have no passion or idea as to what they are even working with. Such as their COO John Seckman, yes their second in command claims to completely disagree with the marijuana movement and even voted against the legalization of cannabis. Seckman claiming we have enough vices in the world, and one more was not going to make it any better. They look at marijuana simply as a product making comments that if they were not growing marijuana they would be making Ford Motor vehicles. It is companies like Livwell that are giving marijuana a corporate makeover. Which puts long time weed growers on edge for good reason, how are they to compete with mass producing corporations? Or companies such a Tilray a 26 million dollar facility who also mass produce marijuana with more than 36 rooms and lighting that runs nearly 2 million they are a high tech facility that is impossible to compete with as the small farmer. It is companies like Tilray and Livwell that are killing the marijuana movement and turning it into yet another industrialized mass produced product. Which yes is helpful with prices on the buyers end at times, but is that what we as Americans have come to solely worrying about the more we get for our dollar. Often times it is forgotten that we are still a community we are supposed to look out for one another, for our neighbor. Corporations only stand when they have the buyers. We give these white collar facilities the power they acquire. This does not mean buy strictly farm grown, but what is more important the passion or the worth of your money. This sounds like an easy concept, but it says a lot about us as a people when the importance of what is in our wallet is more important than the importance of our fellow neighbor. Often we forget cheaper is not always better.

As the marijuana movement continues to grow we will continue to see the emergence of high-tech mainstream professional corporations that are trying to compete with these currently illegal producers. Putting these producers in a corner with nowhere to turn and cannabis legalization is only just beginning, yet we are already seeing the effects it is having on small farmers. With the prices of cannabis plummeting thanks to these white collar weed industries

These home grown producers are being left in the dust. Which is a difficult thought for many of these producers who have put everything on the line to pave the way and make the herb available? With the police only fighting against the little man, it is leaving so many producers completely taken back and as to why they would be so important compared to these corporations. The little man is easier to pick on, corporate America is impossible to compete with. They are always twisting our words in a way. Like in Ohio you vote yes, you vote for the monopoly of these white collar weed industries, or in states like New York where you voted to legalize but only for the sum farmer who can afford 210,00 dollars. It leaves many voters curious as to what we are voting yes too. Are we just voting for these corporations, and leaving the passion of marijuana growth in the past, and as the marijuana industry continues to grow will the small farmers grow as well? Or will this be a practice left in the past as corporate America yet again take its place in our subtly monopolized economy?

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tyronearmstrong · 6 years ago

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Will lawyers step up after this week’s mass layoffs of journalists?

Yesterday brought word of mass layoffs at Buzzfeed and HuffPost. Today brought news that Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, is slashing jobs across the country.

Investors are likely looking to reign in losses at the first two and it’s possible Gannett is looking to get more profitable asap now that a hedge fund known to be the death of journalism for its previous acquisitions is looking to acquire them.

No matter how you slice it though, there will be more a thousand more unemployed journalists by the end of the week. And you can add them to the thousands of journalists who have already lost their jobs.

Some are calling this the realization that the business of digital content doesn’t work. I don’t buy it, people want quality journalism. As a society we require it.

Buzzfeed and HuffPost are getting slapped a bit by relying on SEO too much. Packing keywords in the story and in title tags in an effort to game Google and rank high in search diminishes the content and gets journalists focused on the wrong thing. And it always catch up with you.

Good journalism, like good legal blogging, gets ranked without focusing on SEO.

Rather than rely on venture capitalists and other investors looking to invent the future of journalism, why not people who already have a revenue model for their journalism – lawyers included.

There’s no debating that law blogs are providing some of the best insight and commentary on the law. Some law blogs provide news and information on things never covered before.

It’s never been easier for lawyers to start a nich focused blog and draw a following of readers. If there’s a better way of growing influence, a name and relationships for business development by a lawyer than a good blog, I haven’t seen it.

Unlike traditional joiurnalists, lawyers don’t need to get paid for their reporting (blogging). They get paid as a result of their blogging – some lawyers, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and some lawyers, millions of dollars a year from a name and relationships built through blogging.

We’re not talking content marketing, SEO magnet blogs or, worse yet, ghostwriters putting up content in someone else’s name, we’re talking real and authentic information and insight from a practicing lawyer.

Beyond blogging, lawyers can use social media such as Twitter and Facebook to report and comment on legal developments.

I don’t have to look for immigration news and insight, I get it from immigration Attorney Greg Siskind on Facebook – often on high profile cases he’s involved in. Greg’s been providing the world immigration news via the net for almost twenty-five years.

Like WordPress.com and Google, with Newspack, empowering traditional news reporting companies, LexBlog will do what it can to empower and support law bloggers – they represent the present and future of legal news and commentary.

We’re creating The LexBlog Standard theme (looks just like this blog) for lawyers looking to get up and going on their own blog on their own domain fully supported by LexBlog for $49 a month with no initial fee.

We’re going to start working with state and metro bar associations to grow the number of law bloggers and to use syndication portals as a way to showcase lawyers blogging and to get the legal news and commentary where it’s most needed.

And our publishing team is working diligently to get every credible legal blog in LexBlog, as the leading legal news and commentary publication.

Journalism may not be viewed by most folks as “our business” as lawyers. But it is.

No one is better equipped to report and comment on legal news and developments than a lawyer practicing in a relevant niche. Sure, a lawyer is not going to quit their day job to report, but we’re talking niches (think less news). A post a week is a lot.

A win win for society and lawyers here. Time for a few lawyers to care and step up.

h/t Jared Sulzdorf

Will lawyers step up after this week’s mass layoffs of journalists? published first on https://personalinjuryattorneyphiladelphiablog.wordpress.com/

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antonioriley · 6 years ago