Originally published on Youthradio.org, the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe.
By: Orlando Campbell
You’d think youth in Oakland, California would be celebrating a watershed moment of cultural distinction – becoming the first city to levy a tax specifically aimed at the sale of marijuana…
Measure F was one of four local measures that passed this week, designed to bring more money into the struggling city by the bay.
Measure F’s overwhelming success is seen as a major victory for local cannabis clubs who actually went to the city requesting that they be taxed more. It may seem weird for any business, or human being for that matter, to actually want to be taxed more, but for cannabis clubs, it’s about building a positive relationship with the city, and moving towards a day when marijuana could become completely legal. In short, the vote further legitimizes the local medical marijuana industry. How can the government, police, or any other official hate on weed, when weed is paying the bills?
Various cannabis clubs, and Oaksterdam University, which educates students in the business and botany of legal marijuana, are right around the corner from Oakland city hall and nearby the youth organization where I work.
Of course one can argue that legalized pot use and youth do not belong in the same neighborhood, which is true, but they would be ignoring the facts.
In general, the youth I know wouldn’t even consider going to a cannabis club to get their fix. If they want some weed, they will find someone at their school or in their neighborhood to sell it to them. Not far removed from youth myself, I know that it is easier for a teen to get weed on the streets than it is alcohol. This is for the simple fact that alcohol is sold legally, but with restrictions, similar to the way medicinal marijuana is sold throughout California. If weed was treated in the same way as alcohol, and not just sold on the street, its accessibility to young people would decrease, not increase.
Medical marijuana is legal in this state, just like any other medicine; a buyer must be over 18 to even enter a club, and they need a prescription to even purchase it. And even though those are the current regulations, I believe sooner or later marijuana will be treated similarly to alcohol, and considered completely legal in California. Measure F encouraged voters to consider and accept this unavoidable reality and make the most of it. I, for one, hope that the profits of marijuana sales will help fund Oakland’s schools and youth programs.
Oakland is hungry right now, and an estimated $294,000 of annual revenue from the weed tax will help feed its growling belly.
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