The Cannabis Embassy of South Africa

There are many people out there that keep saying tax and regulate Cannabis. What does this mean? Well basically these people want the government, the same authority who illegally prohibited Cannabis to now be in charge of legal Cannabis. They will have the power to charge whatever they see fit for growing permits, trading permits, consumer permits and set possession limits. Naturally the figures will be set up in such a way that everyone will be forced to either remain tiny or join one of the governments chosen big boys Cannabis corporations. This will keep the price super expensive, and it will also give government the means to regulate it out of your hands. Don't be fooled.

In Amsterdam they allowed coffeeshops to trade in Cannabis. Over time because of more and more government regulation, the shops have dwindled from over 700 to just over 200 today. They do not allow any new licenses for shops, they keep extending the minimum distance the shops need to be from schools to indiscriminately close down the shops, they have 500g limits for shops which includes what the patrons have on them, and the supplying of the shops is still illegal as there are limits on the number of plants and conditions of growth. Today there is talk about licensing users in Amsterdam which will basically prevent visitors from obtaining Cannabis. The government also sells prescription Cannabis at much cheaper prices then coffeeshop prices. This will be the death knell for the shops.

You see, once you give the government any power at all, they will ALWAYS regulate it out of your hands.

In the USA, a number of States voted to legalise 'Medical Marijuana'. Initially the movement seemed to have won a great victory. Hundreds of cultivators/care-givers began supplying the thousands of Co-op's and dispensaries that suddenly emerged into this new industry.

But the government never sleeps and they set the whole thing up from the start to be taken back from the Cannabis community. Basically, a normal business works something like this. You sell something at $20. Then out of that $20, you take off all your expenses such as rent, power, salaries, advertising, VAT etc. The money left over is called net profit and that is taxed according to normal business income tax scales.

HOWEVER...

The government was very clever and never told anyone that there was a law dating back to the 1800's that had been passed stating that any 'medical herb supplier' must pay tax on the selling price (excluding VAT or GST or Sales tax). Because the 'Medical Marijuana' industry had been pushed by a certain organisation, this organisation had failed to warn everyone that if they registered a 'Medical Marijuana' business it was considered a 'medical herb supplier' and would thus need to pay tax on $19.65 and not net profit.

Naturally this meant that thousands of dispensaries, co-op's and cultivators were shut down or their shops and businesses were taken over by the government and today they are just employee's not owners paying off tax debt.

You see, once you give the government any power at all, they will ALWAYS regulate it out of your hands.

In Colorado, they have made the mountain of paperwork and background checks so intense that it is almost impossible to work at a dispensary let alone own one. Police clearance certificates, 10 year background checks, no previous arrests or traffic violations (whether guilty or not), marriage or divorce certificates, children's birth certificates, family histories and the list goes on and on. Previous residential addresses and company clearances, as well as Homeland Security clearance all costing big money. That is before applying for the Cannabis permit itself which costs even more money. All those expenses are eventually passed on to you, the consumer, and with the legally reduced supply, economics tells us the price will increase exponentially. And i have not even started on the individual plant limits imposed or growing restrictions.

You see, once you give the government any power at all, they will ALWAYS regulate it out of your hands.

In L.A. they regulated that there would be a cap limit placed on the number of dispensaries or collectives at approximately 70-80 dispensaries and around 170 pre-ICO collectives. So if you were not one of the first people to get a license, no free market for you, no shop for you. Just out of interest, take a wild guess who do you think would get the permits if the SA government did the same thing? Do you think it would be you getting a permit, or do you think that the 70 permits would be given ONLY to their big boys? Or are you that naive that you believe the government would be fair about this?

You see, once you give the government any power at all, they will ALWAYS regulate it out of your hands.

What about South Africa? Some people say lets copy Amsterdam. Lets do what they are doing in Spain or Protugal and other countries. Lets follow the Americans and get "Medical Marijuana' legalised. Well I say this. We are South Africa, we don't need to follow, we will lead. When we held the World Cup, did we follow or lead? We were responsible enough to host that international event, so how come we are now not responsible when it comes to Cannabis?

South Africa will lead the re-legalisation of Cannabis internationally. And no, the government will not have any authority over Cannabis in any way, shape or form.

You see, once you give the government any power at all, they will ALWAYS regulate it out of your hands.

And this is why I will keep fighting against any organisation who calls for the government legal regulation and taxation of Cannabis because...

...you see, once you give the government any power at all, they will ALWAYS regulate it out of your hands.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Remember, if there was any REAL danger, the government would be able to show it to you empirically (not hypothetically or by using their own, grant-paid 'scientists' (read prostitutes)). The fact that they cannot show you the harm empirically means they are deliberately lying to remove your freedoms which is a crime against humanity that the government must be held accountable for. We can never negotiate with the government until those who implemented and enforced these tyrannical laws are brought to justice.