The U.S. Department Of Justice And Medicinal Cannabis

By Kevin Kelley

In a momentous step in the right direction, the United States Department of Justice has issued a directive that will protect medicinal cannabis users in states with laws allowing marijuana use.  Although seen by some as side stepping the issue of complete legalization, this news is a relief for those with medical problems, in which marijuana helps aid.  Under the Bush administration, the federal government would enforce anti-marijuana laws regardless of state codes.  This shift is a departure of the previous administration's policy and appears to be promising in reforming the nation's antiquated approach to drugs.  Currently, there are 14 states that allow such use, with California law makers contemplating full-on legalization.

The concern of this website is the potential misappropriation of funds obtained from legalization, or in the meantime, from any sort of civil fine collected from decriminalization.  It will be interesting to see the amount saved by this new new directive, now that agents can spend their time doing more worthwhile pursuits.

Unemployment And Health Care

By Kevin Kelley

With the country in the midst of it's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, unemployment rates are reaching their highest levels in recent history, and with the rise of unemployment includes the rise of uninsured.  Although employees can maintain their employer-based health coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), the cost is unrealistically high, consuming the majority of one's unemployment benefits, if not higher.  In addition to the high cost, many laid of workers who are unable to afford health care will lose coverage altogether, and for those with preexisting conditions, it establishes a dangerous cycle, with the worker finding themselves in a predicament where no insurer would sell them a policy that will cover preexisting conditions at any price.

The inability to pay for health care leads to other problems as well.  If the individual cannot afford to continue coverage, then they risk becoming uninsured, and they face the possibility of having to pay the burden of a costly illness.  If they do pay for continuation, then they risk the inability to pay other obligations, such as house or car payments, which could lead to further economic endangerment.  If you consider the average unemployment benefits versus the average COBRA cost, for families, it could consume up to 84% of their monthly unemployment income.  For individuals, the average is lower, consuming close to 30%.  Considering housing and food cost for the typical individual $800 per month, this leaves workers in a tough situation.

61% of those under the age of 65 receive their benefits from an employer.  Becoming uninsured, those people are more likely to forgo medical care and develop a preexisting condition.  Those who do decide to get help face medical debt, with 61 percent of adults who were uninsured at some point in 2007 having medical debt or problems with medical bills.  If you consider that every time the unemployment rate rises one percentage point, the number of uninsured Americans rise by about 1.1 million.  Considering the current economic climate, this statistic is alarming, considering the lasting economic impact it will have on these individuals, and the American workforce in general, when these workers eventually become employed.  Both medical problems and medical debt will still be there, causing an extra burden on the middle class.

For additional information, read here.

Cigarette Taxes

By Kevin Kelley

Considering a comparable industry, taxation on cigarette consumption is a good place to look when considering the benefits of legalization of marijuana for the purpose of creating a tax base for funding universal healthcare.  Currently, both the federal and state governments impose a tax on cigarettes, with income from cigarettes adding up to a significant amount for some states.

Although there have been increased legislation against cigarettes, with income derived from taxation decreasing steadily since 2002, with the federal cigarette tax collecting only $7.7 billion in 2005, compared to $8.1 billion in 2002, this is still a considerable amount.  The individual states have also seen monetary gains.  California earns about $1 billion a year, while Minnesota earns roughly half that.  Just using these figures as a comparison, and using the proposed bill by Senator Max Baucus, the income generated at the federal level for the taxation of cigarettes constitutes almost ten percent of the total estimated cost of health reform, according to the Congressional Budget Office.  Estimates for the legalization of marijuana has placed the figure around this level to even higher, with such a disparity due to the fact that it is difficult to gauge illegal consumption.  Potentially, marijuana could offer far greater tax benefits that the government could use for funding universal health.

Here is a map depicting various state taxes on cigarettes (click to enlarge):

Overall Health Care Performance

By Kevin Kelley

A report by the Commonwealth Fund has scored the states on health care, based on several factors.  Here is a visual aid to explain the data (click to enlarge):

Cost Savings Associated With Legalization - Workplace Drug Testing

By Kevin Kelley

As a cost associated with drug usage, workplace drug testing is a hidden cost of the war on drugs. It has been estimated in the mid-1990s that the United States spent $1 billion annually to drug test about 20 million workers.

According to a congressional committee, the estimated cost of each positive result for government positions was $77,000 because the positive rate was only 0.5%. Considering there are close to 2 million government employees at the federal, state, and local levels, and using the amount and percentage rate stated above, it has cost taxpayers a cumulative total of $7.6 billion to identify drug usage in 0.5% of all government applicants.

Sources:
Shepard, Edward M., and Thomas J. Clifton, Drug Testing and Labor Productivity: Estimates Applying a Production Function Model, Institute of Industrial Relations, Research Paper No. 18, Le Moyne University, Syracuse, NY (1998), p. 8.

"Workplace Substance Abuse Testing, Drug Testing: Cost and Effect," Cornell/Smithers Report, Utica, New York: Cornell University (January 1992).

Hemp For Victory

As an interesting part of American marijuana history, the United States Department of Agricultural made an educational video to help aid farmers grow hemp for the war effort.  Prior to 1989, this video was for the most part unknown, with the Department of Agriculture library and the Library of Congress denying it's existence.  On May 19th, 1989, Maria Farrow, Carl Packard, and Jack Herer, author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes and presidential candidate in 1988 and 1992 for the Grassroots Party, recovered and donated two VHS copies to the Library of Congress.

This video is public domain and can be downloaded from the Internet Archive.

Why Should There Be Any Reform?

By Kevin Kelley
Updated September 22nd, 2009 

Why is it important to reform the American health care system?  With the current debate taking place, including all the controversial headlines you may have been exposed to, this still remains an important question.  You may have heard claims that America has the greatest health care, so if we have the greatest health care, why do we need to change things?

The reality of the matter is that America does have great care, just not the best.  According to the World Health Organization, America ranks 37th, nestled between Costa Rica and Slovenia.  Although there are still critics of these rankings, Americans pay more for health care then their foreign counterparts and receive similar results, but in tune with American isolationist rationality, providing universal coverage has become a must for some and an unnecessary evil for others.  International health care systems have been demonized, but the fact is they still contribute groundbreaking medical research.  The French pioneered hip and knee replacement, the Canadians developed deep-brain stimulation to treat depression, and laboratories found in Switzerland, Britain, and Japan have brought us medicines American's love, such as Viagra.  Strict cost controls had actually forced the Japanese to develop more cost effective MRI diagnostic techniques, making their method one-fifteenth the price of the American procedure ($98 compared to $1500), and the Japanese still make a profit.   

The major problem with the current debate is cost.  Americans are suffering from fatigue as a consequence to the numerous bailouts of the banking and automotive industry over the past couple years, not to mention the economic stimulus plans of the previous administration.  Americans tend to be fiscally conservative people when it comes to government spending, and understandably so, but another important question is why have we as a nation allowed health care costs to balloon out of control?  Health care spending per capita in the United States has been increasing in recent years at alarming rates, and the trend only points upwards, but with such raises in costs, quality remains to stay the same, but arguably, those who are uninsured will face shorter life expectancies and worse health conditions then those who are, so it is reasonable to say that the current system offers adequate care to most citizens.  Consider the following graph:

America pays almost twice as much as any of the other 31 nations on that map, but our life expectancy is more comparable to Cuba and Cyprus. America is a wealthy nation, with roughly three hundred million citizens, but when comparing health care spending as a percentage of gross domestic product, America's percentage of spending is again greater then other nations. 

The overall GDP is no indication that the standard of living has increased or decreased, but considering the period of 1990-2006, earnings of American workers had increased 0.5%, while the GDP during that same period of time increased 3.6%.  The consumer price index for medical care services has also risen, increasing 3.2% in the past twelve months alone.  Costs are getting out of control, and this would eventually have a negative impact on quality of care.  Currently, figures regarding reforming our current health care system have ranged between $1 trillion and $2 trillion over the next ten years.  While these numbers can seem intimidating, the costs of providing universal health care can cost upwards of $200 billion dollars each year, which comparatively, is one-third the United States spends on defense, or if you consider the current cost for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global war on terror, including the Administration's 2009 supplemental request and Congress approving 2010's war funding, the total would amount to over $1 trillion, equal to the lower estimates of reform.

This leads to the topic of this website.  Where can America get the funding for universal health care?  The current legislation that is being drafted has been floating around ideas that include various sin taxes, such as on alcohol and high fructose corn syrup, taxation on employer provided benefits, and the use of savings from Medicaid, but all are hotly debated issues.  There have also been thoughts circulating that call for greater taxation on church-owned properties.  Another unrealistic proposal that has circulated is pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and cut funding in national defense, but there are problems with that idea as well; America cannot withdraw troops until the region is stabilized and any cuts to national defense would be political suicide.  Although it is possible to integrate these other ideas into a more comprehensive plan, I do not think such overhauls could be made to last.  This leads to this sites proposal: Legalize marijuana and use the funds generated from taxation, as well as other associated benefits, to fund universal health care.

While there has been serious consideration in recent times to legalize marijuana to help fill budget gaps, I believe that the amounts raised from taxation by individual states would not make a significant impact on state budgets, and would overtime be abused by local municipalities, much like the increased tax revenues seen from the boom in the housing market, with local governments finding themselves in a tough economical situation in the future, due to improper expenditures and planning in the past.  By earmarking any tax generated from the legalization of marijuana to go towards universal health care, the necessary reform needed on our system could take place now, and allow for debate to continue, minus the distractions we are experiencing now.  Legalization can fund the system, and allow lawmakers the time to focus on other issues, and understandably, not all reform may work effectively, and so America would have a greater opportunity to work the kinks out of the system before it becomes too late and costs have bankrupted the citizens of this nation.

Considering the insurance status of Americans under 65 years of age, if nothing is done, the burden on the government will continue to grow, so now is the time to act.

Hopefully, those who consider this proposal will raise these questions to their local elected officials, and begin the serious debate on legalization of marijuana.  I am reminded of the presidential campaign run by Eugene McCarthy in 1968, with the unofficial slogan "Get clean for Gene", which involved anti-war supporters with long hair and beards, who resembled "hippies", to get a haircuts and shave, to go door-to-door and campaign for McCarthy, who was in opposition of the Vietnam War.  It is a general consensus that health care needs reform, but to propagate this issue, a degree of professionalism is required.  Doctors, lawyers, politicians, and students alike must conduct themselves reasonably to get serious consideration of these ideas.  Respectful discourse is required, or this will fail. 

Contact all of your elected officials and spread this information.