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):