To: The United States Congress and Governor Rick Scott of Florida
From: Rev. Frank Paul Jones
RE: Open Letter of Federal Bill {HR 2306}
Date: 30 July 2011
The Marijuana Report on Federal Bill - HR 2306 & a Florida Redevelopment Act
If HR: 2306 is passed by the 112th Congress, what will it mean to the state of Florida and the East Coast? What the FEDS put on the table is a budget cutting action. The Federal Government is about to get smaller and the decision to downsize will be written in stone once the Debt Ceiling is raised. Many services must be reduced as well as law enforcement groups.
It is my position that for there to be relevant changes in how we accomplish the economic recovery and maintain smaller government, there has to be legislative changes all the way down to the ordinances in our Cities throughout the nation and HR 2306 is an example of how to create more revenue and both execute smaller government thru legislative change.
It is my hope that not only does this bill be passed but also be modified because it does not address an important issue if marijuana is ultimately legalized by the State of Florida and other states on the East Coast and for that matter other nations in the world.
The issue is commerce: Florida and California are the main potential production states of marijuana in our Nation. These two states depend on agriculture and both got hit hard by real estate foreclosures. Both states need money bad and the marijuana crop is the U.S. most valued crop and could be a turning point for both economies. As California is well on their way; Florida is a backwards state with a lot of oppressive ordinances, laws and rules and we need legislative changes ASAP.
The problem with HR 2306 as it is written is that it does not allow interstate commerce of marijuana which hurts large scale production states that could immensely profit from its exportation.
As the law stands it could create a pipeline for the underworld and the government will lose a lot of money as a result of illegal transport across state lines. Interstate commerce has to be addressed in this bill.
Here in Highlands County and the Heartland of Florida, we have a lot of unsheltered territory. We have a agriculture market that is weakening as fruit prices are going up due to labor shortages; farmers are having a difficult time clearing their trees as less workers are laboring the fields. Why; because the pay is too low for the work and we depend on foreign labor? These are the type of issues that must be addressed.
A HR: 2306 addendum should be added to allow interstate transport from one state to another by air or ground or sea to any state or country that allows legal marijuana sales.
The state of Florida and the state of California are our main agriculture states. The Florida Department of Agriculture has to be subsidized by marijuana growers in the state of Florida. Understand marijuana is a weed and it will grow plentiful in the Heartland of Florida. Here we have plenty open space to produce the crop, sunlight and water, but we cannot simply replace agriculture farmers with marijuana farmers we must protect our food industry in America. So farmers has to have an incentive to grow food at the wallet.
Marijuana Farming should have legislative intent that goes beyond the obvious which is smaller government and new tax revenues from a new product. And it should address many other issues contingent to the legalization of marijuana in Florida.
Things on the fly that should be address:
#1: Marijuana Agriculture subsidy Act of Florida: When you have two crops that come from the same place and one cost $1,500 per pound and another $.99 per pound. They have to balance out at the department labor and the supermarket. By keeping marijuana at a high price we can lower the prices of fruits and vegetables and increase the wages of the agricultural labor force.
#2: Marijuana Fair Licensing Act: Let us face it, most of the farmers already control the land to produce the crops here in the Heartland. Most of the contracts will naturally go to the agriculture farmers to grow the crop, but no all; as somewhere the size of a football field could produce a million dollars of crops annually.
A) Only citizens of the United States of America and Florida can commercially farm marijuana in the state Florida.
B) Minorities have to be guaranteed a percentage of the cultivation licenses and worldwide distribution and like I said part "and a mean a nice slice of the state taxes" must go to subsidize the fruit and vegetable industry here in the state of Florida and the Heartland. However, this has to be reasonable.
C) Permanent residents of the state should have a priority for the employment on marijuana plants on location in Florida and the Heartland, to include positions such as security of these valued crops and the harvesting of them as well as packaging.
D) Military Veterans should have a priority as venders/distributors of Marijuana. Venders must be Florida citizens without a felony conviction or with clemency from the Federal government or state from which he/she distributes out of.
3) The Florida Infrastructure Development Act: After we subsidize agriculture of off the top, to secure our labor forces and bring down the price of fruits and vegetables. Insure that this market is a living wages industry and protect our local labor force, we have to set an agenda to help our overall economy. Here the governor has to set his own initiative. We need public transportation here in Highlands County and the Heartland in the form of buses and connecting trains and buses to the high speed rail going into production as a nationwide network.
Below is a reservoir of info. HR: 2306 & Hyperlinks:
Hyperlinks:
New Federal Bill put before the Congress to Repeal Marijuana Prohibition HR 2306:
Federal Marijuana Law:
Florida Marijuana Law:
Nationwide state by state - Marijuana Laws:
The Price to Keep Marijuana Illegal:
Medical Marijuana Directory:
