Attached are photos of our final day for our 2016 Signal Hill Community Emergency Response Team training. The training was conducted by Capt. Todd Emerick of the Los Angeles County Fire Department over three Saturdays (Sept. 17, 24, and Oct. 1). The training is 24 hours of instruction provided at no cost to residents of the county and covers such topics as light search and rescue, first aid, incident command, disaster psychology and other topics. This is the sixth class that Signal Hill has sponsored. Sixteen students completed the three training sessions this year.
Richard Johnson
Emergency Operations Coordinator
Signal Hill Police Department
Taxed to death?
There is a great deal of confusion regarding the three marijuana measures for November. Hopefully, this will illuminate the issues.
State Proposition 64 will legalize and regulate marijuana for adult use in California.
City Measure MM (medical marijuana) is a people’s initiative that will regulate medical marijuana dispensaries in Long Beach so that people who are sick and/or disabled can access medicine and assistance. It contains special tax provisions (6 percent) plus $10 per square foot of cultivation that should more than adequately cover any city costs of administration.
City Measure MA is another government grab for money on the backs of patients who cannot get reimbursement from their insurance companies for this life-saving medicine. The City’s proposed taxes can be raised to 8 percent for each step of the process (potentially 36 percent) plus another 10 percent sales tax, 10 percent state tax, plus $15-plus per square foot, resulting in the highest taxes in the nation (a whopping 76 to 86 percent). No provisions are made for crop failure, expenses or other financial concerns. Supporters want you to believe that these funds will be used for police and fire, but nothing guarantees how it will be used, nor is there any oversight. This is a tax measure only.
MA is a cruel, politically calculated attempt to excessively tax medical use of cannabis without any consideration for the welfare of sick and disabled citizens. No other prescribed medicine is taxed in California. Patients will be forced to carry the burden of these highly inflated costs or turn to black market dealers who will not be taxed.
Most of us will suffer from a serious illness at some point in our lifetimes— Alzheimer’s, MS, chronic pain, epilepsy, cancer. For legitimately using cannabis, you could be literally taxed to death. Please vote no on MA (Must Avoid) and YES on MM.
Diana Lejins
Advocates for Disability Rights
Chair Medical Marijuana Task Force
