Plead the Fifth

Is it true that you have to pay to get a permit to grow weed?

—N. D’orr

It is if you live in Indian Springs. The city council there just passed an ordinance that would make wannabe homegrowers register for inspection and pay $141 for the privilege. This is, of course, ridiculous and probably illegal. People with homebrew kits don’t have to register their bathtub booze operations. Why should cannabis users have to jump through extra hoops when cannabis is the safest of all the recreational drugs?

Proposition 64 says that people can grow six plants per residence. And while Prop. 64 allows for “reasonable regulations,” there is nothing reasonable about having to pay to grow a noncommercial cannabis stash.

Cannabis lawyer and all around do-gooder Omar Figueroa had this to say to The Desert Sun: “It’s not a constitutionally enforceable law. It would be foolish of them to enforce it.” Mr. Figueroa goes on to cite a 1969 Supreme Court case—Leary v. United States—which found that self-incrimination at a federal level can’t be required during the enforcement of state law. Since cannabis is still federally illegal, asking homegrowers to implicate themselves should be a nonstarter, especially in light of the incoming federal government. But you probably don’t live in Indian Springs, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it. Grow your six plants in peace.

I am looking for life insurance. But I smoke a bunch of weed. Constantly. All the time. Is that gonna be a problem?

—Kimberlee

Back in the day when cannabis was considered an evil drug that ruined homes and caused people to neglect their children, it was commonplace for folks to be denied a life insurance policy because they tested positive for THC. Now, with cannabis legal in eight states, plus Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana on the books in umpteen other states, cannabis use is not the roadblock it used to be.

There are still plenty of deciding factors, and pot users don’t get the great rates that nonsmokers do. Duh. In fact, most companies charge cannabis users the same rates that they charge cigarette smokers, which is a bit of a drag (pardon the pun) considering that cannabis doesn’t cause cancer. In fact, cannabis is a proven neuroprotectant, stress reliever, and beneficial—yada yada, you’ve heard me say these things before.

I found an interesting site that addresses cannabis and life insurance right here: http://termlife2go.com/marijuana-use-and-life-insurance-approval. It has some good info, even though it is trying pretty hard to sell you a policy. Always be closing, I guess.

I long for the day when some smart and industrious-thinking ganjapreneur opens a cannabis credit union and term life insurance company.