There is always a tradeoff

I recognize that the people I was with and I all dislike paying taxes even if we all understand their utmost merit & value to us all as a society.

• I believe that my taxes contribute money for the roads that I travel every single morning to get to work, in addition to the large bridge I cross to reach my parents’ condo across the bay.

Without these taxes, I realize our country would cease to operate overnight. But the truth is that I struggle to survive each week while seeing a lot of my money disappear before it even reaches myself and others. It understandably stings when you’re limiting your food choices in the process of budgeting. I started a terrible habit of eating hot dogs biweekly for at least a single meal because you generally can find numerous packs for a dollar these nights, even after inflation numbers increased. The hot foods that I eat are full of nitrates & I have learned about nitrates being potentially carcinogenic at high quantities, so I realize it’s entirely best that consumption of nitrates be limited if not totally avoided altogether. However, state & federal taxes are not the only pocket busters that have myself and others distraught lately. I fear that I will soon be forced to spend money on extra cannabis taxes while still being a medical cannabis patient in my state. When our entire state legalized recreational recently, it enacted a tax on all recreational cannabis sales, but that means now the state is discussing a total alteration to our medical cannabis program. Soon we all might only have recreational cannabis sales where almost everyone is paying the huge recreational cannabis taxes. This hurts a lot of medical cannabis users who were easily retaining their cards to avoid the cannabis taxes whenever they’re carefully shopping at the local marijuana stores.
medical cannabis dispensary