How Hemp Helps Law Enforcement

How Hemp Helps Law Enforcement

In considering the disbursement of funds from the revenue generated through a national levy placed on all Hemp based products sold within the United States with recognition that the use of Hemp in manufacturing will be encouraged in all possible spheres of commerce, 8% of the total should be directed to specific, targeted areas within Law Enforcement.  Being that the “Hemp Tax” would be roughly between 10% to 20% of all Hemp products and with the potential of Hemp products ranging from fibers to bio-fuels, from papers to plastics and from medicines to foods to recreational uses, it is not presumptuous to assume that within a very short time, a mere 8% of that total can be considered to be within the billions of dollars.  The first specific target of this 8% of the total “Hemp Tax” revenue diverted to fund the general area of Law Enforcement would be to set a goal to double the salary of all State and Local Law Enforcement officers within a decade relative to what the regional salaries currently are.  The second goal will be to provide a continuing fund with which to upgrade and modernize equipment essential to the daily operations of State and Local Law Enforcement agencies nationwide.  The third goal is to provide and to make available continuous and on-going training for Law Enforcement officers.

Insofar as establishing a target date for the increase in officer pay, being that revenue will not instantly be available but will, over time, dramatically increase as the nation becomes more and more acclimated to having Hemp as a primary national commodity, allowing for the passage of one decade should suffice to achieve this goal.  These monies, the “Hemp Tax” revenue ear-marked for Law Enforcement would be drawn from a national pool and disbursed equally amongst the States relative to the numbers of Law Enforcement officers employed.  Though the details of just how this should work would need to be decided by Congress, the goal should be to incrementally, across the Nation, begin supplementing the salaries of all State and Local Law Enforcement Officers.

The secondary goal for the funds allotted to Law Enforcement would be to establish a permanent and ever-increasing national pool from which to assist State and Local Law Enforcement agencies in the upgrade and modernization of critical equipment.  The primary focus of this fund should be directed first to those precincts or agencies, both rural and urban, most in need of such increase.  As more funds become available over time, this pool, directed from a national level with a consideration given not toward State government level disbursement but directly focused on individual agencies on the State and Local level.  This funding pool should have no finite date applied but instead should continue to grow, to build and to assist with the needs of all interested parties in the purchase of such items related to the direct essential needs of Law Enforcement agencies.

Lastly, a portion of the revenue generated for Law Enforcement should be set aside to fund training programs.  The idea here is that those entrusted with this position of policing the laws of this nation, be they State, Local or National, must forever be vigilant with regard to improving the quality of that trust.  In other words, it should never be assumed that a badge on its own qualifies one to hold such a position, but that those entrusted should be continuously charged with furthering their commitment to the laws and standards they are sworn to uphold.