By: Jabuki
John Hanson (circa: birtdate unknown -1860)
John Hanson was the descendent of a slave. An early Hanson immigrant to Maryland was the John Hanson who was this John's grandfather. Like many, he arrived as an indentured servant, bound by contract to a farm owner. In 1661, his first master, William Plumley, sold his contract to Edward Keene and recorded the contract with the court of Calvert County, Maryland. These same kinds of court records were also used to transfer title to land and slaves. But, in six years, the immigrant John had worked his way out of debt. A few years after he purchased his own first small farm. Source: Dick Gregory (The column can be seen at [2].)
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Oakland, California launches the nation’s first ever business tax on retail marijuana sales.
Approximately 80 percent of Oakland voters approved the new tax in 2008 which imposes an additional tax for “cannabis businesses” and took effect January 1, 2010.
According to a financial analysis by the Oakland City Auditor, Oakland’s new cannabis business tax will generate an estimated $300,000 in additional annual tax revenue.
Representatives from the Oakland City Council, the California Nurses Association, and the dispensary community publicly advocated for the new tax, which had no formal opposition.
“The passage of this first-in-the-nation tax further legitimizes cannabis-based enterprises in Oakland and elsewhere,” NORML Executive Director
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