A group of US representatives plan to introduce legislation that will legalize marijuana and allow states to legislate its use, pro-marijuana groups said Wednesday. The legislation would limit the federal government’s role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling, and allow people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal. The bill, which is expected to be introduced on Thursday by Republican Representative Ron Paul and Democratic Representative Barney Frank, would be the first ever legislation designed to end the federal ban on marijuana. Sixteen of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes…

Readers are strongly encouraged to click upon the hyperlinks noted above to learn more about these developments. Readers are also prudent to note that as of the time of this writing, marijuana is either illegal or its usage is highly restricted in many jurisdictions around the globe. Those Americans interested in learning more about such matters are encouraged to contact a licensed attorney in their jurisdiction. Readers should further note that usage of marijuana is strictly prohibited in the Kingdom of Thailand.

These developments are interesting as it would appear that the real impetus behind this legislative move stems from what would appear to be a genuine bi-partisan desire on the part of legislators to find new sources of tax revenue at the State and federal levels while simultaneously relaxing restrictive regulations that diminish the civil liberties of the American Citizenry. Readers are asked to recall that Representative Barney Frank has been a proponent of a more permissive regulatory structure pertaining to online gaming. Meanwhile, Representative Ron Paul has been an ardent advocate for American civil, individual, and States’ Rights for a number of years. It will be interesting how this proposed legislation fares in the nation’s Congress.

Although seemingly unrelated to the developments in the United States, officials on the island of Taiwan have recently noted that there is to be a relaxation of restrictions placed upon tourists coming to that location from Mainland China. In order to place these developments in context it may be prudent to quote directly from the website News.com.au:

TAIWAN has lifted a decades-old ban on travel to the island by individual Chinese tourists, saying visitors would act as “peace ambassadors” for the former arch foe. The first batch of independent mainland tourists, from Beijing, Shanghai and the city of Xiamen on the southeast coast, were expected to arrive next Tuesday, local media reported. Travel between the island and mainland stopped at the end of the civil war in 1949, and mainland tourists have so far only been allowed to visit Taiwan in groups due to official concerns they might otherwise overstay their visas and work illegally…

The administration of this blog recommends that readers click upon the relevant hyperlinks above to learn more details on this developing story.

Clearly, intra-China tourism is likely to increase revenue and commerce for all concerned. As noted previously on this blog, China continues to show signs that there will be significant economic growth moving forward. It stands to reason that such growth may have beneficial consequences for other jurisdictions in the region as Chinese tourists travel to other locales and Chinese businesses trade and increase their presence in foreign venues. Hopefully these developments will be an economic boon to the Taiwanese economy.

For information related to pending legislation in the United States please see: Uniting American Families Act or Respect for Marriage Act.

For information related to legal services in Asia please see: Legal.

Yesterday, we told you about the Soc Gen research note “The China Domino has Fallen!” and its alarming conclusion that the world needs to expect significantly more inflation in the near term. Included in that report is a rather complex, but explanative chart, on just why this is happening. It displays the global supply and demand curve. While there are a great deal of variables at work here, the key, according to Soc Gen’s latest, is the expected surge in Asian consumers from China’s rebalancing…

The administration of this web log strongly encourages readers to click on the hyperlinks noted above to learn more.

It stands to reason that as an economy as substantial as that of China makes its presence increasingly felt in the world economy the other players in the world economy will feel the ramifications of economic activity occurring in China and the surrounding region. To a lesser degree, the same might also be said for economic activity occurring in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as such activity can have ramifications for economic actors in other parts of the world. That stated, it seems unlikely that ASEAN‘s economic impact upon the global economy of the future will be as significant as that of China since China’s economy is more cohesive and streamlined compared to the more loosely arranged economies of ASEAN.

In other news pertaining to China it recently came to this blogger’s attention that the Chinese island of Taiwan may soon be the site of robotic immigration checkpoints at some point in the future. To quote directly from an article written by Loa lok-sin posted on the official website of the Taipei Times, TaipeiTimes.com:

In a few years, visitors could pass through unmanned immigration booths following instructions given by smiling robots when they step off the plane at Taiwan’s international airports, National Immigration Agency (NIA) -Director–General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) said yesterday. The first unmanned immigration inspection booths were installed on Tuesday at Shueitou Pier (水頭碼頭) in Kinmen County, from which ferries depart to Xiamen, China. “At this point, automatic immigration inspection booths have been installed only at Shueitou Pier, and are open only to [Republic of China (ROC)] nationals,” Hsieh told the Taipei Times during a telephone interview. “We plan to install the system at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport next month — but only for [ROC] nationals as well.”

The administration of this blog encourages readers to click upon the hyperlinks noted above to learn more.

Clearly, the conditions of international travel are likely to change in the future as technological improvements continue to present themselves. However the idea of passing through a robotic immigration and/or customs checkpoint still seems somewhat alien, at least to this blogger. One wonders if such technological innovation will soon change the face of ports of entry to the United States or if robots of the United States Customs and Border Protection Service (USCBP) will one day usher in American Citizens upon their return to the United States of America. Such developments remain to be seen as of the time of this writing.

For related information please see: Legal.