Legalizing Marijuana Would Raise $1.4 Billion Says CA Tax Board

McClatchy:

California could see a nearly $1.4 billion per year increase in state revenues were it to legalize marijuana, the state Board of Equalization says in an analysis of pending legislation to to do that.

Read the whole story: McClatchy

Comments

[lisakaz2]

Bet it'd pay for healthcare too.

[LemonMeringue]

Not you are talking. On a national level?

[fumes]

the ''t'' key is four over from the ''w'' key.. it's trew!

so what r u smoking? lol

[oddjob1138]

I'm all for it but what about the other $24.5 billion in the hole CA is in?

[scoops2]

I can tell everyone from personal experience that it was 100x's easier to get pot in HS than alchohol.

[Allwx]

That's right, and it's easy now, too. Why should smokers agree to pay billions $ in tax for what they currently do tax-free?

[Realitylost]

The mark up would be less, even with the taxes it would still cost less to buy legal weed.

Unless of course you have a serious hookup.

[castlerider]

There's a heck of a lot more money then that, once people start realizing all the uses for hemp and what's known as industrial hemp.
Thousands of good products await our purposeful uses.

I'm sure it's also taking into account all the good folks jailed for weed who the state would no longer have to support, but their contribution to the workforce once they're back in society would also be transforming, and bring in even more revenue.

It's way past time to legalize it. Just do it.

.

[scoops2]

Think about the clothing lines, the appeal alone would start a huge industry. This needs to be done.

[LemonMeringue]

Hemp paper!

It would solve so many problems. Stronger, more renewable, fast crop, save forests.

[fumes]

and hemp rope and canvas (canvas is dutch for cannabis)

[biglover]

I wouldn;t mind paying taxes on it. That's the difference between libs and conservs, we don't mind paying taxes on things that will solve problems, unlike conservs who don't want to pay taxes to help anyone.

[WorkingClass]

Correct. The real boost to the economy would be hemp in commerce, agriculture and industry.

[scoops2]

Grow a pair Cali and do it already. Think about how much bringing pot into the market will deflate gangs profits.

It will be a mini-small buisiness empire throughout the state, people will move back to cali. DO IT!

[WorkingClass]

The State wants $50 per oz. plus sales tax on pot? They will have to continue to jail people who grow their own. The black market will continue, nothing will change.

[Chaimirija]

hmmm, it's been awhile since I have known anyone who partakes, but isn't 50 cheap?

[WorkingClass]

I can buy an oz for $100.00. I can grow an oz in a sunny window for nothing. If legal pot is going for say $10.00 plus a $50.00 tax I shouldn't have any problem getting $30.00 for my home grown. If it were legal to grow marijuana I would grow some for me and some to give to friends. I would be proud of it like some people are proud of their tomatoes or their home made wine. If citizens are allowed to grow small quantities there will be very little market for the highly taxed alternative. If citizens are not allowed to grow small quantities then pot is still illegal and the tax will force it underground. Marijuana will never be a giant windfall for governments. And why should it be? Because it is sinful?

[Coltrane1234]

People would rather pay, people are lazy. The black market will not continue.

[WorkingClass]

Witness the burgeoning black market in cigarettes. The DIRECT result of overtaxing.

[gle helle]

And that's just from Snoop Dogg.

[johnnygoodwud]

now where did i leave my roach clip?

[electricladyland]

That's dank!

[mlmn08]

If you take the profit out of marijuana for the dealers, then you can give it to the state...works for booze, right? People are going to drink and smoke no matter what. Get smart.

[Chaimirija]

and potheads don't get belligerant and pick fights

[ClarcKing]

What are the health costs to a population with chronic drug use? 3 to 5 billion dollars? We should let the most properous and bankrupt state go the way of Mexico? I don't see California's famed brainpower behind this proposal.

[thundermummy]

Fear mongering. The drugs are already being sold so the health care costs are already there. The difference is that by legalizing marijuana you would bypass the criminal element and generate tax revenue. That is unless you want to start a war on drugs and eliminate use altogether and, oh, yeah, tried and failed.

[Deni]

Why anyone thought a 'war on drugs' would be successful after the war on booze went SO well...

Those that don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The war on drugs is a good exhibit A.

[pragmaticdallasite]

Are you serious? "chronic drug use".......Ummmm smoking MJ is not smoking meth or having a painkill.er addiction.....or cigarettes or alcohol....or anything. Changing either medical or recreational drug use from current forms over to MJ would REDUCE untold billions in medical costs as well as criminal costs

[Wallysmom]

There are those who will argue that marijuana use leads to other drug use. That is the position they have taken for years. I would like to have some hard statistics on that. I doubt it but I've never seen a solid study on that. That might be the equivalent of saying that an occasional glass of wine will result in doing a fifth of scotch every day.

[Coltrane1234]

ha, chronic. Name one consequence of smoking some reefer from time to time.

[Chaimirija]

number one source of addiction/od in the us is PHARMACEUTICALS

[Jamie Kowalski]

#1 - No health risks associated with Cannabis.
#2 - Mexico legalized pot when exactly?

[mel2000]

Respiratory problems are associated with long term MJ use.

[Bjarni]

The main people who will fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo are.

Organized crime and Big Pharma.

[pragmaticdallasite]

Big pharma and alcohol/tobacco are the largest sponsors of things like The Partnership for a Drug Free America.

Awesome.

[Tuckerndfw]

You forget to include the legal system.

The group that has profited the most from the "war on drugs" is the legal system.

"Legal system" includes lawyers, courts, cops, jails, probation officers, social workers, etc.

Not to mention all the anti-drug groups.

Lots of profit in keeping drugs illegal and most accrue to the people keeping them illegal.

[WorkingClass]

Lets include the banks since all that drug money has to be laundered.

[Tuckerndfw]

The legal system profits far more than anyone else.

[kfdan]

The only thing that will legalize pot is the realization on the part of government that when it runs out of money ... one way to make some is to legalize underground activities and tax them! That the state governments have to go broke before they do this only speaks to the very rigid mentality that governs the country! We are a nation confused ... are we puritans ... those guys had sex with a hole in the sheet ... imagine that !!!

[jdw1981]

Anyone can get it now anyway if they want it. So why not legalize it and focus drug enforcement where it belongs: on meth labs. Oh, and that other drug that's more addictive and dangerous than any illegal substance: tobacco.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

I'm thinking of all the people I know who should never, ever, ever get high.

[chroma601]

Yeah, no one should ever have fun.

[Jamie Kowalski]

I tried, but I can't think of any.