Posted on 03/13/2009 9:53:06 AM PDT by Melinda
Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic State Assembly member Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale - a move that could mean billions for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion in annual sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity - milk and cream - which brings in $7.3 billion annually, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion in much-needed revenue a year, offsetting some of the billions in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I agree. Decriminalizing drugs will take away the incentive for criminals to deal it, just as ending Prohibition did with alcohol.
If someone wants to shoot up or smoke their brains out, have at it.
It's hard to compare pot to beer, because that gram of pot might have seeds and stems in it no one smokes and it might have low THC levels, or it might be high grade stuff with no seeds and no stems that is two or three times or more stronger than the seedy stuff. And, some people only need a little to get a buzz or to get really stoned whereas it might take another person a lot more to get the same effect from the same product. It affects different people differently. But I think it is safe to say that a gram of pot will provide the average person with several smoking sessions. A couple of decades ago the government did studies and found that the average marijuana dose was around a third of a gram, and it is stronger on average today so the average is probably a good bit less than that now. It is not really all that uncommon for people to consume a six pack of beer or more in one session but it is rare that someone will consume an entire gram of marijuana all by himself in one session. A gram of even cheapo Mexican is generally enough for several highs, and the average person could get several more buzzes from a gram of the really expensive stuff. The average gram of pot I would think would have to be equivalent to at least two or three six packs of beer, if not more.
That $50 excise isn't the only tax people would pay in the unlikely event this law passes. They'd also pay regular sales taxes. Depending on the price of per gram those taxes would probably range from a few cent per gram on up to a couple of bucks a gram. So even if a gram of pot is only the equivalent of two six packs on average then the tax burden on pot would still be less than that for beer on average even if grams of pot end up costing from $5 to $20 each depending on quality.
You said in an earlier post that tobacco is around $1.75 a pound. I think that's the price for Burley, but there are others that are more expensive. Generally I believe it's going to be less than $3.00 a pound when the cigarette company buys it though. A pound of tobacco will make two cartons of cigarettes so you are paying about $50 a pound when you buy smokes at $5 a pack. If we were to legalize pot prices would drop way down. I doubt bulk wholesale costs would go as low as tobacco though because there is a lot more labor involved in clipping each bud off and trimming them up for sale. I don't know how much of the process they can mechanize. Still, it should be a whole lot cheaper right away in a completely legal environment and it's going to be dirt cheap after a few years of being legal when big corporate producers get their systems dialed in and slash production costs. The only way pot is going cost even half what it costs today is with really high taxes.
I don't think this California law will pass, but eventually I think we'll legalize pot in this country and regulate production and sales similar to the way we alcohol. People are going to want to buy their pot from the “pot store” where they will be able to select from a wide variety of quality product at reasonable prices. In a legal environment people won't want to buy black market pot from criminals that has who knows what on it. They'll want the stuff that has been produced in a regulated environment. For black market product to sell, it's going to have to be considerably cheaper than what they can get at the store. There shouldn't be much a black market because it's not going to be worth it for criminals to go to all the effort and risk involved. There won't be nearly the market for their product and they'd have to sell what little they'd be able to sell at a fraction of what they sell it for today. I bet we wouldn't see much more of a black market than we have with alcohol now.
“It works out to about $1.76 a gram, which is lower than the national average tax on alcohol.”
I meant to say lower than the national average tax on a six pack of beer.
They can all get stoned and forget about all their problems!
Those Mexican drug trafficking organization, they'd shrink down to something far less powerful and far less of a threat. They already supply almost all the cocaine, meth and heroin in this country. It's not like there is much of that business left for them to take over. Marijuana provides them better than 60% of their income according to our government, and the marijuana trade with it's vast distribution networks that reach every corner of America makes it easy for them to move those other drugs because they just piggy back them in on top of the marijuana and push them through some of the people selling their marijuana. If we take the pot business from them they'll lose their biggest money maker and it will be harder for them to move their other drugs. We should have legalized marijuana a long time ago.
She didn't live in a “legalized drug society” because there aren't any. The closest thing we have to that is the Netherlands where they have shops that are allowed to openly sell marijuana, and per capita marijuana use there is only about half what it is here. And of course pot isn't really legal there, it's just the government's policy to allow possession and for people to grow a few plants and to allow these shops to operate, but the shops must buy their product from the black market which of course encourages organized crime to get in the game. If it was really legal there, commercial production as well as retail sales, they wouldn't have the organized crime problem.
I’ll pass on the subject of legalization. Lets talk money.
Pot is a $14 billion industry because it is illegal. Pot prices are based on black market prices. Legalize pot, and the street price falls to 5 cents on the dollar, because seriously, how much does it cost for seeds, water and fertilizer. The cost of pot is no more than the cost to grow tobacco.
So legalize pot and the $14 billion industry goes to a street price of $700 million. Taxes on that will bring in MAYBE $150 million, if they hit it really hard.
Idiots. They have absolutely no capacity to analyze.
This doesn’t include any money they would have to spend to regulate this new industry. Are they using banned chemicals? Are they growing pot near endangered species. Do cartons of pot have all the requisite pregnancy warning labels, addiction, cancer, etc.
Idiots. Clueless bloody idiots. Drill for oil off the coast and they would flood their coffers.
Yes, with “legalized drug society”, the word “virtual” should be in front of “legalized”. But it’s just a matter of semantics there.
“If it was really legal there, commercial production as well as retail sales, they wouldn’t have the organized crime problem.”
Organized crime would simply disappear? Hardly.
“Organized crime would simply disappear? Hardly.”
With billions of dollars less money they would be correspondingly smaller and less of a problem.
The country is one of the if not THE world’s leading producer of Ecstasy and also heavily involved in illegal arms trade. Drawing a line after marijuana will not solve any of the lucrative crime problems, and will add to the non-productiveness by legalizing mind-wasting.
The country I’m referring to in the last post is the Netherlands, not Morocco.
You think the statistics about drug use in this corrupt nation are accurate? LOL! I don’t mean to be rude, but really, that’s laughable in a country that will confiscate reading material upon entrance if it contains any negative truth about it.
Just don’t sell them on the internet. THAT is still illegal.
When I was young and stupid, I smoked pot.
There are times today when I would really enjoy it again. I always liked the effect better than alcohol.
Yes, if it were legal I would smoke again. In a heartbeat.
I'm linking you to the consumption estimates from the 2008 UN World Drug Report. Scroll down to pages 276 and 277 to see estimates for cannabis use prevalence for person 15 through 64 the US, Europe and Morocco.
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2008/WDR2008_Statistical_Annex_Consumption.pdf
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