1.5 million marijuana seizures in 2010 (if I am reading that chart right). Now, I’m not certain if this is 1.5mil unique catches or 1.5million bundles. Lets say for the sake of argument, it is 1.5 million twenty-five pound bundles. Average (elevated) street price given by law enforcement is 25k per bundle. That is $37,500,000,000.00 worth of plant that could have been taxed (nominally, the black market doesn’t need to perpetuate because of high taxation).
Now, obviously, the price would come way down if it were legalized (how much I could not say). None the less, that is quite a bit of tax money there which makes me wonder just how dirty DC is that they want an un-processed plant to stay illegal.
Your average user could grow enough in the backyard or a closet to supply personal needs. It grows like a weed.
The only reason that it is a profitable product is the prohibition.