Posted on 05/11/2013 4:28:29 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
Colorado is set to become the first U.S. state to regulate and tax sales of recreational marijuana, after lawmakers approved several bills that set business standards and rules. Legislators expect enforcement of the rules to be paid for by two taxes on marijuana — a 15 percent excise tax, and a 10 percent sales tax.
Other measures included in the package set limits on how much marijuana visitors to Colorado can buy (a quarter of an ounce), as well as a limit on how many cannabis plants a private citizen can grow (six).
Gov. John Hickenlooper has indicated he will sign the legislation, according to The Denver Post. Colorado voters first approved the legalization of pot for recreational use by people over age 21 in a ballot initiative last November.
Voters adopted a similar measure in Washington state, where plans for regulation and taxation are still being formed.
"The first legal marijuana should be on sale in Washington in March 2014," reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "and Colorado will have its cannabis stores open as soon as Jan. 1."
Like all new Colorado taxes, voters must approve the new taxation system in a ballot initiative this autumn. Other states are already taxing pot, but those levies cover medical marijuana. California reportedly raises more than $100 million a year on such sales.
The Colorado legislation adopted Wednesday also includes a requirement that "pot must be sold in child-resistant packages with labels that specify potency," The Post reports. "Edible marijuana products will have serving-size limits."
That remains to be seen.
You may be right.
But the cartels aren’t competing in the alcohol or tobacco trade in the US.
I would think there will be plenty enough domestic growth that will eliminate the need for cartels.
I honestly think the cartels would be out of the marihuana business if this were a national policy. Just like my alcohol and tobacco point suggests.
But here we have a non border state that may (perhaps) cause supply/demand dynamic shifts.
It will be interesting to watch.
I’m more concerned about guns in CO (gun rights) than about weed to be quite honest.
Hey, far out maaaan, a-hoo a-hoo!
It is the perfect “crime” on its citizens.
Its classification as a controlled subtance or the like would trump that notion.
That’s cuz half the posters are tokin up, man!
The welfare state creates and exacerbates many more social ills than drugs.
The welfare state is fueled by drugs. And crime, alcohol and liberalism.
Who do you think could replace the cartels? RJ Reynolds? Big pharna? The cartels run a tdillion dollar industry. And you know they aren’t afraid of violenceand murder. They essentially run Mexico and if dope is legalized nationwide, the cartels will become legitimate US corp
I don’t think the cartels could actually compete in a free market. If they could they would be smuggling tax free beer across the border. They gain huge profits precisely because it is a black market.
The real question is, what will the government do with all those tanks and military hardware they stocked up to keep ramming down doors and ransacking houses (right or wrong address irrelevant)?
Marijuana will never be as addictive and falsely satisfying as assuming the worst about others. Ever.
are you kidding? do you think they’ll have a choice but to comply? Never get between the government and it’s right to your money. They are the most aggressive when it comes to collections lol
I love the way in which the most likely users of the new dope law are the one’s to get penalized by the very people they voted into office.
Irony abounds.
at least it the state govt, not the feds
I imagine those people that do not want to pay the tax, will just grow their 6 plants and be happy.
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