In a recent commentary in The Providence Journal, James Aubin, the founder of pro-legalization group Common Sense Citizen, argued for the legalization of marijuana in Rhode Island, saying it could boost the state’s sagging economy. He included an impressive statistic about the revenue Colorado was bringing in from marijuana sales. "Colorado raked in $60 million in marijuana taxes and licensing fees in the past year, plus saved most if not all of the $145 million the Harvard report estimated it spent each year fighting marijuana," Aubin wrote in the Jan. 5, 2015, piece.
We pulled Colorado’s tax records ourselves. We added up the monthly figures, from Jan. 1, 2014, when the first recreational marijuana stores opened, through Oct. 31, the most recent report.
We determined that the state’s total marijuana tax revenue was about $60 million.
The revenue comes from a 2.9-percent retail and medical marijuana sales tax; a 10-percent retail marijuana special sales tax; and a 15-percent marijuana excise tax, plus application and license fees for retail and medical marijuana.
In other words, Aubin got his number right.
Well there's some awesome news for the 23 states (and District of Columbia) that passed a bill legalizing marijuana. Gee I wonder when all of the other states are going to get a clue?
Personally since we just passed our own bill to legalize pot, I am looking forward to this state making money off of something besides drilling holes in the ground, cutting down forests, and killing our sea life.
Why is he now a former police officer? Is it because he was in the gun shop when he was supposed to be on patrol? What a dumbazz!
ReplyDeleteAccording to the recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the tiny state of Rhode Island wins the largest concentration of pot smokers in the U.S.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/the-1-pot-smoking-state-isnt-colorado/
Speaking as a coloradoan, the number that excites me the most isn't the money gained with the legal marijuana industry, but the tons of money gained from law enforcement no longer having to waste all that time and effort.
ReplyDeleteIKR
DeleteI am looking forward to this state making money off of something besides drilling holes in the ground, cutting down forests, and killing our sea life.
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ugh.
Tell me again why the rest of our country has to subsidize this Rethuglican state?
I really wouldn't have cared before but you know, you sent us Palin so...
One reason I am very glad oil prices have tanked is that it will be less likely for the anti's to scuttle the pro-pot legislation. They already have tried to delay implementation and now are working on all sorts of really silly and discriminatory regulations for the purchase and use. But there is one thing a Republican can't pass up, and that is a large amount of money.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Colorado, and according to my relatives and friends, those numbers don't tell the whole story. FWIW, here's what I heard when I was home for the holidays (sources: family member who's a cop, family member who works with juvenile offenders, family member who works with homeless teens, and two friends who are nurses):
ReplyDelete1. The state is seeing a huge increase in use of harder drugs; dealers who lost their pot revenue are now pushing heroin, meth, etc. I don't know whether there are yet studies to substantiate this, but I heard it from four of the five people referenced above. Prisons are not less crowded; the people who were incarcerated for pot use have just been replaced with people incarcerated for dealing and possessing harder drugs. Law enforcement is not less busy--they have more meth and heroin to deal with instead of pot.
2. Cartels are buying up Colorado farmland so they can take advantage of legalization. In at least one farming county (wish I could remember which), they now own the majority of property. That means a drug cartel will control who's elected to enforce laws in that county. (Now, whether that's worse than having Focus on the Family control elections is another question.)
3. The way the law is worded, apparently cities have discretionary use of funds from marijuana taxes. No one I talked to knew of any schools that had seen a red cent from legalization; it's being diverted to other areas. One of the people who verified this is a retired teacher with contacts in multiple school districts.
4. Also, the state lost a lot of federal money when legalization passed, so that $60 million isn't on top of what they had before. Most of it is just replacing federal funds.
4. My friend who is a labor and delivery nurse said they've seen a huge rise in pregnant women who smoke pot--and resulting health issues in newborns--since legalization took effect. Despite what doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals tell women, my friend said many seem to assume that since it's legal, it's safe. And, she said, "If they smoke pot, when we test them we find that they're almost always on other drugs, too. I never thought marijuana was a gateway drug, but since legalization, I've started to change my mind."
5. My other nurse friend works with an outreach program for homeless and low-income populations. Since legalization, she said many people from other states have been showing up in her office. They came for the marijuana, couldn't find or didn't look for jobs, and are now relying on state assistance--which of course cuts further into marijuana tax profits.
Legalization isn't all bad. There are families with terminally ill children who relocated to Colorado so their kids could have access to marijuana instead of relying on oxycontin. I just think it's important that people realize the ramifications of legalization, and the scope of problems as well as benefits it can create.
Your comment shows the danger of relying on anecdotal evidence and not fully understanding cause/effect relationships.
DeleteI agree with 9:38. Anecdotal evidence is good only for aggravating people who don't understand a lot of things, but accept the stuff as fact. You know, Fox News people?
DeleteAND, as a bit of proof, I offer my cousin. He's a police officer who SWEARS every cop in the country would have killed that kid in Ferguson!
I prefer to stay away from his beat area.
Come back with PROOF of what you claim and I will listen.
Fail 8:20. You are full of fiction (shit).
DeleteI do live in Colorado and have for the past 44 years, and am calling bullshit on your info. Got anything for supporting your remarks besides, "Well, I heard that....?"
ReplyDeleteAppears to me that Anchorage (Assembly and Mayor) are trying to make it very, very difficult to sell or consume weed! Do they not understand the majority voted on this issue for its legalization and usage?
ReplyDeleteFine of $100 if you are currently caught smoking it in public? That makes a lot of sense!!!! Look at all the people in Alaska that have been smoking it for years illegally...indoors and outdoors!
It'll be legal and more difficult to use? What is wrong with the folks in our government? They are not listening to the people, but what else is new?
Why shouldn't marijuana produce tax revenue on the same scales as alcohol, tobacco and gambling.
ReplyDeleteNow all they have to do is legalize prostitution (with the same heavy regulations, et al) and there's another tax revenue stream for you.
They just passed a law in Philly, four dollar a pack taxes on tobacco cigarettes. We're talking over 80 bucks for a carton, and they've been legal for how long? New Jersey's bleeding money now that Atlantic City closed the casinos, and other states made it legal to gamble. There's frigging potholes that go from NJ to China, and Christie isn't doing squats about infrastructure. At least give Pot a running start before taxing the shit out of it. Fast Food needs a tax increase as do bullets.
ReplyDeleteHow to obtain a marijuana license in the state of Colorado
ReplyDeleteMarijuana licensing Colorado