Legalizing and Taxing Marijuana
By Barry Ritholtz - November 16th, 2009, 2:30PM
I expect over the next few years, we will hear all manner of suggestion as to how to close the Federal deficit. Sin taxes already exist on alcohol, tobacco, gambling — they filled a revenue void when passed.
How long is it before the next few taxable products get taxed: First Hemp, then Marijuana. Sloshspot estimates a substantial tax benefit, plus big savings in enforcement and incarceration:
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click for bigger graphic
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As the deficit gets larger, this one actually has a non-zero chance of passing . . .
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Source:
If Marijuana Production Were Legal: Projected Tax Revenues, by State
Sloshspot, November 13, 2009
http://www.sloshspot.com/blog/11-13-2009/If-Marijuana-Production-Were-Legal-Projected-Tax-Revenues-by-State-245
November 16th, 2009 at 11:54 am
See this conversation for an amusing take on Legalizing and Taxing
http://www.filthyrichmond.com/2009/04/keep-marijuana-illegal.html
November 16th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
The Economist has also done some great work on this topic over the years.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
that pot smoker density map looks a little *hazy* coughcough
always believed the govt should just pay the growers a higher price and destroy it, smoke it, whatever as they see fit. wouldn’t that be the market response? so cheap at the source….
November 16th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
The taxing part would be tough. Weeds are easy to grow, how would you tax the ” home garden” ?
November 16th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
then you can’t throw people in jail and the “gateway drug” argument goes out of the window…
November 16th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
California law allows residents to home brew and make wine “for personal use”. I still bop by Bevmo for quality and convenience. Legalize it and grade it and put it prerolled in packs and cartons and drive the homemade market down to the minimum by economies of scale. Bring back Va and SC agriculture.
Of course you then deal with out of state/no CA tax stamp/counterfeit products like w/ tobacco.
Whatever. How’d outlawing premarital sex and speaking out against the crown work out?
November 16th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
It’s a shame that we have 300 millions Americans in this country, to create, develop, invent, and innovate, and yet, we can’t get out of our own way enough to create even enough jobs to feed the ones who USED to work. Instead of using our minds, we are going to legalize something that destroys it.
NOT IN FAVOR, and I’m not ashamed to say it’s for moral reasons. I don’t want my children to used tobacco, but it’s shoved in their faces in movies and tv all the time. I certainly don’t want them using marijuana.
If we are going to legalize it, it needs to be controlled much tigher than tobacco. It also should never be allowed to be advertised. And the warning on tobacco should become more severe, and the warnings on mary jane should be the words DEATH in bold.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Those numbers are way off. We don’t spend tens of billions on law enforcement just for pot. That figure includes efforts against meth, heroine, crack, etc. So even if you were to legalize pot (reasonable minds can differ on that issue), you wouldn’t get those savings because the enforcement would have to be maintained at essentially the same levels for the other drugs. (fyi, people who say we should legalize all drugs are sort of like Ayn Rand A**holes. you can bombard them with facts all you want, but it won’t get you anywhere.)
November 16th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Interesting how even the discussion of legalization seems to bring idiots out of the woodwork…
November 16th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
@Daffyorbugs
no its not. it takes quit a bit of work actually.
@Charlatan
How many people are incarcerated just for weed related possession? It’s quite a bit higher than you care to believe.
@ashpelham2
there are ZERO proven medical benefits to tobacco. this is not the case for cannabis.
And for the fear mongers on this site, give me one good credible reason hemp is illegal. cotton subsidy doesnt count.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
@sherm
High school kids can do it well. Guarantee you.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
As someone who used marijuana for around 9 years many years ago, I would be against legalization. If people want to grow their own and use it themselves, fine. As long as they don’t sell, trade, barter or exchange it in some way (become a dealer/distributor.
Make no mistake about it – if pot became legal, big tobacco would be the natural beneficiary and they would get another product to distribute for the government to collect tax on.
And pot is not benign as many delude themselves into thinking. It cause lung problems, just as inhaling tobacco does. And it may also cause DNA damage. See:
===============
Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test Reveals
ScienceDaily (June 15, 2009) — Using a highly sensitive new test, scientists in Europe are reporting “convincing evidence” that marijuana smoke damages the genetic material DNA in ways that could increase the risk of cancer.
Rajinder Singh and colleagues note that toxic substances in tobacco smoke can damage DNA and increase the risk of lung and other cancers. However, there has been uncertainty over whether marijuana smoke has the same effect. Scientists are especially concerned about the toxicity of acetaldehyde, present in both tobacco and marijuana. However, it has been difficult to measure DNA damage from acetaldehyde with conventional tests.
The scientists describe development and use of a modified mass spectrometry method that showed clear indications that marijuana smoke damages DNA.
…
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615095940.htm
November 16th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
@sherm
huh? I don’t recall saying that people aren’t incarcerated for weed. I said we don’t spend tens of billions on weed alone, so the graphic overstates the potential savings.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
If marijuana were legalized, then the legal retailers, the ones who must pay taxes and licensing fees, would see to it that the illegal dealers are prosecuted. Thus the cost of law enforcement would go down and the untaxed illegal drug trade would shrink.
It would also allow law enforcement to concentrate on illegal markets for prescription drugs such as Oxycontin & Xanax that are killing tens of thousands of good kids every year.
There are many similarities in the lack of ethical behavior of certain pharmaceutical companies and Wall Street firms. What can go wrong when greed has no boundaries.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I’d say that it’s about time that we stop wasting resources on the war against pot. Get over it already. The hypocrisy displayed in the fight against pot vs. the treatment of alcohol is just ridiculous. Yes there are negative aspects to pot, but no more than for alcohol, really. Prohibition of this type was proven to be counterproductive long ago. Let’s move past this and deal with the real problems we have.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Medical marijuana is a red herring. People smoke it to get high, and the high is nowhere near as dangerous or debilitating as that caused by pretty much any other drug, including and especially alcohol. End of story.
I will say that smoking anything is bad for your lungs. If legalized, I hope they include hashish for people who would rather ingest than smoke cannabis.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Hell. Now I want some brownies.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
@Charlatan
Well then. come up with a more credible number. It’s all public info. I’m saying you are down playing the amount that weed convictions alone cost taxpayers every year by saying this graphic is false.
I’ve seen far higher numbers.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Too many cheeseburgers will cause a heart attack or stroke. Ban that shit.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Country is going to hell in a handbasket. We might as well get a chance to light up!
November 16th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
The sun damages DNA. Jail time for sunbathers.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
@sherm
the graphic itself says that the figure relates to “drug use”, not pot use.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
@Jojo
“”convincing evidence” that marijuana smoke damages the genetic material DNA in ways that COULd increase the risk of cancer.” (emphasis mine.)
i’m convinced me going to Shenzen every year COULD increase my risk for cancer too.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Here’s some good reading:
“Deglamorising Cannabis”. The Lancet. Volume 346, Number 8985, November 11, 1995, p. 1241
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la…853-1/fulltext
If you dont want to pay to read it you can view it here:
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3476
You can take that first reference and compare it to these:
Alcohol and cancer. The Lancet. 2006.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16455479?dopt=Abstract
Tobacco use and cancer: an epidemiological perspective for geneticists. Oncogene. 2002
http://www.nature.com/onc/journal/v21/n48/abs/1205807a.html
here’s another:
Marijuana use and cancer incidence Cancer, Causes & Controls. 1997 | Leslie Iversen. The Science of Marijuana. Oxford University Press. 2000
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9328194?dopt=Abstract
November 16th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Also with respect to the issue with carcinogens and cancer risk associated with cannabis, problem solved:
http://legalbuds.com/herbalvaporizer_vapirone-v5.html
November 16th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
If you legalize it I can guarantee the price would go down to next to nothing.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
If legalized, there should be limits on production/ownership by any entity. Wouldn’t want a mega-corp controlling what should be a cottage industry. This would also keep quality high and act as a price support for anyone growing a quality crop.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Use your heads. Pot will never be taxed, and it has nothing to do with morality/ideology/blah blah blah. Quite frankly, the system doesn’t give a rat’s ass how you feel about it.
For pot to be taxed, it has to be legal. The moment pot is legal it will be grown everywhere and the value will be zippo. Do you have any idea how F@*#&%G easy it is to grow this stuff?
Pot is worth way more to the economy (on a $ basis) as an illegal substance than as a legal one. If it wasn’t, then possession would not be in the slow process of ‘decriminalization’ while growing and distributing it remains ‘illegal’. Seriously. Think about it.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
How bout Cocaine Powder?
November 16th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
For a drug that is so readily available, it’s ridiculous to not make it legal. It was banned to protect special interests like the timber industry rather than the children. Taxation would discourage consumption, which is a good thing when it comes to vices. Better than Washington taxing my labor. I’m also willing to bet it would decrease crime since a lot of dealers would be out of business.
I’ve never used it and wouldn’t even if it was legal. That’s why I’ve never understood those who oppose the legalization. What exactly is the fear?
November 16th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
CYM makes a good point – why would “the system” ever allow pot to be legal. It has far less damaging affects to both the body and society than alcohol does.
Yet if we suddenly legalize it what will that do to the prison guards union? How about the peace officers union? How about the drug enforcement agency? How many different parties in this country have a definitive vested interest in keeping pot illegal?
Follow the money, there is a lot more of it involved in keeping pot illegal than there is in potential tax receipts. . . .
November 16th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Oops – didn’t mean to steal most of your post cym, sorry
Hadn’t read yours before I posted mine!
November 16th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Sorry, hadn’t read yours all the way through – been a long Monday!
November 16th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
@ ashpelham2:
Have you ever been to Amsterdam? Both marijuana and prostitution are legal, yet not everyone is a pothead or a whoremonger. The question is that of free will and free choice of free people. If you are not restricting the freedom or property of others, then why is it illegal under criminal statutes?
As for the issue of morality, it is up to you to teach your children right vs. wrong. One key to the lesson is that morality and legality are not equivalent… For example, cheating on your wife is not illegal, but it is immoral. Should we stone adulterers in the town square in order the emphasize this?
HCF
November 16th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
@ashpelham2:
To add to my point, the economic productivity of the Dutch is very good, so even if they are in a marijuana induced haze, they do produce a lot per capita:
http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24193
They are more productive than the British, as well as all Swedes, Finnish, and Danish.
Why don’t we treat marijuana and other drug problems as what they should be: medical issues first and foremost and not criminal ones…
HCF
November 16th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
WHOOOAAAA DUDES, Lets put that in our pipe and some it.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
The war on drugs is a total failure and has been for years. To keep doing things the same way and to expect a different result is the definition of insanity.
If drugs were legalized the profit margis would disappear and most of the problems associated with drugs would disappear. Put a sin tax on them and use that tax money to educate the public about their dangers and to deal with the problem of addicts.
If the legislators that first criminalized drug use in the early 1900’s could see the results their laws created they never would have passed the laws in the first place. Today’s results are far worse than the problems they were intended to address.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
“. . . and use that tax money to educate the public about their dangers and to deal with the problem of addicts.”
____________
Yeah. Like we did with the tobacco settlement money!
November 16th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
One point that I haven’t seen brought up here is that legalizing pot would cut into criminal organizations profit margins. You want to reduce gang violence? Legalize it! IIRC something like 60% of revenue comes from the sale of marijuana.
Why ruin a person’s life because they smoked a joint? Want to reduce the overflowing number of people in our prisons? We have more people in prisons than China for christsake! Legalize Marijuana now!
November 16th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
@dussasr I agree completely
Marijuana is more then likely going to be made legal in the next 10-20 years….it’s inevitable due to the generational shift of the voting population.
What will be interesting to see is whether it becomes a large cash crop, grown commercially on a large scale, or if it stays mostly grown on a smaller scale……
…and if it becomes a large cash crop grown on a large scale, do the exchanges like the CME create a futures contract for commercial operations to hedge their exposure. It would be interesting if someday my children could trade the price of marijuana along with corn and wheat…..
just a thought
November 16th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Seeing we are talking about something that will probably not happen I would legalize all drugs and I mean all drugs. As the prisons stand empty I would turn them into rehab centers/live in distribution centers. The majority of the criminal class would disappear. Major funding for narco terrorism would cease. Prisons, the current universities for criminals would stop graduating career thugs. Police forces could be reduced while spending their time on serious crime.
I accept the fact that a certain percentage of humanity will be strung out on something, legal or otherwise. It’s part of the human condition. I want to stop turning decent people into criminals. If everyone you knew who once did drugs was sent to prison because they were unlucky enough to get caught your life would be measurably different. Perhaps known/unknown members of your own or extended family would be in jail.
Someday enough folks will realize this and more and drugs will be made legal as they were prior to the 20th century.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
@Patrick Neid Well said. Especially the part about wanting to stop turning decent people into criminals.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I don’t think legalizing drugs would end violent crime — the criminal syndicates now smuggling and selling drugs of all kinds would just move on to other areas of crime. They wouldn’t suddenly turn into tax-paying parts of the above-ground economy.
Legalizing and taxing dope would be less of a problem, but legalizing more addictive substances would be a problem by displacing criminals.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
“the wire” an HBO series gives a great view of criminal enterprises and the political establishment, they feed off each other.
Just watching it again, it is amazing how good it is, so much I missed the first time through.
And yes, of course the ‘drug policy’ should be changed.
As an example, bootleggers during the 1920’s were huge supporters of prohibition. Why not let the government take care of your competition?
November 16th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Maybe we should legalize marijuana and have it grown in prison green houses by prisoners. The prisoners could then be encouraged to smoke as much of it as they’d like. It would generate income to finance prisons and reduce prison violence.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
dwkunkel Dude, if’n they went with your cool ass plan, there would be now prison violence to reduce….
Smoke on bro.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Back in high school, I’m guessing that at most 75% of the stuff was from outside a 15-mile radius. I knew an old woman once who transplanted it to the front yard accidentally, because she thought it was pretty. The police helpfully pointed that out to her. No, no jail time, not even an arrest. No, not even a civil citation.
As other commenters pointed out, the idea of a commercial market is somewhat dubious. If we can sell water, we can sell most anything. I have a feeling that $5 bottles of water with $4 being in taxes aren’t going to fly anywhere though. The prison population of potheads is more a motley mix of plea bargains and repeat offenders. Sure, there are some poster children for abuse of discretion, but most of these folks we are quite relieved to find behind prison walls.
This isn’t an argument legalization. It’s just the arguments for legalization tend to be rather poor or perhaps just thought up in a cloudy room.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
“As the deficit gets larger, this one actually has a non-zero chance of passing . . .”
I’m not so sure Barry, common sense isn’t all that common, but if you look at the recent fear mongering campaign about healthcare, and efficient reform would save a lot of money, I think the pot issue will draw bigger crowds and problems.
I’m not a pot smoker but I don’t mind people doing it and the same goes to gay marriage, but a lot of folks out there have a lot of issues about what has absolutely no impact on their existence, legal pot is a long way away in my opinion.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Well you know this all takes me back to the old trapper himself . Bud Grant. When he was coaching the Vikings he made some off handed remarks about the second biggest cash crop in America. Even he didnt think it was corn, and that was decades ago. Would you rather see your children stoned or hanging around with Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and Orren Hatch? Learning about morality.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Making pot legal and taxing it makes far too much sense for the U.S. government to consider it.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
I doubt it will be legalized as a first step and no way the Feds will lead the way.
Could u imagine the outrage if Obama allowed it to be decriminalized at the Federal level.
He would go from being a fascist to the devil himself.. not politically tenable for the dems unless O gets a 2nd term.
The trend in the states is already underway.. first decimalize it, then gradually allow small amounts to be grown for personal. Still illegal to sell transport etc.
Since the demand will never go away regardless of its legal status, something sensible needs to happen.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Lets face it everyone can buy pot anytime. Legalization is just a formality to help the economy so lets do it. Its as good as legal here in CAlifornia. See a Doctor, tell him where it hurts, get a perscription , go to legal “Medical Marijuana “dispensary and buy some bend.
Some people try pot or keep smoking it to be cool and outlaw but if the nerd is smoking next to the tatoo it has the same cool killing effect as the nerds and suits riding harleys. I dont do either any more.
This old bumper sticker kinda sums it up: “BE A CONFORMIST: RIDE A HARLEY” LOL
Hers a website for the local dispensary here…..Free delivery & Free brownie with every purchase! LOL Yep folks thats what its come to. Getting “big government” out of your body.
https://www.maryjanesbud.com/cart2/ ( for information pourposes only!)
November 16th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Jocelyn Elders.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I’m all for legalizing it. That would mean the expense and idiocy of incarcerating people for having or using it and investigating people for growing it would go away. The war on pot is a burden and an embarrassment.
BUT…
Can this country handle a new vice? I know that most of California knows how to drive on the stuff but we’re looking at an early spike in weed related casualties initially… definitely a spike in reporting of weed related casualties by our on-the-ball-after-the-fact MSM.
Amsterdam is a wonderful place, one of my favorites. On a non-summer weekday it is is beyond pleasant, truly evolved and civilized. But on the weekends when young Europeans arrive to party ‘n’ puke and in the summer when the young Americans arrive in droves to indulge you get a glimpse of what it would be like if people suddenly had access here.
Legalization, like religion, science, political influence, derivatives, cars, butter knives, whatever… ideas that are meant to move society forward usually become dangerous when wielded by those who are careless and indulgent.
But overall, I side with Peter Tosh on this one… always will.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
To get a realistic view of why marijuana should/not become legalized it is important to look at WHY and how it first became illegal.
Premise alcohol was legal until it wasn’t, it was then illegal until it wasn’t. Why?
Marijuana was legal until it wasn’t, it still is not legal. Why is it still not legal?
Marijuana has been widely used by peoples indigenous to America, once the U S Government started to establish control of the South West, more and more white people started to move into this area and come into contact with Native People who, just so happened to smoke dope, many of the white people who pot liked it and this did not present a problem until the non-native population started to out number the native population.
Many laws that are put into place are used to control the populace NOT for the best interest of the populace, and a good way to control people is to control their habits, many of the first laws against marijuana were put into place to control the darker skinned people with different habits.
We all know prohibition did not stop people from drinking, but what was the root cause of having this law overturned? Alcohol is a white person drug, if it was not it would still be illegal.
Many people see smoking dope as not only wrong, but dirty. Why? Isn’t smoking cigarettes wrong and dirty? Not to mention MORE addictive. So why isn’t smoking illegal? Because it is a white person habit.
As the social mood for marijuana becomes more and more relaxed, more and more white people are finding “medical” uses for it – Heck if you are taking it for medical reasons it can’t be dirty can it?
Marijuana should have never been made illegal in the first place.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
The war on drugs was a farce. Anybody with a brain cell will see that the war on druges was a farce. That America had a lot to gain by keeping drugs illegal and feeding the South American Dictators Drug dealers.
As if people would smoke up more because it is legalized. Some people will fry their brain whether it’s legal or not. You can sniff all kinds of stuff, maybe we should make everything illegal. Maybe we should also put on a helmet when going out for our daily walk.
I will never understand America’s fascination with scarlet lettering. One the one hand, America will take years to sentence white collar criminals who pushed the defrauded into addictions. But they’ll throw the addicted in jail in a heartbeat. Go figure.
November 16th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Vancouver would be in financial distress. really..:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/topic.html?t=topic&q=marijuana
November 16th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
As several people have already said, the main effect of the war on drugs, aka Prohibition, Jr., is to put billions of dollars into the pockets of every more violent and dangerous criminal organizations. Anyone who thinks that drug use is reduced by these laws, well, it only goes to show, you don’t need drugs to hallucinate! America is the world’s largest consumer of all sorts of drugs. Anyway, for an excellent account of the foolish and sometimes vicious decisions that led to the current disaster, read Mike Gray’s Drug Crazy, which is available free online at http://www.libertary.com/books/drug-crazy.
And danm, those same white collar criminals kids don’t go to jail either. When it comes to drugs, the court system is certainly not color blind. It not only deals out harsher punishments to Blacks, but it’s the long green that buys a high powered lawyer who can work miracles in the courtroom.
November 16th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Not to mention the cost savings in medical costs by being subject to quality control and Good Manufacturing Practise (GMP)
November 16th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I apologize if someone has already mentioned this…I read through most of the comments, but not all…………This is an economic blog and no one mentioned supply and demand?
Once you eliminate the risk involved in manufacturing mary jane……..the costs will decrease dramatically. Therefore, these estimates are probably wayyyyyyyyy too high.
Unless, for some reason, the straights suddenly find themselves getting high, and wanting to get high more and more………..once the cache has been spent……..I wouldn’t bank on it.
And while I am one of those “Ayn Rand a$$h@les” this current round of “progressiveness” is merely more evidence of how bankrupt our political class is………….literally, and morally.
Because when the deciding factor is money……..your basically a whore. Very few are making the argument based on liberty or even humane reasons (prison for a lil weed? really?). No, the overwhelming majority of the arguments are made to plug the holes of their various state and local budgets.
One has to ask………where will politicos venture for the next holes in their budgets?
November 16th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Subjects like this lend themselves well to thumbs up/down functionality. Is it possible to add this?
November 17th, 2009 at 7:16 am
I think it is interesting that there is a substantial minority on this board that favors legalization yet no one can imagine it being actually legalized. I bet people in the 40s had a hard time imagining black people voting too. Maybe this isn’t as far fetched as everyone assumes.
@Jojo – I agree about needing the thumbs. I like this feature over at marketwatch.com, but hate those boards since my IQ drops every minute I spend there. Much smarter class of people over here (even if they disagree with me from time to time!.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:22 am
I was referring above to the civil rights act that made it easier for blacks to exercise their right to vote, not the 15th amendment ratified in 1870.
November 17th, 2009 at 9:51 am
Wait a minute. That graphic says California can only get $100 million or so from taxing pot? If so, that is chump change. California has a $30 billion structural deficit. $100 million is like coming across some guy who is starving in the street and giving him one penny. (“Here you go. Have a meal on me.”)
November 17th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Socionomics forecasts deregulation and more tolerance towards marijuana possession: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327204.100-could-recession-end-cannabis-ban.html
November 17th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Man, I’m late to the game from yesterday. I got a bit busy trying to make money the legal way, so I didn’t get back to follow up on comments following my post.
I’m just strongly against making it easier to access something simply because we need the tax revenue from it. And that will be the main selling point by Pols who wish to see this happen. Because, what we really are saying, is that we need to make marijuana, green leaf, chronic, what-have-you, legal to raise revenues. For what? For schools, streets, civil service, etc….Blah. Give me a break. If we begin to legalize one drug that is a scientifically proven hallucinagen (sp), we start down a slippery slope of legalizing it’s variants, and it’s methods of dosing.
To everyone that is in favor of it, I just respectfully disagree with you on all levels. I don’t see an America that is orderly and productive if hallucinagenic (sp) substances are floating around easy to obtain.
I would like to see the legal drinking age dropped to 19, however. Discuss if you wish.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
@ ashpelham2 just because you don’t try, doesn’t mean they aren’t floating around easy to obtain.