Colorado Weed Sales - $1.9 Million towards schools

[SayOw]

Big surprise...

In Colorado, crime is down, unemployment dropping and the Colorado state government is on pace to make $30 million in tax revenue from legal marijuana sales.

Story here.

[yon Beast]

as someone who has tried a puff or two....

It appears there is no downside to what they have done there.
DWI offenders might be one but remains to be seen.

Not counting medicinal weed sales, Colorado sold nearly $19 million in their recreational weed market in the month of March, and $1.9 million of that goes straight into government coffers and towards building schools. At this pace, according to PolicyMic, Colorado will make $30 million this year in pot taxes alone.

very nice!....and a grossly conservative estimate.



**curious though....where does the other 90% go??

[rich76]

terrific....a state full of stoneheads.......too early to really tell if it's a good or bad thing. I will say this...there have been sporadic stories of children being influenced....either by getting their hands on their parents or grandparents stash or others in schools eating pot laced "treats". Not good.

[P562045]

So making something that let us be honest a lot of people do that was illegal before legal in some states of course the crime rate will go down in those states.

[yon Beast]

yes...the crime rate...lol.

kind of a ridiculous stat for this application.
the consequences remain to be seen....but the cash coming in may displace any consequence.

hey rich!!...you bring up a good point. I would say the liquor cabinet has been around for years...as have gun cabinets. Neither work very well without a lock on them.

the "recreational" use of this drug seems to be overshadowing the medicinal value. After all, if it weren't for the positive affects on ill patients....I'm not so sure it would have been legalized!

[Runt]

We legalized marijuana use in Washington as well but are a bit behind Colorado in implementing the sales side of things. So we aren't seeing the tax revenues just yet. But the leaders in Olympia are licking their chops in anticipation.

Recreational marijuana sales would never have had a chance if the medical marijuana policies had been enforced. Marijuana does have positive benefits for some legitimate medical conditions; but, let's face it, many, if not most, medical marijuana "patients" were simply recreational users that found a way around the law. They found a sympathetic doctor and got a free pass to use, buy and grow their medicine with little or no regulation. What other prescribed medicine, regulated by the FDA, allowed patients to produce it themselves?

The wide acceptance of nearly unregulated use of a prescribed "medicine" is what led to the legalization of recreational use. That and the taxes the government is now able to levy. In Washington, recreational marijuana will be taxes at 25% at each level of production and sales. 25% from the grower to the processor; 25% to the retailer and 25% to the buyer/user. That is a lot of taxes and was something the state government just couldn't resist.

I voted against it. I really don't think our children and young adults need another temptation. Just because everybody else is running off the cliff, doesn't make it wise to put on a lemming suit and join them. But if we were going to legalize it, I wanted the money to stay in Washington State. All legal marijuana should be grown and processed within state lines. That would keep the feds out of the issue, keep the jobs and revenues in the state and prevent continued drug traffic across our national borders. There is no assurance that is what will happen, particularly as more and more states go down this path.

The other problem is that legalized recreational use muddies the water on enforcement of untaxed and still-illegal black-market sales. You have to know that current illegal users are not going to be happy to pay the significantly higher price for taxed, legal marijuana.

[yon Beast]

Canada has something going on as well...

way more of a cluster**** but with ironing can work the way it should.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/medica...sion-1.2588779

on the other hand....I gonna need a bigger wallet to carry all these licenses around Lets see....drive....gun....fish....

[SayOw]

Originally Posted by Runt

The other problem is that legalized recreational use muddies the water on enforcement of untaxed and still-illegal black-market sales. You have to know that current illegal users are not going to be happy to pay the significantly higher price for taxed, legal marijuana.

Legal marijuana is not significantly higher priced...in fact even with all the taxes, it is still relatively cheap than it's illegal counterpart.

I know where I am located, legally purchased marijuana from Colorado is making it's way to my region and the price hasn't increased at the street level. So, it just goes to show that a person is likely traveling to Colorado, legally purchasing the marijuana and driving it to this area and selling it at the same price it has always been sold at...and you would then assume, this is all being done for a profit.

[EDIT/ADDED:

Just looking at the weed prices quoted online, marijuana is 25-50% cheaper in Colorado than marijuana sold on the street in my region...so making a "run" to Colorado and back is a very profitable option for those that choose to do so.]

[SiteWolf]

Agree with it or not, and obviously there are very good reasons on both sides, there can be very strong positives to legalization. Not only do you create a very strong new tax revenue source, but another aspect people do NOT talk about as much is....you take a noticeable chunk of law enforcement cost OFF the ledger as well- if it's no longer illegal, officers don't have to police it nearly as much.

Just had this discussion a week or two ago a couple beers or so into a Friday night. When people my age were in college, the strength of most marijuana available was significantly LESS than most of what is available now. What is 'normal' now is what carried a premium price then...IF it was available.

To an extent, the strengths have some comparison to alcohol in that beer<mixed drinks<shots<alcohol only shots ...an increasingly higher level of alcohol from one to the next. One of the problems I see with today's weed market is...EVERYthing available is in the high strength level.

Policing it, with some states legal and some not, now takes on new wrinkles.