Politics | June 11, 2009 | 4 comments

If governments legalize marijuana, how much revenue can they raise from it?

source: http://www.slate.com/id/2220221/

Image
atomiclegion
The worse the economy gets, the better marijuana looks—not necessarily for its psychedelic properties, but for its revenue potential. As more cities and states face budget deficits, the idea that legal, regulated marijuana could reel in a bounty of taxes is gaining traction. This development has confounded legalization advocates, rendering their FAQs nearly irrelevant and plunging them into an unfamiliar debate: OK, say we legalize pot. How should we tax it?
  1. groups:
    Politics,   Law,   Drugs
  2. tags:
    Politics,  Economy,  Law,  Marijuana,  23 more
  3.     
    |

4 comments // If governments legalize marijuana, how much revenue can they raise from it?

  • twitterbot
  • starbuckthecat
    • 0
      starbuckthecat  

    • I believe that as the recession turns into the Great Depression II: Electric Boogaloo, the government will legalize marijuana in order to get a slice of the pie. They overturned Prohibition in 1933 for the same reason.

    • 2 years ago
  • devin5
    • 0
      devin5  

    • I am admittedly not an expert on the steps involved in growing and taxing tobacco, but could we not tax marijuana the same way? From what I understand the govt.'s biggest issue with the taxation of marijuana is the common person's ability to grow it him or herself, but could we not, theoretically grow our own tobacco? Like I said, I know almost nothing about growing, curing or taxing tobacco but hell, almost 100% of my friends utilize marijuana and would happily pay even an exorbitant tax to buy it legally. I mean, my friends alone could probably cut the American deficit in half by 2010.

      At the very least I would like to see marijuana taken out of the classification of a level one drug which puts it on par with the likes of cocaine, heroin, and meth (the scariest of all) because all that classification does is crowd correctional facilities, waste the police's time and waste taxpayer money. Come on America, you can still be the coolest kid on the block. It isn't too late.

    • 2 years ago
  • MirrorLake
    • 0
      MirrorLake  

    • It's good to see such a serious examination of the issue. I'm glad this idea is actually being considered.

      Honestly, I really like the idea of the government taxing the hell out of things that are bad for my health. I never considered that taxes could have a dual purpose. Teenagers are smoking less cigarettes because of the higher tax, which is great.

    • 2 years ago
more from Politics:
from the community

top videos