Legitimacy of Pot Tax Revenue Remains Hazy

[flashl]

California's potential $16 billion budget shortfall has led state officials to an unusual source for tax revenue — medical marijuana storefronts. In a state where it's legal to buy prescription pot, those shops generate millions of dollars each year. But there's just one problem — buying and selling marijuana is still a federal crime.

...

Medical marijuana advocates estimate that the aggregate annual sales tax revenue that's paid by the approximately 400 dispensaries in California is $100 million. Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, says the state actually makes it easy for pot venders to do business without revealing their product by issuing generic "sellers permits."

"This goes a few steps forward in legitimizing medical marijuana at the state level," he says. "And you would expect that the state would like to protect that revenue source."

California's Board of Equalization, the agency that collects sales taxes, wants to protect that revenue stream.

NPR

[Firethorn]

1. What I've said a number of times...

1. Legalize it
2. Regulate it(for safety)
3. Tax it

And you've just turned a money sink into a money mine.

By legalize it I mean no half measures like decriminalization - when you do that you generally leave aspects criminal, and therefore subject to all the nastiness that tends to infect criminal enterprises.

By Regulate I mean 'similar to alcohol/tobacco'. 18 or 21 to purchase, in as safe of a form as possible, not adulterated with hazardous substances, etc... I'm fully aware that many of these substances are, by nature, at least somewhat poisonous. But I go by the model of prohibition - during prohibition you often got alcohol contaminated with methanol - drastically increasing the toxicity. When prohibition ended this problem essentially disappeared.

Tax it - Great way to sell the legalization to the public, balance the budget, and fund common sense treatment centers for non-functional addicts*


*Lets face it, we generally don't do anything for functional addicts of alcohol & tobacco.