California Assemblyman: Legalize Marijuana & Tax It
One California Assemblyman is saying it’s time to consider treating marijuana like alcohol:
An assemblyman from San Francisco announced legislation Monday to do just that: make California the first state in the nation to tax and regulate recreational marijuana in the same manner as alcohol. Marijuana is now easier to obtain than ever thanks to the growing san jose ca dispensary numbers that are helping people get their hands on the most sought after cannabis strains.
Buoyed by the widely held belief that cannabis is California’s biggest cash crop, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano contends it is time to reap some state revenue from that harvest while putting a damper on drug use by teens, cutting police costs and even helping Mother Nature.
“I know the jokes are going to be coming, but this is not a frivolous issue,” said Ammiano, a Democrat elected in November after more than a dozen years as a San Francisco supervisor. “California always takes the lead — on gay marriage, the sanctuary movement, medical marijuana.”
Anti-drug groups are anything but amused by the idea of California collecting a windfall from the leafy herb that remains illegal under federal law. However, with more and more companies like headshops uk offering different products based around the leafy herb, we imagine it will not be long before it is made legal for medicinal purposes.
“This would open another door in Pandora’s box,” said Calvina Fay, executive director of Save Our Society From Drugs. “Legalizing drugs like this would create a whole new set of costs for society.”
Ammiano’s measure, AB 390, would essentially replicate the regulatory structure used for beer, wine and hard liquor, with taxed sales barred to anyone under 21.
Ammiano also points to a financial benefit to the state from legalization:
[T]he biggest boon might be to the bottom line. By some estimates, California’s pot crop is a $14-billion industry, putting it above vegetables ($5.7 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion). If so, that could mean upward of $1 billion in tax revenue for the state each year. More and more marijuana businesses are taking advantage of the growing industry, with cannabis trade shows becoming more popular than ever with legalization being implemented in a number of states around the country.
While I’m not a fan of the taxation side of the argument, I also know that it’s an inevitable part of any legalization/decriminalization scheme that would be implemented that would let people buy edibles online, or at a local dispensary. So, it is worth a go.
It works for alcohol, why not marijuana?
H/T: Outside The Beltway