The Feds published new guidelines that should take care of that problem: http://www.9news.com/dontmiss/377587/630/Feds-release-marijuana-banking-rules
Aaaaaand here's where the scale tips. Tax money rolling in in large quantities? Legalize that shit everywhere! Let the good times roll!
I wonder if it'll end up like Gaming with Colorado and Washington pot companies funding anti-legalization measures in nearby states.
I was thinking as I posted that pot will probably follow the legalized gambling template almost to the letter.
For some reason I liken this to a "doctor" bleeding the patient for their health. Actually the loss of revenue from arrests and confiscations likely has a strong play in these moves, especially the 5 mil to the law enforcement end of things.
They need to. They've taken what would be to most a product many want for recreation and have turned it into a reason to kill and murder thousands. That's fucked up. If they'd just make it Ok to grow your own then that alone would cripple those bastards but then the government guys wouldn't get their cut in monies so hell, relieve the stigma associated with indulging and make a license for the stuff and back off. Seems the most win-win for the good guys all around to me.
Demand is outstripping supply. The state is looking for ways to increase production by about 50%. http://inewsnetwork.org/2014/08/13/...tpaces-legal-supply-black-market-filling-gap/
Sorry to shit on your marijuana parade, folks, but $100-million is less than a drop in the bucket compared to the State of Colorado's total revenue of about $30-billion. You really want to sell this story? Someone needs to figure out exactly how much money is being saved on law enforcement, legal costs and any related budget expenses prior to legalization. I suspect if someone were to do the math, it might not look so good. I doubt the budgets of state and local police, in addition to district attorney and court expenses, have been reduced accordingly. I am very much pro-legalization (and not just marijuana) but if we're going to make the case, it has to be a damn good one. Augmenting state revenue by roughly 0.003% is not a good argument.
Revenue shouldn't even enter the discussion. Legalization matters for the principle that adults should be allowed to treat their own bodies in a fashion of their own choosing. Yes, $100 million isn't much, even in a small state like Colorado. But freedom is not something to subject to a cost/benefit analysis.
Agreed to a point. But freedom isn't limitless. I'm not free to murder you, for example, without severe consequences. And there can be significant issues concerning marijuana use. Should I be allowed to drive a vehicle while high? How far can the state go to search, seize and prosecute drug offences? What are the costs to taxpayers and to individual freedoms? In that regard, there definitely should be a cost/benefit analysis. Both economically and socially.
I didn't think I really needed to add that I wasn't granting freedom to swing the fist as far as the next guy's nose. I think we all understand that concept.
Good for them if they do! They were the states with the balls to go for legalization so fuck every other state that is too late for the party.
