Posted on 05/29/2016 1:06:16 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Two years after Colorado began its first retail sales of cannabis, towns and cities across the state are enjoying the benefits in a number of ways. With sales this year expected to reach $1 billion, local governments are seeing windfalls of tax revenue, which is funding education, recreation, infrastructure improvements, and even aid to the homeless.
The small town of Mountain View may be able to dispel its reputation for collecting revenue through speeding tickets, now that two pot shops reside there.
“We have such a small tax base,” said Mayor Jeff Kiddie, who opposed pot stores. “Medical and retail marijuana have definitely helped the town’s bottom line. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t.”
Similar stories abound in the 22 counties and 62 cities that allow retail cannabis sales.
In Aurora, which has collected millions in sales taxes and fees since October 2014, the City Council keeps the money in a separate fund so it can show the public exactly where cannabis revenue is spent. $1.5 million will be used to address the homeless issue, $2.8 million will go toward a recreation center, and $3.8 million will fund an Interstate 225 crossing.
Northglenn uses the money for capital projects and to purchase water rights. Adams County will spend $500,000 on scholarships for low-income students. Filling potholes and fixing roads is a common theme in other towns.
“There’s a lot of money left over to address safety issues that come up or really take on projects that these local communities do not necessarily have the funds to deal with,” said Mike Elliott, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group. “For some communities, this tax revenue has made a huge difference.”
Denver collected $29 million last year through taxes and licensing fees; the capitol city prefers to spend this revenue on “ramped-up regulation, enforcement, public health and education efforts.”
While bureaucrats both honest and crooked are reveling in the flush of cash, more importantly, Colorado citizens are reveling in their newfound freedom. Judging by the immense market impact of retail sales, cannabis is a popular product.
Perhaps people are finding it a better and safer alternative than alcohol. There is evidence that people are giving up prescription painkillers in favor of medical cannabis.
A fifth major benefit of legal cannabis sales is the dwindling black market. The federal government’s own statistics show that since 2012, when Washington and Colorado voted to legalize cannabis, trafficking offenses have fallen sharply.
Violence is less of a concern in cannabis trafficking than the issue of unknown origin and handling. With legalization, consumers know exactly where their product comes from and what is in it, including the THC content.
Competition that can operate in the open, instead of having to hide from a senseless drug war, is able to produce the highest quality product using responsible environmental practices.
The temptation of tax revenue is certainly one reason why lawmakers in Colorado and other states have endorsed recreational cannabis sales. But taxation should not be the guiding force for legalization.
Oregon is proving this point. Authorities in the Beaver State have enacted a 25 percent sales tax on recreational cannabis, which is causing some people to consider going back to the black market. This eagerness to collect as much revenue as possible is a symptom of burgeoning government and threatens to drive people away from the legal market.
On the good side, Oregon does not tax medical cannabis at all, perhaps because their medical laws have been in existence since 1998 and sudden taxation would meet with fierce resistance. It is important that other states, as they legalize medical use and sales, follow this example of no taxation.
Colorado continues to provide an interesting experiment in the legalization of a plant that has been demonized by government for decades. While taxation of recreational use is allowing cities to provide community benefits, let’s remember that freedom is the number one reason why legalization must happen everywhere.
Yeah the author talks about it like a new silicon valley just opened up the spouts off about chump change. Aurora is building a freeway overpass with the money? How much you want to bet the freeway overpass costs them 5 times the amount the author listed and the city basically lied to the taxpayers that the pot revenue would pay for it. What government project doesn't have cost overruns.
Look I'm all for the legalization of marijuana but if you want to sell me on the money it brings in, it would have to account for half the state budget before I thought you had an argument.
Yeah. One. The potheads need to lighten up. If they love paying taxes so damn much, why don’t they get jobs.
Soros stooge Justin Gardner goes through the motions for his master.
I conducted lots of urinalysis lockdowns in the Army, sat on admin separation boards for those who popped hot, and p**d in the bottle more times than I can remember.
Alcohol is eliminated from the body within 72 hours & occurs naturally; it’s water soluble. Consuming alcohol is not illegal, the abuse of it is.
THC is foreign to the body, fat soluble and embeds in fatty tissue for up to 30 days. Major difference in terms of exposure, effects, and detectability.
“Alcohol is a drug!!” is a common saying among pot users from wayback. We’re not even on the subject of pot legalization and increase in crime where it is.
The two are not the same and are not equivalent.
Drugs to pay for old people debt on the back of young addicts.
And don’t forget filling those all important mental hospital beds where volunteers can “help” the patients vote Democrat.
Regardless of the source of revenue, governments tend to spend about $1.30 per each $1 collected. That’s leaving out the unfunded pension and lifetime medical liability for every employee hired with these “windfall” revenues.
Why would libertarians want government to have more money, more employees, more power?
It’s never enough. Taxes will continue to rise
Why, again, is hemp production illegal?
“We’re not even on the subject of pot legalization and increase in crime where it is.”
Please provide a link or post documentation showing an increase in crime in my metro area, Tri-Cities, WA, since marijuana was legalized.
Also interested in research showing harmful effects of small or moderate amounts of THC in adipose tissue consistent with occasional use.
Condescend much? You should try some weed - it might improve your personality.
I don’t know but I’ve found CBD derived from hemp to be medically useful. I use that product although pot is legal here, for no particular reason other than I could mail order it.
Industrial hemp has incredibly uses and should be absolutely legal to grow. Totally different from regular high THC pot. As everyone knows.
Actually the dope growers around here don’t want industrial hemp grown since they’re afraid the pollen will mix with their Dayglo Orange or Purple Frizz and render it less dope-ifying.
The whole plant is useful for something. Almost nothing goes to waste.
Want to make a Lib’s head explode? Suggest using hemp rope to hang prisoners.
High THC pot makes a lot of people termporarly nutz, and some permanently. Since it’s legal to grow here now, crime and traffic accidents way up. Doper head people can’t think straight. People from other states are coming here and snapping up property so than can grow and get rich quick, so even rents are too high for a lot of local people. A while ago a hash oil place exploded and one guy got 3rd degree burns, I think he died. There are some kinds of permits or regulations required, especially regarding water use, but no one cares or follows them.
Libertarians just care about the dope they can smoke and sell.
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