SF Assemblyman Tom Ammiano wants California to smoke its way out of a deficit and I don't mean

The Intellectual Redneck ^ | February 23, 2009 | The Intellectual Redneck

[Askwhy5times]

Leave it to a loony Assemblyman from San Fransisco to suggest legalizing marijuana and taxing the sale of it as a way to improve the states budget. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano claims this would raise $1 billion dollars per year with a tax of $50 for every ounce. I wonder how he came up with that number? Perhaps, Assemblyman Ammiano has been doing a little personal research

[Askwhy5times]

Perhaps, the Governator has been doing research too. Something is causing Arnold to act strange lately.

[GSWarrior]

Well, I thought I’d never say this, but I agree with the comic assemblyman.

[skipper18]

That’s a 25 % tax on the current street price of a quarter.

:)

[FlingWingFlyer]

Since everyone would just grown their own, would these “taxes” be on the honor system or what, maaaaaann! Potheads crack me up.

[arthurus]

A tax that high would produce very high evasion rates and would NOT collect anywhere near the projected revenue, especially as legalization (disregarding the inevitable Fed crackdown) would drastically drop the price of the stuff on the street.

[mysterio]

That tax is too high. The black market would still exist. It should be legalized and taxed at a normal rate.

[SmallGovRepub]

“Since everyone would just grown their own, would these “taxes” be on the honor system or what, maaaaaann! Potheads crack me up.”

What makes you think everybody would just grow their own? Those medical marijuana dispensaries sell expensive pot to people with medical marijuana cards who could just grow their own. Coffeeshops in the Netherlands sell pot to the Dutch who can grow up to five plants without fear of arrest. Sales taxes are collected in both instances yet these shops do gangbusters business. In California these shops are selling pot for in many cases for $20 or $30 a gram or more and people who could grow their own are paying that. Clearly “everyone” won't just grow their own.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

$50.00 tax per ounce?

Great. The stuff can't cost that much on the street. So that means people would be driven to crime to get money to pay the tax which puts us right back where we started.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Okay. LOL! We’ll agree to disagree.

[SmallGovRepub]

That tax really isn't that high. From what I understand pot is expensive in California. When you read about prices at these medical marijuana dispensaries you see that people are often paying $20 or $30 a gram. That tax would amount to less than $2 a gram. I don't think this legislation has any chance of passing, but if production and sales of marijuana were regulated wholesale costs would drop through the floor. If farmers could grow it on large farms using modern agricultural methods, mechanizing as much as possible and finding uses for the whole plant and not just the buds production costs would plummet. Take away the risk of seizure and arrest and the high costs associated with having so many middlemen who want a hefty profit to justify their risk and wholesale costs would plummet further. There is no reason marijuana should cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars a pound. It is that expensive because it is illegal. When it finally is legalized producers will be competing on price, implementing cost cutting measures and fine tuning their systems until it is super cheap. The only way we'll be able to keep retail costs anywhere close to what they are today is through taxes and excises. The first year I would think it would not be a good idea to go higher than normal sales taxes, but after that prices are going to go down every year until producers have their systems totally dialed in and there will be lots of room for more taxes.

[SmallGovRepub]

“$50.00 tax per ounce?
Great. The stuff can’t cost that much on the street.”

They’re paying several hundred dollars an ounce, although they usually buy it in much smaller amounts than whole ounces. The Mexican stuff they see a lot of in Southern California isn’t super expensive but probably costs more than $50 an ounce except for maybe right on the border. The stuff they grow in Northern California goes for several thousand dollars a pound and several hundred dollars an ounce. I’ve read about prices at these medical marijuana dispensaries and people are often paying $20 or $30 a gram at these shops. Fifty bucks an ounce would amount to a tax of less than $2 a gram.

[ChrisInAR]

So do I....good for Mr. Ammiano! I’m not so sure about the #’s that he puts out, but EVERY little bit helps.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Huh!

Thank you, I did not know that. I figured it was about $100.00 a pound since they always show people with quart baggies full of the stuff.

Add that to the list of vices too rich for my blood.

[SmallGovRepub]

It's expensive but it's so potent it's still probably cheaper than beer on a per use basis, maybe not Milwaukee's Best cheap, but the premium stuff is still probably cheaper than premium beer on a per use basis. Mexican is cheaper than the cheapest beer in most places. I'm in the South and from what I understand it really does often sell for $50 or $60 an ounce in my area to people who know where to look for it. Most people are buying quarter ounces for around $25 from what I hear. The super pricey stuff is out there but hardly anyone will pay several times the price of Mexican for it. I'm a lawyer and I'm in court all the time and the stuff the police bring in in their little evidence bags is almost always cheapo compressed Mexican pot. We're awash in that stuff ever since all the Mexicans came. It's at least as cheap as it was back in the eighties in my pot smoking days, and from what I understand it's gotten a lot better.