None of these things ever turn out. Even Gambling, you find you don’t get anywhere near the $$$ expected.
People just don’t learn.
Legalize it, fine, but don’t sell it as a boon to the economy.
No kidding. Texas Lottery was supposed to solve much of the school financing problem, but they are still in a constant crisis for funding.
It’s a sickness. Leftists everywhere are trying to legalize, regulate and tax every vice. In WA state, they taxed legal pot at the wholesale level. But by year 2 there was such a glut of supply that the wholesale prices fell by 2/3 to $7 a gram, which put them far short of the revenue expectations.
California attempted to fix that by a labyrinthine regulatory and permitting scheme where every plant is tagged and tracked from seedling to bud to retail counter - where it is taxed at the retail side. They have the opposite problem with the same results. Tax revenues came in about 35% of what they expected and there is a threat to the supply over permitting hiccups. Plus, the stuff doesn’t last very long.
Prohibition of weed lasted so long that there was a perfectly functioning black market. Even when there was ‘medical mj’ people with the card (which was easy to get) could buy in bulk from bulk - they sold it like peanuts and the amount was weighed in the clinic/store. Now, many of the stores only sell pre-packaged, radio tagged, bar coded, and expensive vacuum sealed at the factory weed. A lot more expensive, and cumbersome, making it better to just stick with a black market supplier. Revenue shortfall ensues. No “boon” for the state, or for the retailers.
It’s madness to try to regulate it so aggressively. Should just be decrminalized for adults, and severe penalties if you give/sell to children. Government doesn’t need their fingers in it.
Look around, everything that was once the purview of the mob is now the purview of the government. Speakeasies during Prohibition turned into licensed bars and package stores. Loan sharking is now payday loans, licensed by the state. Drugs, licensed and taxed by the state. Gambling/”the numbers” is now licensed mainly to Native Americans and state lotteries. Prostitution is next.
Gambling made a ton of money for Vegas when it was the only place in the country where you could gamble. Money flowed in from every other state. Every time a state legalizes gambling, it reduces the number of people that go to Vegas. Once enough states legalize gambling, it becomes revenue neutral, because all gambling does is shift money from one person to another without producing anything.
Marijuana legalization is going to increase the number of people smoking marijuana, and it will reduce their ability to function. It will end up being a drain on the state, cause mental health costs will go up, and as Eric Cartman said, you'll end up with hippie drum circles showing up in your back yard.