Legal weed is rather expensive. California, for example, places a 15% tax on marijuana sales. That’s over and above California’s 7.25% state sales tax.
Illegal weed might not be of the same quality. But it is tax-free.
Washington State has a 37% excise tax on marijuana along with approximately 10% sales tax in most counties. I am told by people who partake that there is no difference in quality, most of the illegal marijuana is grown in the exact same types of operations as the legal. It has been suggested that the same operations produce both legal and illegal product. The only difference is in the bookkeeping or lack thereof. The enforcement here is a complete joke and the huge amount of revenue fuels corruption.
Illegal weed is also being laced with fentanyl.
What about people who choose to grow their own for personal consumption? Will they get hassled for failure to pay tax?