“I thought legalizing it was supposed to stop the cartels and the corruption.”
There was an addendum to that claim. > If you tax the sales too much, the cartels can easily compete and beat your pricing. The states that are taxing too much are where the cartels are active.
I know a piddly, small grower in Colorado. He’s quasi-legal, grows a tiny crop in his basement, 12-16 plants at a time. His growing is legal, some of his selling is not. An ounce costs around $200 at the pot shop, he sells for $150 and makes money. You’ll never get rid of the black market that way. Larger growers have much lower costs.
It’s not legalized on the Federal side.
So the Feds recognize no deductions on federal income tax returns.
So gross sales = net taxable sales with no offsets.
So still way better to be illegal.