Liberty MavenYes, Legalize Pot, But Why Tax It?
May 8th, 2009 9:00 am | by Andrew Slominski | Published in Big Government, Drugs, Economics, Free Market, Individual Responsibility, Liberty, Market Regulation, Politics, law | 27 Responses
I’m amazed and encouraged by the recent uptick in news stories about legalizing pot. Call it pot, marijuana, hemp or what have you, the basic issue is the same. While I agree that we should decriminalize this incredible plant that can be used for numerous industrial, commercial and medicinal uses, I’m discouraged by two points coming from the strongest supporters for legalization. These are:
- Tax it
- Keep ‘harder’ drugs illegal
This is a losing position and I’ll tell you why. On the issue of taxation, wouldn’t it be OK if there was one thing in this world that the government didn’t tax? I mean, do some fat cat politicians in Washington really deserve a slice of every bit of productive activity in this country? The income that a person uses to buy any item in America has already been taxed multiple times – through corporate taxes, payroll taxes, income taxes, medicaid and social security taxes and the list goes on and on. What makes people think that the government needs any more money from us?
Also, assuming that it was legalized and taxed, why wouldn’t people still buy it off the streets at a discount, tax-free? Assuming an 8% minimum tax, which is the sales tax rate in New York, why wouldn’t people who already ‘get it from a friend’ continue to do so? In fact, I think it’s safe to assume that an 8% tax is probably much lower than what the government would actually institute. Tobacco manufacturers could be counted on to lobby government to make sure that marijuana taxes were as high or higher than tobacco taxes to make sure they didn’t loose further business to a cheaper (and more healthy) alternative.
Obama signed a law increasing the Federal excise tax on cigarettes to $1.01 per pack, while each state charges more on top of that. I’m fortunate to live in NY where we have the highest taxes of any state, including the highest per-pack excise tax of $2.75 per pack. Now do you really think the government would be content with an 8% sales tax rate? A higher tax on marijuana would only serve to prolong the negative effects of the Drug War as people try to avoid another tax. Marijuana already has an established underground distribution network so it’s conceivable that underground sales would continue.
More importantly, these supporters have forfeited their moral high ground by arguing that harder drugs should be kept illegal. This position is incompatible with the body of activism done to support legalization of marijuana as well as personal liberty. Either you own your own body and have the right to put into it whatever you please, or you don’t. There is no middle ground on this issue. Every argument against hard drugs has been used against marijuana as well. Until the pro-legalization crowd regains the moral highground they will continue to fight a losing battle on this one. It’s quite possible that pot could be legalized and taxed, but our basic freedoms would still not have been restored and the success highly compromised.
Ask yourself: do you take a principled position when it comes to drugs? Or do you pick and choose what other people should be able to use while keeping your choice of drug legal? If you support the continued legal status of the drug of choice of most Americans, alcohol, then you cannot oppose legalization of other drugs and still have a principled position. Only complete liberty and self-ownership of our bodies will set us free.
Originally published at riseuprochester.org.
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May 8th, 2009 at 2:53 pm (#)
There will be NO black market for Marijuana the second it's legalized hear.. ALTHOUGH you'll see a MASSIVE increase in "Grow light" purchases, Pots, Soil, Fans, Aluminum foil, and black lights.. I would have NO IDEA what they could be used for. Just saying and all….
Basicaly ppl would grow their own. Who wants to buy processed Mexican ditch weed with it's pesticides and preservatives? No one.
May 8th, 2009 at 3:13 pm (#)
Actually I've seen statistics recently that more pot is grown in the US now anyway! I think you're right that even more people would grow it. Think about it though, if those people that grew it themselves were to go sell it, would they sell it under the table to friends or start up a storefront to get taxed and regulated by the feds?
May 8th, 2009 at 5:26 pm (#)
Most people wouldn't grow their own. Look at how much business medical marijuana dispensaries in California are doing. They sell pot for as much as $20 or 30 a gram, yet they do gangbusters business. People who buy from those shops have medical marijuana cards and could grow their own, but they'd rather just go to a shop and select from a wide variety of quality product.
May 8th, 2009 at 5:32 pm (#)
If we legalized marijuana there would be very little black market for it. You assume for some reason that prices would stay the same and taxes would make it more expensive. The only reason it costs hundreds or even thousands of dollars a pound wholesale today is that it is illegal. In a legal environment it really shouldn't cost that much more than tobacco. Phillip Morris pays less than $3 a pound for dried and cured tobacco in bulk wholesale purchases. I'd be surprised if even high quality marijuana costs distributers $100 a pound in a competitive legal marijuana industry.
May 8th, 2009 at 6:23 pm (#)
do you not watch the news? as of yesterday, this country is 11.2 TRILLION dollars in debt. yeah, you might want to keep your money that you work so hard for, by not taxing marijuana, but there are some of us right now that don't even have jobs and no money. and those who do, are suffering. legalizing and taxing marijuana, in my opinion, is the only way out of this depression right now.
May 8th, 2009 at 7:15 pm (#)
Legalize it. Treat it like alcohol. Plain and simple.
And I'm so sick of the pot is a gateway drug thing. Alcohol is the ultimate gateway drug. Most people's first buzz is from their first beer. If they like the buzz, they want more.
All my friends that smoke (and are successful adults) never got into any hard drugs.
Just legalize it. Sure it will be exciting for the first 6 months, but then you'll find things will be the same. The same smokers will smoke probably the same amount, and the folks that dont' smoke….won't. Life will move on.
May 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm (#)
He's correct, all drugs should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Now if you are caught with a 10 day supply of your drug or less you face an administrative court, not a criminal court, but in practice they are just not arresting people. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. How many millions of Americans are we going to lock up in prison for decades? Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com
May 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm (#)
He's correct, all drugs should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Now if you are caught with a 10 day supply of your drug or less you face an administrative court, not a criminal court, but in practice they are just not arresting people. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. How many millions of Americans are we going to lock up in prison for decades? Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com
May 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm (#)
He's correct, all drugs should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Now if you are caught with a 10 day supply of your drug or less you face an administrative court, not a criminal court, but in practice they are just not arresting people. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. How many millions of Americans are we going to lock up in prison for decades? Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com
May 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm (#)
He's correct, all drugs should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Now if you are caught with a 10 day supply of your drug or less you face an administrative court, not a criminal court, but in practice they are just not arresting people. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. How many millions of Americans are we going to lock up in prison for decades? Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com
May 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm (#)
He's correct, all drugs should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Now if you are caught with a 10 day supply of your drug or less you face an administrative court, not a criminal court, but in practice they are just not arresting people. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. How many millions of Americans are we going to lock up in prison for decades? Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com
May 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm (#)
He's correct, all drugs should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of all drugs. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and their experience has been positive. Now if you are caught with a 10 day supply of your drug or less you face an administrative court, not a criminal court, but in practice they are just not arresting people. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. How many millions of Americans are we going to lock up in prison for decades? Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com
May 8th, 2009 at 8:17 pm (#)
Did we not learn anything from alcohol prohibition?
Marijuana prohibition has been an indisputable failure. Legalize it and take the money out of the black market. Marijuana is less dangerous than either alcohol or tobacco yet both of those substances are legal (and should be). Every year our prison system releases violent offenders to make room for non-violent pot smokers. That is just plain insanity. Think of how better society would be served if our law enforcement efforts were directed more towards dealing with violent individuals. We would also save BILLIONS of dollars on prosecution costs and jail expenses every year.
There is also substantial evidence indicating marijuana has numerous medical uses as well.
This is a plant, legalize it and regulate it. We need to look at this issue using nothing more than basic common sense. Isn't it time to drop the "Reefer Madness" stupidity?
May 8th, 2009 at 10:05 pm (#)
I think people are just focusing on pot because it is at a tipping point, and when legal will show that legalization works. From there it will be a much easier environment to both:
A.. Legalize all drugs (Including much less harmful herbal forms of hard drugs such as coca leaves, opium poppies and khat).
B. Come to the realization that you should not tax herbs any differently than food, especially if you grow them yourself.
May 8th, 2009 at 10:40 pm (#)
I have news for you. Taxing marijuana will NOT bring us out of the depression. Taxing marijuana will not eliminate our debt. Higher taxes kill the economy, not improve it.
May 8th, 2009 at 10:41 pm (#)
I suppose there wouldn't be a black market. It would technically be a gray market. Either way, that wasn't my main point. Arguing for another tax while keeping other drugs illegal is the problem with these supporters for legalization.
May 8th, 2009 at 10:43 pm (#)
You're absolutely right that alcohol is the real gateway drug, but you forgot tobacco and caffeine as well. Almost 90% of illicit drug users use only marijuana, so it's impossible to claim that it's a gateway drug. Most marijuana users will never become regular users of harder drugs.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm (#)
I'm working on a follow-up to this article. Please head over to http://riseuprochester.org/2009/05/07/yes-legaliz... to see the interesting comment thread there as well. I'm going to incorporate some of the comments and criticism and try to expand the argument.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm (#)
I'm working on a follow-up to this article. Please head over to http://riseuprochester.org/2009/05/07/yes-legaliz... to see the interesting comment thread there as well. I'm going to incorporate some of the comments and criticism and try to expand the argument.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm (#)
I'm working on a follow-up to this article. Please head over to http://riseuprochester.org/2009/05/07/yes-legaliz... to see the interesting comment thread there as well. I'm going to incorporate some of the comments and criticism and try to expand the argument.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm (#)
I'm working on a follow-up to this article. Please head over to http://riseuprochester.org/2009/05/07/yes-legaliz... to see the interesting comment thread there as well. I'm going to incorporate some of the comments and criticism and try to expand the argument.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm (#)
I'm working on a follow-up to this article. Please head over to http://riseuprochester.org/2009/05/07/yes-legaliz... to see the interesting comment thread there as well. I'm going to incorporate some of the comments and criticism and try to expand the argument.
May 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm (#)
I'm working on a follow-up to this article. Please head over to http://riseuprochester.org/2009/05/07/yes-legaliz... to see the interesting comment thread there as well. I'm going to incorporate some of the comments and criticism and try to expand the argument.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:50 pm (#)
I don't understand the "gray market" comment. If marijuana is legal and regulated like alcohol there would be nothing black or gray about the market. Licensed producers would produce it. Producers would probably then sell to regulated distributors who in turn sell it to the licensed retail shops.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:51 pm (#)
As for arguing that marijuana be legal but not other drugs being a problem, that's your opinion. I see no problem at all with arguing that marijuana should be legal but not a drug like meth. These two drugs aren't even in the same ballpark. One is incredibly addictive and prone to causing problems for innocent people, the other is fairly benign. One is rather expensive, used by only a tiny percentage of our population and there are parts of the country where it is not so easily available. The other is widely used and cheaper than beer and so easily available that it would be hard to make it anymore available. So few use a drug like meth that it wouldn't take too many new users to double or triple or quadruple the number of new addicts. Most people have already tried marijuana. I doubt use would go up much if we legalized it but if I'm wrong about that it wouldn't be that big of a deal because marijuana smokers aren't that much of a problem for us. Meth users are a problem.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:53 pm (#)
I've spent many years working in the criminal justice system. I am an attorney and I've handled literally thousands of pounds worth of drug cases. I worked for many years as a public defender and dealt with more drug addicts than anyone should have to deal with in a lifetime. I think it's crazy that simple possession of any drug is a felony, but I think it would be insane to legalize drugs like meth, cocaine and heroin and make them a lot cheaper and easier to get. People addicted to these drugs cause us enormous problems and the more who do them the more lifetime addicts we're going to have. Marijuana is already cheap and easy to get. Americans use more marijuana than all other illegal drugs combined. The black market for marijuana is most of the black market for drugs. Legalizing marijuana alone would reduce the problems from the black market for drugs and those involved with the trade considerably. Legalizing drugs like meth would cause us a lot more harm than the prohibition on meth causes us. Thankfully only a tiny few are for legalizing all drugs.
October 2nd, 2009 at 3:31 am (#)
The reason people want it taxed is to give the goverment an incentive to legalise it and keep it that way. Practical and sound political thinking if you ask me.