Legal CA marijuana could be so expensive it acts as a boon to the black market...

[zenkai]

Make it legal and tax it! bwhahaha

[Allybeboba]

Make it legal and tax it! bwhahaha

Although I personally don’t partake, I really think MJ should be federally legalized. Many legit businesses would pop up and be able to provide for themselves and their families because of it.
The amount of people going to jail for MJ “possession” would bottom out as well.


As far as a tax creating a ‘black market’. Since I don’t smoke I don’t know what the cost of cigarettes are now or what they used to be a few years ago. Some states have over a 100% tax on cigarettes. I am guessing there isn’t a huge black market for cigarettes in those states.

[breadisfunny]

What is the tax percentage on cigarettes? Is there a huge black market on cigarettes?

there actually is a black market in cheap cigarettes.

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So who's gonna smoke weed at Blizzcon?

i don't think blizzard allows that sort of stuff. since it's private property it's their rules.

[FreaknRhinos]

there actually is a black market in cheap cigarettes.

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i don't think blizzard allows that sort of stuff. since it's private property it's their rules.

LMAO, like you cant toke in the parking lot BEFORE and wander around for 4-6 hours baked, as hell

[Allybeboba]

there actually is a black market in cheap cigarettes

Imported illegally from another country’s manufacturing establishment or stolen from retailers/manufacturers?
Note the difference?

That’s not saying there aren’t homegrown MJ farms stateside. They are found here in Texas pretty regularly as a matter of fact.
Here is one from a week ago where 10,000+ plants were found by a hunter.
http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Hun...453352183.html
And another...
http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texa...m-11216100.php
And another one where they found more than 44,000 plants...
https://www.google.com/amp/dfw.cbslo...ast-texas/amp/


I doubt very seriously people are growing tobacco hidden away.

[Ahovv]

Sin taxes should never exist.

[Kellhound]

Just means they need to increase the penalties for black market drugs to the point it drives demand down.

[satimy]

Same thing happened to a lesser degree with ciggarettes in NYC. The taxman is very greedy

[Rasulis]

At a time, PER PERSON. I know someone that has 6 plants going 24/7 and rotates them out. And it's an insane about of weed for 2 people. They can be high literally all waking hours, and pretty much are. It costs them about 300$ every 4 months or so, compared to black market prices, of Mexican brick weed, was costing them around 200$ a month.

So, not only the quality has risen dramatically, the price has plummeted. I'd say legalization is right where it needs to be.

I agree. After all this is supposed to be “Recreational Marijuana”, not “Smoked yourself silly every day of the week”. Also both the State and Local taxes exclude “Medical Marijuana” purchases.

My wife and I are thinking about setting up a small patch in our backyard. Buddha seeds are cheap (around $30 per 10 seeds), around 15% THC with very low CBN levels. Perfect for occasional use for her headaches.

[Polygons]

I can buy 3 grams of top shelf strains for less than $15 legally in Washington if I buy them as pre-rolls. For $20 on the street I can buy 1.5 grams from a dealer who probably made up the strain name. Never will I ever buy from a dealer again. Also, pot stores allow me to compare THCA percentages so I can pick up the best strains in existence. I've learned what strains I like and which ones I hate. I can also buy edibles, vape pens, concentrates, etc. IMHO you would have to be stupid to buy from a dealer unless they're selling you bulk at a discount. I've also been told there's a surplus amount of pot to sell in the first place so they can price it close to whatever they want. I saw a gram go for $3 the other day.

Honestly this is probably a good thing for California, the revenue made from pot taxes is a lot.

[SoyBoy]

"California to tax pot as much as 45%"

So much for drug legalization ending the illegal drug trade...

CA just can't help but tax.

[Omega10]

Sounds like a bunch of made up junk for conservatives to try and bash California. California is one of the best run states in the country. Conservatives are just jealous - after all they are stuck with Kansas as their role model.

[SoyBoy]

Sounds like a bunch of made up junk for conservatives to try and bash California. California is one of the best run states in the country. Conservatives are just jealous - after all they are stuck with Kansas as their role model.

Well when you have 11% income tax.

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taxes should never exist.

Fixed it for you.

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Make it legal and tax it! bwhahaha

This one of the reasons why I agree with what reason magazine said about millennials is that eventually they will all become libertarians when they have to fend for themselves.

[Notshauna]

Unfortunately, legal weed has a lot of complications in the states that go far beyond state level, this prevents most marijuana dispensaries from being competitive. It needs to be legal on a federal level and regulated just like Alcohol and Tobacco.

[Sunnydruid]

For those who think that legalizing cannabis will "kill the black market" ...let me give you a run down of how it actually is going to work and NOT kill the black market.

Currently in NorCal (if you aren't affected by the wildfires currently) people are buying more and more land to start cultivation of cannabis because dispensaries are preparing for the "legal" rush once the law takes effect.

This means there's a lot of pot. A...LOT...of...POT.

What does this mean? Well those growers have friends, yeah? Friends give friends good deals. Johnny Appleseed gives 5 units to Jay for 1/2 off what he gives dispos.

Jay proceeds to sell for about 20-40$ less to people and use the pricepoint as a sales tactic to draw them away from the insane dispo prices. Why buy a zip of gorilla glue for 300$ when you can get it for 140$ from Jay. Coming from the same cultivator who would have delivered it to the dispensary that you would have purchased from.

That said, stop acting like the recreational legalization of cannabis consumption is the end of the underground market for it. It's not. It never will be. It literally can't happen.

We REALLLLLLLLY need to focus more on the opiate problem we are having right now. Marijuana isn't that big of a deal guys, swear to you.

The tax is a little outrageous, but so is everything here in California. Literally, everything is outrageous here for no reason.

[Ahovv]

Well when you have 11% income tax.

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Fixed it for you.

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This one of the reasons why I agree with what reason magazine said about millennials is that eventually they will all become libertarians when they have to fend for themselves.

Sorry, I don't have the interest or energy to argue with an anarcho-capitalist tonight.

[Milchshake]

Meh this is a big nothingburger. Weed sales continue to beat expectations in western states, CO, OR, NV, and even Washington (which has a nearly 50% tax). This is the same argument people made before each of those states legalized recreational use. Legal prices will set the floor which street prices will follow. Plenty of consumer are willing to pay a premium to buy from the convenience and security that a storefront provides.

Colorado Eighth Ounce of Weed Price
http://budzu.com/prices/usa/colorado
Dispensary Recreational
Medium $ 28.40
High $ 59.00

Street Recreational
Medium $ 25.00
High $ 41.00

Washington Gram of Weed Price
http://budzu.com/prices/usa/washington
Dispensary Recreational
Low $ 10.98
Medium $ 11.46
High $ 14.26

Street Recreational
Low $ 6.30
Medium $ 11.02
High $ 11.86

This is mostly noise from internet libertarians or internet ancaps.

• The one thing they love talking about more being conservative and liking weed...
• Is talking about how taxation is theft.

[I Push Buttons]

Sounds like a bunch of made up junk for conservatives to try and bash California. California is one of the best run states in the country. Conservatives are just jealous - after all they are stuck with Kansas as their role model.

This is mostly noise from internet libertarians or internet ancaps.

Can you people even read?

The three references from this article are:

The Fitch Group, one of the three big credit reporting agencies (Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch Group are the three).

New Frontier Data, which is a cannabis legalization advocate that releases reports encouraging people to invest in the cannabis industry...

And a specialist on the cannabis industry from UC Berkeley, you know, Communism Central USA...

[zenkai]

Although I personally don’t partake, I really think MJ should be federally legalized. Many legit businesses would pop up and be able to provide for themselves and their families because of it.
The amount of people going to jail for MJ “possession” would bottom out as well.


As far as a tax creating a ‘black market’. Since I don’t smoke I don’t know what the cost of cigarettes are now or what they used to be a few years ago. Some states have over a 100% tax on cigarettes. I am guessing there isn’t a huge black market for cigarettes in those states.

Actually there is a huge black market for cigarettes, mostly ones sold from reservations. Remember the Eric Garner? The guy chocked by police when he was resisting arrest? He was selling cigarettes, the kind with no tax stamps, that's why he was getting arrested.


I agree MJ should be legal but I am just laughing because if something is over priced people will make it on the black market, hell in my area it's full of moonshiners.

[PaladinBash]

I dunno, I always thought taxing it heavily was a good idea. Make money off those damn stoners. If it's safer/better, isn't illegal and is taxed, then I'd be happier than wasting money hunting down stoners and I honestly can't stand them. They aren't going to up the price to be higher than the street value because then they aren't going to sell fuck all.