Marijuana bills tempt cash-starved states

[Kiweed]

Monday, April 05, 2010

Marijuana bills tempt cash-starved states

By David Harrison, Stateline.org Staff Writer

 

This year saw a flurry of activity revising state marijuana laws. Most notably Washington, California, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts debated bills to legalize and tax marijuana. Also, 18 states looked at medical marijuana bills and six states considered proposals to reduce penalties for those convicted of marijuana offenses.

Mary Lou Dickerson had seen enough. After wrenching cuts to Washington’s state drug and alcohol treatment programs, Dickerson, a Democratic representative, introduced a bill this year to sell marijuana in state liquor stores — and tax it.

 

Dickerson is an unlikely crusader for marijuana legalization. A 63-year-old grandmother who doesn’t use it, she says money was the only reason for proposing her controversial bill. “According to the state’s own estimates, it would bring in an additional $300 million per biennium,” she says. “I dedicated (in the bill) a great deal of the proceeds from the tax on marijuana to treatment.”

 

The proposal died in committee, but Dickerson, who chairs the House Human Services Committee, expects to reintroduce it. Other advocates in almost two dozen states have been making similar efforts to loosen marijuana laws.

 

Continued.............

 

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=474500

[phreakah]

States need cash? Sounds awfully familiar to the alcohol prohibition.

Just let us have the stuff, its no worse than alcohol.

[Rocker]

There is a lesson here! Forget using the medical benefits in the push for legalisation and spruik the money governments can make from cannabis.

 

What's the saying?

It goes something like this; 'never stand between a politician and a bucket of money.'

 

Sure, money isn't everything but it is a long way ahead of whatever is in second place. Especially for cash starved governments.

[funnyman308]

They just need to break down and do it threw all the states they wont but i wish they would.

[Chato]

This was predicted prior to Obama getting elected with a few political analysts likening the situation in some ways to Roosevelt taking office, repealing Alcohol Prohibition, taxing it again and bringing the economy out of a post WW1 slump and a crippling depression.

 

Probably the major difference in the two events besides shifts of time is that alcohol had overwhelming support to be made legal again whereas cannabis is only starting to gain the groundswell required through medical and other avenues (read $$$$).

 

An interesting tidbit from wiki...

 

The proponents of Prohibition had believed that banning alcoholic beverages would reduce or even eliminate many social problems, particularly drunkenness, crime, mental illness, and poverty, and would eventually lead to reductions in taxes. However, during Prohibition, people continued to produce and drink alcohol, and bootlegging helped foster a massive industry completely under the control of organized crime. Prohibitionists argued that Prohibition would be more effective if enforcement were increased. However, increased efforts to enforce Prohibition simply resulted in the government spending more money, rather than less.

 

peace

c