Will Legal Pot Cost More Than Black-Market Pot?

[abqpsychlist]

Originally Posted by Glitch

"Harder to re-assemble black market operations..." Seriously?

How hard is it to walk up to someone in line to buy legal marijuana and ask if they want to buy illegal marijuana at half the price?

If next year the price for legal mj is already double that of black market stuff , then yeah, I could see this happening. A few years down the road, however, once people are already accustomed to buying it legally, it might be a different story. I've never been hit up by someone trying to peddle cheap moonshine while standing in line at the liquor store.

Originally Posted by Glitch

Obviously politicians are not interested in curbing criminal activity. Their only concern is maximizing revenues. If prices were the same for legal and illegal marijuana, most people will prefer to buy it illegally rather than have their names included in government databases so they can be rounded up later when the State changes its mind and makes marijuana illegal again (it will happen).

I had also assumed that there would be some sort of database to regulate the quantity restrictions in Colorado, but I was told that wouldn't be the case. These restrictions apparently only limit the amount that can be purchased during a single visit.

If there does happen to be a registry/database, then I agree that it would be a deterrent to going through legal channels.

[mrfoe]

Originally Posted by Roadking2003

You would think the yahoos in government would learn some things. Whenever they impose oppressive taxes on a product, the black market for that product will thrive.

Most pot consumers would rather go to their local store, purchase their products and pay a reasonable tax. Since pot is a plant, (IMHO) it should be taxed just like green beans and tomatoes. If excessive taxes are levied, then consumers will quickly go to the black market for their products. Colorado and especially Washington are certainly in danger of losing millions in tax revenue due to their ill advised heavy handed tax policy.
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When Congress banned marijuana in 1937, it did so in the guise of taxation, imposing a prohibitive levy on cannabis and created criminal penalties for those who failed to pay it. Marijuana taxes also played a prominent role in what may be the beginning of the end for pot prohibition: the legalization measures that voters in Colorado and Washington approved last fall.

Supporters of Washington's I-502 and Colorado’s Amendment 64 emphasized the revenue that the government could reap by recognizing cannabis production and distribution as a legitimate business. The tricky part, as officials in both states will soon discover, is balancing the desire for tax revenue against the desire to eliminate the black market created by prohibition. Or as UCLA drug policy expert Mark Kleiman, an adviser to Washington’s marijuana regulators, puts it: “What if we gave a pot legalization and nobody came?”

The dilemma is especially clear in Washington, where I-502 specified a 25 percent excise tax at three levels: sales between producers and processors, between processors and retailers, and between retailers and consumers. That’s in addition to the standard state sales tax of 8.75 percent.

Will Legal Pot Cost More Than Black-Market Pot? - Reason.com

Texas cheap or new York cheap. Weed of all sorts is very cheap in Texas. In NY not so much.