how do you feel about legalizing marijuana to raise tax revenue?
well, the gov. of california is open to studying the issue. more on that on Robin Meade this morning.
do you think its a good or bad idea in this economy to legalize pot so you can tax it?
4 comments:
I think it is a BAD idea, and I have my reasons. I feel that allowing people to get high will only cause more crime, more abuse, more juvenile failure. I don't want my children to think that smoking pot is ok because the government says it's legal.
I also think that maybe we should come up with a better plan to "raise our tax revenue" than legalizing marijuana. SERIOUSLY. I think it is pretty sad that these are the ideas that they are coming up with instead of something " more legal". he he
Eh, just raise the tax on cigarettes.
Be forewarned...I am long winded :)
Did you know that Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending during the depression? That was part of the reason they got rid of prohibition and legalized alcohol. It was an attempt to help the economy and social state of the country.
Do I think that pot should be legalized for this reason and this reason alone? No. I think it should be legalized or at the very least decriminalized for other reasons besides the economy and IF it is government regulated and taxed and the government makes money from it then that is great.
Just for fun, I will again state my reasons why I believe in this. I won’t get into all the details as I have different opinions on how they should handle things depending on whether it is decriminalized compared to legalized, but either way I think that it is something we need to take a look at.
1)There is NO doubt in my mind the “War on Drugs” has failed. All the money that has been spent just on controlling the use of Marijuana is ridiculous. The other drugs, yes, they should be trying to fight the spread, use and trafficking of those but not pot. I believe that marijuana got a bad rap as at the time it was the easiest of drugs to blame for problems. When they decided to criminalize pot it was done because of ignorance, greed, fear, racism, tainted information, and something to show society that they had control over because it was “morally wrong”. It has this stigma of being horrible, but I don’t believe it is any worse then alcohol. Plus by decriminalizing something that we are trying to “fight” it will reduce the crime of it. Prohibition creates crime; it does not solve crime.
2)It is no worse then alcohol or cigarettes. I believe alcohol & cigarettes both are highly addictive and contain very harmful chemicals, marijuana has not been proven to be addictive in the same way those legal drugs are. True, one can become “addicted” to the smoking of pot, but as for proven chemical addiction it is not there. Example, my husband has been smoking both pot and cigarettes for a very long time. Over the years he has cut back both. He had no problems/withdrawal when he stopped smoking pot. It was easy because there was no addiction. Now it could be once every couple months he smokes. As for cigarettes, this has been a continuous battle. He has tried to quit and though he has decreased and gone to a couple a day he can’t get past the physical addiction. It is also shown that the inhalation of pot is worse then smoking a cigarette but the comparative health problems between the two are different as a person could smoke far more cigarettes then pot.
3)Our farmers could grow this and it could be government regulated, which means work for our framers and quality control. Creating work for farmers, pretty straight forward. Currently, there are problems with marijuana having traces of other, much harder drugs in it. It isn’t regulated and occasionally the stuff people get can be very dangerous because it is being cut with other chemicals. Pot in its natural and safer state would not be at risk for being tampered with and people would not have problems like some do.
4)Medical marijuana. This NEEDS to happen. As a person whose mom has MS and whose mom also plays by the rules legalizing medical marijuana and decreasing the stigma associated with pot would be a HUGE benefit to her. My mom is already putting a ridiculous amount of chemicals in her body to help with her MS while also taking pain pills to help with the pain. She can’t sleep and has horrible spasms and muscle pain. It has been proven and in Canada have released medicine from marijuana that will help with these ailments. I also believe that this could help, in small and controlled doses, people who are suffering from other pain related illness, cancer, Aids, etc.. to function better.
5)Gateway drug. This would mean that the consumption of marijuana would lead to the use of harder narcotics. Plain and simple, I don’t believe that pot is anymore of a gateway drug then alcohol or cigarettes.
6)The legalization of marijuana would create potential tax revenue that would flow from a regulated market in marijuana.
And for the record this isn't coming from some "pot head" who just wants this legalized so I can smoke up. Yes I have smoked pot a few times, in college, but it isn't something that I have done in many years because I just don't like to smoke. I also don't drink that much either as I don't like to be in any altered state on a regular basis. I am basing my opinions on what I feel is right.
Legalize it. We waste too many tax dollars, distract our police, and back up the judicial system by prosecuting victimless crimes.
Also, most of the stuff that WK said.
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