[Vision2020] Marijuana tax potential attracts new allies

[Tom Hansen]

And when competition heats up among legal recreational marijuana retail outlets, Mr. Falen . . .

What happens to the price then?

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
 


> On Nov 7, 2013, at 1:23 PM, lfalen <lfalen at turbonet.com> wrote:
> 
> I think that they are getting too greedy here. With a tax this high it will probably still be cheaper to use the black market. Due to the high tax on cigarettes, there is a thriving back market on cigarettes. Since the black market on marijuana is already established it will probably continue.
> Roger
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
> To: "Moscow Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Date: 11/07/13 08:21
> Subject: [Vision2020] Marijuana tax potential attracts new allies
> 
> As Idaho prepares for budget cuts . . .
> 
> Courtesy of today's (November 7, 2013) Spokesman-Review.
> 
> ---------------------------------
> 
> Marijuana tax potential attracts new allies
> DENVER - Colorado's hearty embrace of a 25 percent marijuana tax this week could prove a turning point for legalization backers. They have long argued that weed should come out of the black market and contribute to tax coffers instead of prison populations.
> 
> But it's far too soon to say how much revenue the marijuana taxes in Colorado and Washington will actually produce when retail sales begin next year.
> 
> A tax windfall in the two states could win over skeptical states that may be interested in pot legalization but wonder about costs of regulation. On the other hand, if many pot smokers in Colorado and Washington stay in the black market to avoid taxes, supporters could lose a major plank of their longstanding argument that legalization will take money from criminal cartels and benefit government programs.
> 
> "It's a crucial question," said Sam Kamin, a University of Denver law professor who served on a panel that helped write Colorado's marijuana regulations. "There's this premise that marijuana legalization can be a net-net win, spending less money putting people in prison and seeing a tax benefit from the sale of marijuana. Voters are going to expect to see both."
> 
> Colorado's vote Tuesday showed it wants the benefits, even in a tax-adverse state that typically rejects proposed taxes. The pot tax question - on an excise and special sales tax that could add more than 25 percent to the sales price of weed - passed by nearly 2-to-1.
> 
> That margin was much broader than Colorado's legalization vote itself in 2012. Many who opposed legalization then supported the taxes this time around. Last year's legalization measure also called for tax revenues for the state.
> 
> Washington state has already settled its pot taxation scheme, charging 25 percent at three possible transfer points from production to retail sale, plus sales taxes.
> 
> It's impossible to say precisely how much revenue the pot taxes will produce. A projection prepared for Colorado voters predicted pot taxes would bring in almost $70 million a year. Of that, $27.5 million would go to school construction, as specified in last year's ballot measure that legalized the drug.
> 
> The rest of the money would go toward paying for the regulation of pot shops. Several Colorado municipalities approved additional pot taxes Tuesday, ranging from 3.5 percent in Pueblo County to up to 10 percent in the city of Boulder.
> 
> Both Colorado and Washington are taxing pot based on the sales price, unlike alcohol and tobacco, which are taxed by the gallon or by the pack. The price of marijuana varies widely based on potency and quality and is likely to go down once recreational sales are legal.
> 
> Based on crowdsourced estimates of what black-market pot smokers pay, Colorado's state tax rate would add about $50 to a $200 ounce of loose marijuana, roughly the amount that would fit in a sandwich-sized plastic bag. Local taxes could bring the total consumer tax burden near 30 percent, or a total price of $260 an ounce.
> 
> Denver approved a 3.5 percent tax Tuesday that could generate $4.5 million a year. The Denver Post has predicted state and city taxes will add $8.59 to a $30 eighth of an ounce of pot.
> 
>  
> ---------------------------------
> 
> <image.jpeg>
>  
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
> 
> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
> http://www.MoscowCares.com
>   
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
> 
> "There's room at the top they are telling you still  
> But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
> If you want to be like the folks on the hill." 
> 
> - John Lennon
>  
>  
> 
>  
>  
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