Cannabis Cash

[Camilo]

http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/cities/economics/how-much-money-states-make-marijuana-legalization/

How Much Money Could Your State Make From Marijuana Legalization?

by Divya Raghavan on September 22, 2014 | posted in Cities, Economics
How Much Money Could Your State Make From Marijuana Legalization?

On Nov. 4, citizens in Alaska, Florida, Oregon and Washington, D.C., will cast their ballots on marijuana initiatives, and other states are also likely to consider legalization in upcoming elections. Colorado, the first state to allow the sale of recreational marijuana, is expected to take in $60 million to $70 million this year in taxes from legal pot sales, according to the Denver Business Journal. Cash-strapped states stand to collect millions if they legalize the drug. Across the U.S., states could gain just over $3 billion in tax revenue from legal marijuana sales, according to a new analysis by NerdWallet. What’s your state’s piece of the pie?
Trends and takeaways

The U.S. stands to gain, according to our calculations, $3,098,866,907 in state and local taxes per year — that’s more than twice the entire budget of the Small Business Administration in 2013.

California could gain the most from taxes on sales of marijuana. The state stands to take in $519,287,052, which almost covers the 2013 budget for the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

How we sized the marijuana market in each state: Marijuana use is illegal in most states, so it’s difficult to get concrete numbers on the amount of marijuana purchased and consumed. To estimate this value, we used data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration detailing the percentage of marijuana smokers ages 25 and over in each state and multiplied that percentage by the state’s population older than 25 to get the number of users in each state. We then took the state’s users as a percentage of total users over 25 in the U.S. and multiplied that by the total marijuana market estimate (sized at $14 billion by Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron) to determine the market size in each state.

How we calculated state sales tax revenue: We used state and local tax rates compiled by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation to estimate the amount each state would earn in sales tax revenue. We added in a 15% excise tax (a tax levied on a specific good, such as cigarettes or gas), which is the excise tax in Colorado for marijuana purchases. For the full formula, see the bottom of this article. NerdWallet’s estimates are conservative. This analysis doesn’t account for several factors, including:

Variations in excise taxes: Each state will determine its own taxes, but for our calculations, we assumed the same 15% excise tax that Colorado collects across all states.
Reduced spending on law enforcement: We didn’t include the money states would save by not having to enforce laws against the use of marijuana. Miron, the Harvard economist, estimates a savings of $7.7 billion annually nationwide on law enforcement.
Medical marijuana sales: We didn’t deduct the amount of revenue raised in states that have legalized medical marijuana. The total revenue we calculated for California, for example, includes revenue they already make from medical marijuana sales.
Potential market changes: If marijuana becomes legal for wider recreational use, consumption could increase, which would make our current market estimates low.

How much has Colorado made since legalizing marijuana? In the first six months of this year, the state collected $25,307,067 in taxes on the sales of marijuana. By June 2015, Colorado expects to collect up to $70 million—not very far off from our estimate of $78,157,904. Take a look at the chart to see how much each state could collect per year in sales taxes if the recreational and medical use of marijuana was made legal. Interested in future NerdWallet studies? Click here to have updates sent directly to your inbox.

The formula used to calculate the state revenue is as follows:

State market size = % smokers in state* state population/total users in U.S. * $14 billion

Tax rate = state and local taxes + excise tax of 15%

Revenue from sales and excise tax = state market size * tax rate. Read more about where you live on our Cities page.

[LivioRazlo]

I remember reading somewhere that a politician in Colorado was disappointed by the amount of taxes legal cannabis was bringing in. I'm like, "come on man, you are literally making money off something now that you used to not be able to". These things take time - and history will prove us right once more.

[jake gittes]

I remember reading somewhere that a politician in Colorado was disappointed by the amount of taxes legal cannabis was bringing in. I'm like, "come on man, you are literally making money off something now that you used to not be able to". These things take time - and history will prove us right once more.

Well, maybe. Or maybe he's CIA and pissed it's cutting in on his turf.

[Dennis Leahy]

I have to say, this is a terrible precedent (even though I want cannabis completely legalized.)

This is the wrong reason, and the wrong way. It still keeps "The State" in control over cannabis, there are still penalties (fines and jail) for those that don't play by the State's rules (like for example, you want to grow your own crop and not worry about exceeding the number of legal plants.) When I plant tomatoes, I plant the number of plants I want to plant, and if there is excess, I give them to a food bank or soup kitchen. With cannabis, what if I wanted to grow enough to make a large batch of oil to keep on hand for WHEN one of my family members or friends gets cancer from the toxins the same goddamn government has allowed in the air, water, and food supply!

People will still be jailed for cannabis - just a different set of cannabis rules.

Or, what if I want to grow enough to give some away as gifts (like EVERY gardener does with produce from their garden.) It is a wonderful, loving thing to share the bounty of the harvest, and some people are great gardeners; some are lousy. I can get a carload of excellent zucchini from my neighbor that really grows great zucchini, but I can't get cannabis from my neighbor who is the best cannabis grower around? I cant barter with something I grew? I can sell my tomatoes or my maitake mushrooms at a farm stand or farmers market, but not my cannabis?

If we say cannabis legalization is OK with the taxation of the herb as the main reason, what's next? Tax the calendula and mullein flowers? Tax the dandelion and ginger and turmeric roots?

Or, if it's a "SIN tax", would it be OK to tax potato plants? Potatoes can be made into vodka! Tax barley and wheat and hops because they can be used in beer? Do we allow the State to make selling their taxed cannabis illegal on Sundays (like booze in many places?)

Just like The State "permits" people to make a (relatively small, non-commercial) amount of beer and wine at home, but will throw you in prison if you get caught distilling more potent spirits - will they do the same with cannabis, maybe taxing the herb based on potency, and NOT allow people to make cannabis oil (leave that to the Big Pharma boys.)

It's NOT alright to tax cannabis.

It will become just one more thing we take as normal, that is not normal and not right. Get the State the hell out of my garden, and out of my medicine cabinet.

Dennis

[NancyV]

It may not be alright to tax legal marijuana sales but it is definitely progress to at least have it legalized. In Washington state, where I live, it was recently legalized and businesses should be working fairly well in a year or two. Prices are supposedly way too high because supplies are rather low. There are way too many regulations about who can grow and how much they can grow and yes, that does piss me off.

A couple of weeks ago we got a medical marijuana license for my husband so I could grow it and make the oil. The regulations for growing medical marijuana in WA are: you may have 15 plants total or 24 oz. in any 60 day period. So I'll grow as many plants as I can up to 15. We've been buying the high CBD oil and it's quite expensive, so I definitely intend to make our own.

If the only way we can get marijuana legalized is to have the states make money on taxing it, I'm in favor of doing it anyway. At least it will stop some of the madness of arresting so many people for small amounts. I hadn't smoked marijuana for about 35 years until a couple of weeks ago and although it was nice, I'm not interested in smoking it. We got it for my husband to help with pain. It does help him a lot.

[Jackson]

Here is a way to understand how many smoke pot.

Ask any smoker of pot how many people he/she knows that use pot. Most will say....from 5 to 50. I personally can say 75-100.
So take an average of 10. Ask those ten and then ask those ten and then ask those ten.....it is like taking a penny and doubling it each day. Now...I know that each ten will probably include the person that asked so there will be crossovers, but that ends up to be a lot of people across the globe. It is enjoyed by MANY MANY people.
I also agree with Dennis and NancyV. I live in Washington state and it is having a hard time getting started in many counties. The problem is the regulations that the state wants to impose on growers, processors and retailers. Also finding a suitable place to grow it is a big issue because of the perceived idea that it will bring criminals to the farms plus having a large grow in greenhouses will be a blight on their neighborhoods...NIMBY's. The security must be tight to prevent theft because if you leave it unguarded it will be stolen. I also know that several of the illegal growers will continue because of the cost and the process of growing it with chemicals and then not processing it correctly. Most illegal growers are organic because they are the biggest user of their own product. If they do sell it, it is because they have a surplus on hand and someone is always looking to buy it....plus it helps to cover the cost of growing and processing.

We will see what becomes of this issue as time goes by....but I guarantee you that it will not prevent people from enjoying it to the fullest. Also, it will certainly impact the medical marijuana end of this. There are many regulations in place since it is used as a medicine.

Jackson...(user not a grower)

[Happyjak]

I agree with you 100% Dennis leahy (at the end of this post is something about taxing i think you will enjoy). However I am happy to witness the beginning of the end of prohibition and the ignorant demonizing of this herb that once was so beneficial to humanity. When hemp is finally freed to aid humanity again as it has for countless generations then the steps to a real green and sustainable future will once again be within reach.

My family is from Mississippi and on both sides my grandparents had their own garden. My great grandmother in her 80s could out hoe all her grandkids which even in preschool years impressed me beyond words. She was the only farmer as my Dad's parents worked in factories and my moms dad was navy and when I came around he was a merchant Marine. But they always had a garden big enough to put up vegetables for the winter as well as plenty to share with those unable or unwilling to raise their own "victory gardens". Fresh tomatoes, peas,butter beans, potatoes, squash,grapes,peaches and so many others are so different from what you could buy from the store even back then. The taste of a good homegrown heirloom (and even the hybrids that destroy heirloom seed stock as it did to my great grandmothers because my grandfather planted some in the same garden) tomato will make you wonder if what is sold is even from the same species of plant, same for peaches and to a lesser degree all or most of the rest, Irish potatoes the only exception that comes to mind.

Being indoctrinated by DARE during the beginning of the "war on drugs" I was told marijuana (a term i don't really like because it was used to demonize it at the start of prohibition) was the same as coke,crack,heroin,pcp... Summer of 9th grade my uncles friend smoked a joint with me and we listened to Rush 2112. Which was awesome but after the whole DARE fear kicked in and once back at school I checked out every book in the library about it. So cannabis led to my first OMG they lie to us moment. Which I already knew but thanks to Jack Herer "The emperor wears no clothes" which is now free online at http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/ as well as most all of the other material I read from my public school Library the proof was in writing and some of their own research studies were contridicting what I was taught. Happyjak is me paying homage to Jack herer for putting me on a seekers path.

Without going into a long story In what was the strangest two days of my life being attacked by some kind of dark entity the night before which passed through me and had the ability to communicate to me using voices in my head of family members, friends, and even internet researchers. We fought all night where it lead me to the next day around noon i was beaten, tazed, "hog tied" with handcuffs and put in a sheriffs car with the windows rolled up and heater on in the middle of august, while the deputies laughed at me. Illegal search and seizure of my vehicle which I was not driving at the time they stole my herb and 4oz of what they thought was heroin but was oil I made after watching "run from the cure" http://youtu.be/0psJhQHk_GI. I was sentenced to 3 years 2.5 suspended 6mo to serve and 5 years probation and now have a felony for possession of flowers and medicine. My first "offense" got the max.

Found this while searching my old saved data for a link for this post. I don't know where I originally found this or who to thank/give credit for as it is not mine.

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
> Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in Which he's laid.

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
"if it moves tax it, if it keeps moving regulate it, if it stops subsidize it" Ronald Reagan
"If you chose not to participate in politics, your destined to be ruled by your inferiors"

This was in the same folder so thought I would share it as well

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red ..

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... Is up to you.