Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco says that the tax revenue California would gain from legalizing marijuana through his legislation would “probably” be $1.5 billion and he “imagines” the amount saved in not enforcing current laws may be in the millions. I wish he and others would use their imagination just little bit more while thinking up these revenue stream pipe dreams because they aren’t exactly looking at the whole picture.
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Since we are talking about the probably and maybe of the issue, isn’t it just as probable that those that risk fines, a record, and even jail now to buy marijuana now wouldn’t think twice about buying it untaxed off the black market- especially when possession is no longer a crime? And just maybe wouldn’t you think if you dropped your enforcement that those already well established smuggling rings would just have an easier time supplying the black market?
Let’s look at the reality of the situation. California is all about big government and hyper-regulation (there is no probably about this)- if they ever pulled the trigger on legalization all they would get would be the costs of a new regulatory infrastructure and a continued if not stepped up process of enforcement and incarceration for tax violations. The revenue stream, like the existing examples of legal and regulated alcohol and cigarettes (no maybe here), would bring in far less than the costs to the state’s already stretched thin health care, social services, and first responders.
Drinking and drugging never solves anything, and it certainly will not provide any relief to a bankrupt California.
