Originally posted by RedAlertv2
What if when weed was made legal, there was a stipulation in the law that it would still be illegal to grow your own, unless you got a license to do so? The license would entail some sort of fee (tax), kind of like what the legalization bill in California was proposing. The bill they had was going to make it a $50 annual fee per plant. Overall I get what you're saying now, but nonetheless the government still stands to gain a substantial amount of money from legalizing weed. If nothing else, by cutting all the spending they currently allocate towards law enforcement against marijuana.
I am not a member of the governing bodies, so I can't answer a what-if question as though we were debating this issue on the floor of the senate. However, I do not think that levying a tax or fee on a legal herb is very constitutional. The tobacco plant is legal, as are all of the ingredients that go into the process of making alcohol.
Yes; the government, particularly those of the states that are looking at legalization, stand to gain major profits. Califonia is looking at something like a billion plus, per year. I think this figure is seriously undercutting the reality of the potential profits, though. I don't argue that the vast majority of people are not only willing to pay a state and federal tax on legal Marijuana; neither am I underestimating the luxury most people will default to when it comes to actually growing the pot vs just going to the corner store and buying it already rolled and ready to go. Not many people grow their own vegetables these day; rather they go to the farmers market or the grocery store. But imagine the implications of taxing a family that actually does grow it's own vegetables? Earlier some one mentiond the risk of paying hiked prices for a black market product. But, taking moonshine as an example and comparing it to the weed clubs. If you do then you see the different price points in the variety of weed. Smoke less of the higher grade weed and it's effects are more substantial and the amount consumed is far less. Government regulations dictate how high an alcohol content can be, but there are no such considerations in illegal moonshine. Legal alcohol is 40% or 50%, and a few even higher. But moonshine is refined down to the point that you have to drink 1/3 as much to get 3 times the effects. That cuts into the volume sold due to consumption and the profits of those legal companies that pass on your tax dollars to the government.
There is no doubt that ending the drug war in favor of turning it into a lucrative venture serves the greater good. Not only is the money spent on the drug war a total waste, but turning a profit on all those drugs that people are going to take be they legal or not can only serve the best interest of the people, as a whole. Want to fund national healthcare? Start by profiting from weed. Weed is certainly less harmful than cigarettes, especially since you don't have to smoke 20 joints a day to keep the high going; double whammy.