New pot policy could help state coffers
A new Justice Department policy on medical marijuana could lead to the drug becoming a regular source of tax revenue in states where it's legal. Jeff Tyler reports.
Cannabis in a pill bottle (Continental/AFP/Getty Images)
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BOB MOON: The federal government is making peace with pot. Or, at least, medical marijuana dispensaries. The official word has come down from the Obama administration. Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department won't prosecute marijuana clinics, which are operating legally in California and a dozen other states. This is a big change in terms of federal policy. But does it signal high times for the quasi-legit medicinal pot industry? Here's Marketplace's Jeff Tyler.
JEFF TYLER: Is the Obama Administration paving the way for medical marijuana to become a legitimate business? Bruce Mirken thinks so. He's the spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, which is committed to ending pot prohibition.
Bruce Mirken: This change is going to help bring what had been a semi-underground business out of the shadows into a fully regulated, tax-paying part of our state.
Sales of medical marijuana are legal under California state law but illegal under federal law. Mirken says the threat of federal prosecution has kept part of the industry underground.
Mirken: Many of the medical marijuana dispensaries in California have been paying taxes. Many of them have wanted to but been afraid to.
Merchants were concerned about having tax payments confiscated by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency.
Mirken: They literally took tax money on legally dispensed medical marijuana that was destined for the state of California and seized it.
The Justice Department's new stance should stop the seizures. It may also give hope to people who support legalizing the sale of pot. Some advocates estimate marijuana could generate $1 billion a year in taxes. But that may be optimistic. Rosalie Pacula is co-director of Rand's Drug Policy Research Center.
ROSALIE Pacula: There's a lot of speculation about the size of that market, but I don't think we have very good data.
Without the threat of federal prosecution, medical marijuana clubs may finally open the books and give economists a better idea of just how much their industry is worth.
In Los Angeles, I'm Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Phoenix, AZ, 03/29/2009
Alcohol has been one of the most addicting drugs throughout our nations history, but the powers that be seen fit to legalize alcohol and has made an unimaginable amount of money from it for more than 80 years. People have lost lives, homes, and families behind alcohol abuse, but it still remains legal, and excessable to those who choose to use it. Tobacco has been around for awhile too and has been just as deadly. Maybe no one has lost a home or has had an accident from smoking a cigarette, but the long term effects were known and yet tobacco remains legal and readly for the public's consumption. Morphine, a narcotic pain reliever used to treat moderate to severe pain is legal to use by the medical communtiy. One of the most addictive and most dangerous drugs on the streets, if not used right it can destroy a life in a blink of an eye. In the medical world some people can't live without it, so again it remains legal. So the moral of the story is, the U.S needs to legalize marijuana as they did with alcohol and tax it, maybe it will help with this hugh debt we have and put money back in the economy. Its not as dangerous as alcohol, its about as mild and hazardous as tobacco, and as helpful as morphine in the medical community. If it turns out to be a bad decison, it won't be like its the first one the U.S has made
From AK, 03/24/2009
David Rigby,
You may want to educate yourself before you pass a judgment on marijuana users and vehicular accidents. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but more "idiots" get behind the wheel after having drinks than they do after smoking a joint. Not to mention, there is a HUGE difference in the ratio of accidents related to substance use (alcohol vs. Marijuana). You'll find that marijuana plays an minute factor in that percentage. Do a little research before you toss your opinion around.
From atlanta, GA, 03/23/2009
Damn, i'm in the wrong state!
From CA, 03/23/2009
im just happy that my patients, who have enough to worry about with chemotherapy and other debilitating circumstances, dont also have to worry about being arrested or prosecuted. They also wont have to wonder where they can get their meds when their pharmacy gets raided. My fear is that the state will turn it into the new tobacco. Tax the $#!& out of it, and make it illegal to grow your own.
From silvana, WA, 03/19/2009
it's about time common sense prevailed. i've worked with washington state depart. of transportation and have never known a marijuana user to have caused an accident.
From silvana, WA, 03/19/2009
it's about time some commen sense prevailed. alcohol is the gateway drug and it is very legal and very profitable, and very dangerous. i have worked with washington state department of transportation and have never known a marijuana user to have caused an accident.
From winston-salem, NC, 03/19/2009
Great, now we can look forward to stoned idiots behind the wheel. If you are in an accident caused by a stoner, I urge you to sue the "doctor" who prescribed the pot.
There is a reason it's called dope!
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