Are Cannabis Taxes Good, or Bad?
The government do take a bite, don’t she? It doesn’t matter
what political party you side with, no one enjoys paying taxes.
I wish taxes were not as high as they are, but I can wish in one hand and… in
the other. Stick around, I will let you know what happens first. Cannabis is an
industry that will basically take any and all tariffs that lawmakers want to
put on it. If we can have legal marijuana we’ll take that tax hike, and we’ll
do it smiling.
One thing you will notice when you check out a menu in a
weed shop is that the prices are high dude. I encounter many stunned faces and people
who turn around and leave the budbar based on the cost of this stuff. Sticker
shock can have quite the effect on any cannabis shopper when you add the tax. It
is especially funny when you encounter someone trying to haggle with price.
Nope, not today buddy, the price is the price. Wake up though, weed is no
longer being grown in closets or basements, and there are countless regulations
that it needs to pass before we can sell it to you. You can most likely find
illegal weed that is cheaper, but that illegal weed is going to be covered with
any number of molds, mildews, heavy metals, or pesticides. Give it a little
time though friends, prices will go down.
We all understand the framework of taxes. The Beatles even
wrote a song about it, “If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street, if you try to
sit, I’ll tax your seat”. I have to pay them too, having to hand over more
money always sucks. I can promise you though, the budtender smiling in front of
you has nothing to do with the price, so be nice to them,
please. These taxes
are designated for specific purposes that are meant to benefit the entire
state. Chief among those specific purposes are roads, schools, law enforcement,
the industry itself, and drug abuse programs. When you look at it like that it
doesn’t come off so bad anymore. So, if you have an issue with that, get your
state to legalize marijuana why don’t ya.
A large percentage of taxes collected get handed out for
road projects, something Colorado has had serious issues with. Due to the
climate of the state, our roads get beat up throughout the year. They are also
allotted for schools dealing with deteriorating buildings and paying for
programs that other states are having to cut. These include after-school programs,
anti-bullying programs, and anti-drug programs. The influx of marijuana revenue
is helping to make it so that other programs not only stick around but are
expanded upon. This country has an
opioid problem, something that seems to exist in every state. Marijuana taxes
go to anti-drug campaigns and abuse programs directed at educating the public
who otherwise might not have them. Programs like these help with rehabilitation
and abstinence education. And lastly, a large chunk of taxes goes back into the
industry itself with The Department of Agriculture receiving a portion to test for anything that could be detrimental to the health of a consumer.
Since legalization, it is safe to assume that countless illegal operations have
set up shop in Colorado. By funding law enforcement to keep these folks out of
business helps maintain the regulated industry and keep the black marketeers at
bay.
Remember back in the 1990’s when all the grown-ups said,
“let’s just make weed legal and tax the hell out of it”? Well, we listened and now
we are doing it. Continued legalization across the country will help the laws
begin to relax and linking essential taxes to the industry might help keep this
current legal trend going. Cannabis taxes, in Colorado at least, helped
eliminate hospital budget cuts this year. Although it may not appear to be
happening quickly taxes are beginning to show a benefit, just hang in there
everybody. The benefit these taxes create will help other states realize this
is something worth considering.
