Tiburon2k

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/y...p-70m-32221860



Washington launched its second-in-the-nation legal marijuana market with just a handful of stores selling high-priced pot to long lines of customers. A year later, the state has about 160 shops open, tax revenues have soared past expectations and sales top $1.4 million per day.



And who knows — the industry might even start making some money.



Washington pot farmers, processors and retailers have complained all year that heavy state and federal tax burdens, along with competition from an unregulated medical marijuana market, have made it difficult for them to do business.



But at least some relief is here: This month, two new laws take effect, one to regulate and tax medical marijuana, and one to cut Washington's three-level excise tax on pot to a single, 37-percent tax.



Despite some industry gripes and those tweaks to Washington's legal pot law, which voters passed in 2012 to legalize marijuana for adults over 21, officials and legalization backers say the state's slow and deliberate effort to regulate marijuana has been a success.



A year after stores opened on July 8, 2014, here's a look at the state of legal weed here.



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THE TAXES



Washington's racked up more than $250 million in marijuana sales in the past year — roughly $62 million of which constitute marijuana excise taxes. That's beyond the state's original forecast of $36 million. And when state and local sales and other taxes are included, the total payday for the state and local governments tops $70 million.



That's real money, if only a drop in Washington's $38 billion two-year budget. Colorado's recreational sales began Jan. 1, 2014, and brought in taxes of $44 million in the first year.



The tax revenue could continue to keep climbing.



And as other states watch Washington and Colorado, the only other state with legal marijuana sales, bring in more money, they're ever more seriously considering following suit, as Oregon and Alaska have already.



"Nobody's counting on the revenue from cannabis sales to save us, but it has an impact," David Zuckerman, a Vermont state senator and legalization advocate, said during a recent visit to Seattle. "The more important thing is that the sky didn't fall in Colorado. The tidal wave hasn't hit Seattle. They're showing us that this can be done."



———



... AND THE TAXES



The flip side has been the burden of the taxes on pot businesses, with marijuana taxed 25 percent each time it moves from the growers to the processers to the retailers. That's been especially tough on retailers, who must pay federal income tax on the marijuana tax they turn over to the state.



James Lathrop, who owns Seattle's first legal marijuana shop, Cannabis City, says through the end of 2014, his estimated federal tax liability was $510,000, on top of the $778,000 he owed the state on $3.1 million in sales.



"I'm basically doing this for free," Lathrop says. "Nobody's gone out of business, but I'm not driving a new truck either."



It hasn't been much easier on the growers.



"Looking back now, it's amazing we could be so successful and unsuccessful at the same time," says Jeremy Moberg, a long-time black-market grower who went legal and now runs CannaSol Farms in north-central Washington. "We're the No. 9 grower in the state, and my bank account just seems to stagnate."









Why isnt pot legal yet? Just imagine how much money the government would make if it was legal in every single US state? We would have one massive surplus of a budget I bet. And lets not forget how much space would be freed up in prisons because people who are there on pot related offenses would probably be let out or have a reduced sentence.

JonGTR

Because pot is a drug that makes people stupid? Don't kid yourself if you don't think this affects people who don't smoke it, because it does. It brings society down as a whole.



With that entire debate aside, I'm further upset about it because this will make it harder to fight smoking in general. The fight against nicotine will be that much harder. Granted, it's not the same ingredients, but it's still another leg for tobacco companies to stand on.



I use to have the mindset that I didn't give a sh*t if you smoked, drank, or blew your brains out as long as it didn't affect me or my family. However, I now see that it really does have an affect on society as I see more and more people become reckless with their lives. If a large enough group decides to become stupid, we ALL pay for it.

tibbytib

Alcohol makes people stupid AND violent. Maybe we should make that illegal as well.



I'm all for the legalization and regulation of pot sales. People are gonna do it regardless. Why not regulate it, make it safer to purchase, and at the same time, collect taxes and make good use of that revenue.



I'm not a pot smoker, but there are actually some great products made with cannabis that is not just a joint, believe it or not, and DOESN'T MAKE YOU HIGH! Creams and such that you can use for arthritic pain relief, head aches, muscle pain. And.....it works great!



We were all raised with such a stigma about pot as a gateway drug and it's just as bad as heroine or crack. More people use beer as a gateway to harder liquors and alcohol then people who I know smoke pot. Think about it. Ooo, have a beer. Ooo, let's do a shot of this. Oooo, let's try this liquid cocain! Yep, that was my 21st birthday! LOL!

JonGTR

Yes, people are going to do it regardless, but the amount of people doing it shall remain low. Now that it's much easier to buy, more will do it, thereby dumbing down the masses. Businesses and gov't entities surrounding these states now need to spend more resources to prevent the import and use of it. A situation that they shouldn't have to pay/spend more taxes for just because of their proximity. Those expenses should reside on the issuing state, not the neighbors. I'm betting those states are finding a higher rate of marijuana use and arrests.



I'm all against being a nanny-state, but this to me is a different situation because a large majority cannot control themselves.



I'm not all for alcohol use either. I drink it on occasion, but I also do it responsibly. I believe there should be tighter restrictions on it. Harder to buy, tougher penalties for public intoxication and DWI's, etc. Alcohol abuse lately has gotten WAY out of hand, but that's an entirely different subject, so let's not derail.



My point is that we've taken a turn in the WRONG direction for becoming a better society as a whole. Who cares if the gov't is making more money off the potheads when we are losing our self respect in the process.

tibbytib

Your point of alcohol abuse and drug abuse are absolutely on the same level and on topic. Why should one be dismissed and the other be the point of focus.



I agree about stricter laws concerning public intoxication and dui's, although, I do believe the level of BAC is a bit ridiculous. If you have 1 beer, there's a good chance you could get a dwi or dui.



It's actually quite a bit more expensive to purchase from a legit shop rather then your local dealer on the corner. That's one reason why the shops are upset at the huge taxation on them. To really make this work, they have to allow the shops to compete with street prices.



As far as neighboring states needing to up costs to prevent Colorado bud from spreading to Kansas, it's really a matter of folks trying to find a reason to dispute the legalization of it. Yes. It's probably crossing state lines. It's just publicly known now that it's legal to sell it in 2 states. NEWS FLASH....Pot has been crossing state boarders for years! It's simply a ploy to argue and try to undermine the legalization and to attempt to slow down or stop other states from adopting the movement.



OMG, I sound like I smoke it! Haha! Again, I don't smoke pot, but I absolutely support the regulation of it.

JonGTR

Lemme get straight to the point.



Legal or not, anyone with half a brain, doesn't do this sh*t. It rots your brain, demotivates you, and is a waste of time. I've seen it happen with very good friends. They went from highly intelligent, to the most retarded person in the room in less than a month.



Anyone who does this doesn't have a decent career. Most respectable companies would NOT hire someone who smokes pot. (random drug tests)





Therefore, this drug does nothing but keep people down in life and should have no place in our future or hold a significant role in the government's regulation and enforcement. It's the gov't way of saying it is ok to smoke it, and that should NEVER be the case.





You think some pothead's life won't affect yours? What happens when they have to get on welfare because they were too lazy and unmotivated to get a real job? Your gov't sponsored his habit! The gov't should be promoting education to keep kids off this crap (and alcohol), not supporting it.





The legal system is the true representation of our "MORALS", and we just sent it to hell.

Tibbi

I wont disagree with this, but I will say most vices have very adverse effects.

Cigarettes will most likely ruin the smokers lungs.

Alcohol is a depressant that distorts the users sense of rationality.

etc.

But it's a choice. Give legal pot a few short years and it's appeal with wear out. It's just a fad.

The same thing will happen when the Cuban Embargo is officially lifted. Cuban cigars will be everywhere and stupid cheap. Everyone and their mother will smoke for about 6 months and the fad will doe off. The only thing keeping these limited locations alive is the tourism.







And this is why we need drug tests for Welfare recipients. PROBLEM SOLVED. If you have money for frivolous crap, you sure as hell can afford food and rent.

Opt not to deal with the responsibility and you wind up in the street with the rest of the bums.

JonGTR

So we throw even more people out into the street? Who pays for their healthcare when they need attention? We do. Why do you think healthcare is so expensive? It's so one person can pay the bill of 2, or 3 who weren't able to. Now we'll have even more to deal with due to the gov't not banning a substance that many cannot physically/mentally control.

Tibbi

So you're answer is to use government to limit the availability of recreational substances. I'm sorry, but there is a reason prohibition was repealed. Marijuana is no different than liquor, both modify the minds perception and impair function. As someone who supports smaller government I can not sign onto this gesture. And to be frank, borderline stone cold, pinpoint where in our US Constitution it guarantees the right of all people to healthcare? I will tell you exactly why healthcare is so expensive: (tl;dr incoming)

• Medicare, medicaid and other government healthcare provisions are provided the right to sent cost and expenditure for any provided service or utility. And for that very reason often undercut cost by ridiculous amounts. When you then calculate that Medicare alone (not counting other gov't programs) accounts for almost 65% of medical care provided in the United States, you start to get a picture of the problem. That means that 35% of the public is footing the bill in one way or another for a large majority of the country. But lets dive into this further: Let's say for instance that Timmy is a sick, on medicare and needs surgery. Lets start by looking at his medication. Timmy needs for his illness "Drug Y." David llc makes Drug Y and costs them $10 to produce. Medicare steps in and says that they will pay $6 per, and not a penny more. Now the people working at David llc know that unless they sell they're never going to have a market advantage, so they opt to take the cut in order to get Drug Y out there. This causes an issue though, that means that they need to charge an extra $7.50 for each drug leaving the door to the private market. The cost to David llc is now $17.5 per unit. David llc need to make profit and most of the time 100% profit is considered a decent return on investment (it's not great by a long shot), so now we have Drug Y coming to market at $27.5, which isn't terrible. But then the insurance companies get involved, they will negotiate with David llc and they know that insurace is going to pay at best 60% of what the "market value" is considered. So to make $27.5 from insurance payments they need to charge almost $50. This is the number you an I would see. In this one case that $10 medication is artificially inflated to $50, two and a half times what David llc would charge otherwise! And that's only calculating with Medicare, once you add all of the programs the actual percentage of medical care provided by gov't programs is just over 75%. Remember it's mostly the very ill and elderly that require significant medical care. If you do the same math all considered that would drive Drug Y to almost $60!! Hence, for the most part, your copay is generally the actual value of service. Or at least a close estimate. Why does a routine appendectomy cost on average $33,000?! Well... use the same math above.
  
  
  
  This is why Canada can afford universal healthcare. That same appendectomy would cost quite a bit less in any other country, and even a microrobotic procedure would still be
  
  between $8-12k if ours was an equivalent cash market.
  

I'm not saying damn the sick and the elderly, what I am saying is we need to stop handing our living away to social leaches and failed politics. Let freedom ring, and reign for that matter. Some will stumble, some will even fall. But it's not my responsibility to pay for some stoners root canal when he spend the last decade on a corner trying to score a cheap high. They made a choice and should be an example, not the rule. The free market will allow the successful to succeed and the stupid and/or ignorant to falter. I do not smoke weed and choose not to, not my thing. I do however enjoy a swig of a good beverage form time to time, and I couldn't fault anyone who would enjoy a joint on their own time just as a personal pleasure. It's about moderation and responsible consumption. I can afford a $70 bottle of Bourbon, not everyone can or should; fact be told I was there not long ago myself. If am man wants to enjoy a bowl the way I enjoy the very VERY rare cigar. Oh well. That's his choice. But if that becomes a problem and he chooses that over responsibility he should suffer. And no, in a perfect world we would not need to.