Quote:
Originally posted by NY Madman:
Quote:
Originally posted by Xtoolbox:

[b]Marijuana might just be the biggest cash crop in the nation & the proceeds of the sales go unregulated to whom?

Plus all the taxes we pay to support a war and criminal justice system against something that the people obviously will use regardless. What a huge waste [Freak]

I would rather see Cannabis sold through legitimate businesses that pay taxes to support schools, police and roads.
I agree that pot is a cash crop. I'm not sure what you are trying to say in that second sentence.

Don't kid yourself that legalizing pot will pay for any support for schools, police or roads. Has alcohol taxes paid for any of that? Alcohol is the most widely available drug and the most widely taxed. It hasn't paid for anything other than state general fund welfare programs. Neither will any of your prospective pot revenues pay for anything.

The money the states got from the tobacco lawsuits wasn't spent the way it was supposed to be spent. It went into the general coffers and was spent on entitlement programs. That basically means supporting the welfare state.

States entered the gambling business years ago via lotteries with the promise that revenues will pay for schools and many other things. None of that bullshit has happened. The states are raking in billions of dollars. Taxes have still gone up...up...up...up and up over the years. There has been no tax relief. There has been no property tax relief. Yet the states are still making billions off of gambling.

What the hell makes you think legalizing pot will save you a single penny in taxation? It will eventually wind up costing you so much more money because of expanded government drug treatment programs and the expansion of the welfare state.

Let's come back to reality. No taxpayer is going to see a single penny saved by making pot legal. It will wind up costing them dearly in the pocket.[/b]
The reason that those alchohol taxes and revenues from lotteries, etc. are not going directly towards what they should be is a matter of accountability in those governements and not a matter of whether or not those revenues are there. A pot tax would be the same way.

Tell us...."your last statement stating it will wind up costing them dearly in the pocket"

How?

Take the dollars spent on enforicing drug laws for pot users and dealers.

Take the tax revenue generated by legitimizing it.

Consider the boost in the economy that will come from growing, marketing, and selling it.

And consider that people who smoke pot will do it regardless of its legality. (yes, kids too).

Consider that even now, if you want to get weed, it's WIDELY available, even in schools.

Show me the down side of this that is not all cop / war on drugs propaganda that has been shoved down your throat since your teen years.

Madman, you're one of the biggest "don't beleive everything you read / consider the source" advocates here, yet on this subject, you're buying into all the bullshit the government has spewed about marijuana use.