If California legalizes marijuana, do you think that the federal government will find a way to tax it?
I find it hard to believe that the federal government will be able to resist. Obviously they won’t be able to directly benefit off of sales to the public because I just don’t think they’d be able to spin it enough to get away with it and avoid losing face, but how do you think they would try to take a piece of the pie? Are there any loopholes in place that you think that they could, and probably will, exploit to collect their share?
of course. The only reason they would ever endorse the legalization would be to tax it.
Of course they will.
That is the ONLY reason to legalize it. Just for the Tax revenue. No other reason
That would be the only way they would legalize it. I gurantee that. There would never be a moment when it was legal but not taxed. They would tax it right from the start.
They will tax the hell out of it. not to mention licensing fees, FDA regulations. Not to mention lawsuits, look at what has happened to the tobacco industry. There will be anti-marijuana lobbyist groups as well. Marijuana will be much more enjoyable illegal than legal.
If the Republicans had their way it’d be completely up to the state and Big Daddy Uncle Scam couldn’t interfere
it would only be the right thing to do.
it is an item at a shop and should be treated as such.maybe taxed accordingly to what it is used for:smoking:tax like cigarrets.
tey: maybe like tea leaves….
What the federal government might do is threaten to withhold federal highway funding for the state if the people of California decide to legalize marijuana against the federal government’s wishes. Remember California has legalized marijuana for medicinal use yet the dispensaries get raided by the DEA all the time. What make you think they’ll allow it for recreational use.
Marijuana used to be completely legal in Alaska up until 1984. The Alaskan state government finally outlawed it because of pressure from the Regan Administration threatening to withhold their federal highway funds.
If the feds do see the light and recognize California’s decision there’s already a federal marijuana tax system in place, been there since 1937, however the federal government originally set it up as a sting operation.
Maybe this time instead of busting honest growers who step forward and declare their crops the feds will actually issue them the tax stamps they expected to pay for.
By the way first man busted under the Marijuana Tax act of 1937 was an honest hemp farmer. When he declared his crop (400 pounds worth) to the federal revenue agents instead of collecting the appropriate fee and issuing the man his tax stamps he was arrested and ended up being fined 1000 dollars and spending 6 years in a federal penitentiary.
Catch 22 here. In order to get the tax stamps you first had to produce the pot and when you did you were promptly busted for not having the stamps. Clever yea?
O f course they will. In order for California to make that move they will have to have some form of tax that leads straight to the feds. Or else there wouldn’t be a point because the feds would do whatever they could to hinder the market and the main driving factor of legalization of Cannabis is the huge amount of tax revenue that can be generated from the sale and cultivation of it.
People forget that with the legalization of Cannabis comes the legalization of Hemp. Hemp has so many industrial uses that are cleaner, cheaper, and less dramatic on the environment than the synthetic counterparts it can compete with.
Thus far everyone has been focusing on Cannabis and the tax revenue that can be potentially generated from ending prohibition but the development of an industrial hemp industry becomes another tax revenue stream that people forget. No one knows what revenue can be generated from industrial hemp but we do know that California stands to create roughly $1.5 billion worth of tax revenue just in Cannabis alone. Add the revenue that could be possible with industrial hemp, the cost savings of not having to waste valuable resources fighting Cannabis, and you have far more revenue than the estimated $1.5 billion.
Once Cali makes the move to end prohibition I think other states will soon follow leading to the feds doing the same. But it needs to be properly taxed, regulated, and controlled to stand a chance.