Current estimates for the cost to the buyer for one year range from $625 to $1800 a year. All note these estimates are sketchy because estimates of cannabis use were derived when the substance was illegal.
Researchers estimate that the 15% excise tax on wholesale marijuana would yield $21.7 million annually, which is far short of the $40 million annual target. To hit the target, marijuana would have to cost a lot more than the prices that have been estimated, or people in Colorado would have to buy a lot more marijuana than the forecasts project. Neither is likely to occur, the study states. “As competition forces growers and sellers to be more efficient, margins will erode, and both wholesale cost and retail prices are forecast to fall,” the report reads. And instead of usage rising year after year, the study’s authors foresee a “decline in the rate of growth of consumption as the ‘wow’ factor erodes over time, and any marijuana tourism begins to decline, particularly if other states follow Colorado and Washington and legalize marijuana.”
http://business.time.com/2013/05/20/how-much-will-a-legal-marijuana-habit-cost-you/#ixzz2UKfa81qJ
well, even if that wouldn't translate into a goldmine for the state tax coffers, it would definitely make it possible to pay back the state for its costs.
if voters would prefer to have no regulations on cannabis, they would have no expense from it - so I suppose that's another option.
in any case, there is no compelling reason to keep marijuana illegal. The issue of regulation is to appease those with reefer madness and to argue a case, beyond the entirely valid one that there is no reason for marijuana to be illegal other than the desire to create prohibition.
Anyone who supports prohibition, however, needs to factor in the costs of prohibition, as well, to determine whether prohibition is something worth paying for as well.
= new reply since forum marked as read
