When I first got to California, I noticed a spike in how much I was paying in taxes. This means sales, vehicle and even “entertainment” taxes. Give me a break! The state of California has prided itself for decades for being progressive and thinking outside the box. Having Berkeley inside its borders has given the state its fair share in every major social movement for generations if nothing else. With Proposition 19 on the ballot, some people are saying this would be the answer to the budget deficit of the state. Before we set up the tents for the party to make Boston’s look like a PTA meeting, follow me for a minute here.

Governor Schwarzenegger proposed that we institute severe budget cuts and urge all state agencies to severely cut costs rather than instituting new taxes. The Republican devil on my shoulder applauds this decision. The state gives that money away when it has it to give; it is a privilege, not a right, and tax payers should not be forced to pay for programs that have a history of spending beyond their means. The Democratic devil on the other shoulder sharply checks these thoughts, however. What kind of civilization would we be if we didn’t take care of the needy and advance the state of our State and all its citizens? Some of the programs that have been hit the hardest are those that fund out teachers, police force and pave our roads. We all use those.

Would a tax on Marijuana solve the answers to the budget problems of the Sunshine State? It might, according to the numbers, but there is no way those numbers are accurate. The USDA recently ranked illegally grown Marijuana as the top California cash crop with sales ranking well above the orange. This assessment does not even touch any of the illegal crops that are imported from Mexico and neighboring states. Medicinal marijuana use is being studied for health benefits more than vitamin C ever was, and individuals with prescriptions are legally allowed to grow a certain number of plants for their own personal use without being required to report them. Put all this together with the fact that numbers and dollar amounts about the drug trade are approximations at best, and the estimated $14 billion a year industry is probably worth a little more.

Even with phenomenal sales numbers, the California Board of Equalization projected a paltry $1.4 billion dollars collected. Never one to be left behind where there is tax money to be had, the BOE would place a $50 excise tax on all commercially sold marijuana. The monkey wrench in the whole works here is going to be the cost to regulate this new found cash monster. The tobacco giants are already getting into the game because they smell a profit, but all this cash coming in is going to do a number on the weed trade for the entire world. At least for the first few years, the system is going to be bogged down by the bureaucracy and the distribution system severely hampered by explosive growth that is has been legally kept from preparing for.

So yeah, the money is there, but with the way government spends money to make regulation redundant, and the overbearing and always present religious agenda delaying the progress, it’s not likely that we’ll see much of that money trickling down for some time. Not to say that we won’t ever, but it might not be the solution many Californians are hoping it will be. RAND Drug Policy Research Center recently released s study suggesting that prices would fall sharply, decreasing the revenue. Another very good point the study poses is that “Marijuana offenses account for most of the drug arrests in the United States, and the number has risen sharply in the past 20 years” (RAND Report, page 23). The number of cases and convictions that will need to be readdressed and possibly overturned when this plant is no longer illegal is going to cost the U.S. court system a whole lot of money.

The tax revenue is there to be had. The regulatory and distribution systems are in place and could operate with minimal alteration. The added legal, penal, medicinal, labor and political forces required to make this new cash cow give milk would generate quite a few jobs as well. While taxes are what’s on everyone’s mind, many more surprises lay down this rabbit hole. Regardless of where you stand on the issue of legalizing marijuana, the potential tax revenue generated will affect every person in this country in some way. Even if you don’t partake, this is a hot topic and it pays to be informed about the issue.

For more information on the RAND study or Prop. 19, please click here.

Photo courtesy of Lauren Paulsen

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