"Tax the drug trade". Thank you, bro. For the 16 years I've been up here, I watch these damn helicopters going over every which way, and had to deal with drug stops on the highway (stopped by the courts), etc, behind marijuana. Then I drive into town and see the high school with a temp tin rent-a-gym 'cuz the big one is condemned, and a piss poor library and locker rooms in which you couldn't shower cuz the mound/septic system couldn't handle the xs H2O in the rainy season, and think how nice that would be. (We [school district] passed a bond issue; new one opens Sept).
This county and this state spend big bucks fighting this war. They are losing it. The market price is established. Give 75% of the $ to the grower, 25% in taxes; gets rid of the enforcement costs, is now a profit center for government, who can give it to schools, etc. The money they save in prison costs can get re-distributed to law enforcement, whatever. Right now, the state is probably shutting down their closest fire fighting bomber base, which increases our fire danger exponentially. I'm sure growers would like to see taxes go there. (Problem is, everybody would grow it, so the plan might not work, but maybe premium products would still find their way to the marketplace.
Rat |
