Could marijuana help the economy?

It would probably help us to forget all about the economy.

Help? Yes probably.

Fix? Almost certainly not.

Yes I do believe that could help matters and we could also take from some of the drug dealers. One of the things I think would really be helped is not putting some of our youth in jail for having possession.

You are far from the only one with that outlook.
I’ve always thought that it was a little bit backwards that the people smoking weed weren’t being taxed for their purchase, but when they get arrested.. someone’s taxes are paying for it. That just makes no sense to me. Getting stoned is hardly criminal behavior in my opinion. If anything, I would think that drinking alcohol is far worse, and I’m fairly certain that plenty of people would agree with that.

i seriously think weed is illegal because the government doesn’t want us to think… lol, without weed, our music would suck!

It all ready is, in keeping it illegal the fines being paid for possession are quite some contribution I would imagine ;-/

Not to mention the increase in sales taxes from munchies.

Personally, I am against it. It sends the wrong message to the youth. I can see it will probably happen though.

@Scooby I would imagine the fines levied to pot smokers would barely be a break even over the costs of enforcement and prosecution of those fines. Legalization would eliminate this costly burden to taxpayers and we could instead use that money to pay the pensions of union teachers in Wisconsin.

I’m inclined to agree with @Cruiser, and I also can’t help but wonder about the numbers. When I consider the number of long term pot smokers with the number that get caught, I have to guess that the majority don’t get caught. Most people prefer to avoid jail. By legalizing and taxing, I would have to think that you would cover more bases, so to speak.

@Cruiser

I don’t know what the statistics are but you have a valid point, still I often wonder how much of the illegal stuff confiscated, finds it’s way back onto the street re-generating revenues? :-/
Why “union teachers in Wisconsin”.....?

@Scooby My comment was a back hand one regarding the brouhaha in Wisconsin where their Governor was/is attempting to block the collective bargaining rights of the unions there in a grave attempt to cut state expenses because of budget shortfalls there.

@Cruiser Here in England the public sector workers are taking a hammering too, I’m not to sure to what degree, if it involves pensions or not but there are rumblings as our government too try to enforce cuts to the public expenditures across the country in order to save money….. it wouldn’t be the first time they had their fingers in the till ( Cash register ) :-/

Not only would it help the economy, it would turn “gangsters” into legitimate business men almost overnight just as ending prohibition did for bootleggers in the 1930s. Drug lords would very quickly find that it is much cheaper to be legitimate tax paying business owners than it is to raise and maintain their own army (the current state of affairs).

@Mr_Grimm

“without weed, our music would suck!”

Music sucks equally with or without weed, it’s just that when you are stoned you tend not to notice.

Would it help? yes. But it does come with its health issues. I love weed, I’m a sucker for edibles…But I can’t have any..Not because its illegal, but because I have mild schizophrenia…Of course even if it was legalized, I still wouldn’t eat any..But I’d support it. And I agree that marijuana is much safer than alcohol…..Who gets high and drives?...No thanks, hand me the remote control and let me watch cartoons and go cook me some mac & cheese.. Thanks :P

The economy benefits from taxes paid on the product, reduced law enforcement costs, and reduced prison expenses.

Another thing is if marijuana is legalized how would it be taxed?...Some people grow their own weed and sell it and they don’t tax their costumers…so how would this work?

@xjustxxclaudiax – It would work in the same way we tax booze. It is perfectly OK for a home brewer to make their own beer and wine. However, the sale of your home brew is not legal.

If you want to grow your own for personal consumption, fine. If you want to sell it, get yourself the requite license and pay your taxes just like any other small business. However, if you want to skip that step you would be guilty of both tax evasion as well as selling a controlled substance without a license.

(HINT: Fines are designed so that from a risk/reward perspective “playing ball” and becoming a legitimate business owner is a much better decision than remaining underground)

@YoBob -GA, thanks :)

Anything that we can tax would help the economy.

It would certainly boost revenues if it were legalized and taxed. It would also save a great deal of money in enforcement and incarceration, and deny the drug cartels one major source of the revenue they use to support their violent criminal enterprise. How many people might elect to stay so stoned they wouldn’t be useful workers is unclear. Personally, I doubt this would be a serious problem. The stuff is available enough today that anyone who wishes to do that already can. And for those who are determined to live buzzed instead of working, alcohol is a legal alternative.

A significant product [with taxes] for US sale. Exports? Dunno.
Competing countries exporting?