Legal pot shops crippled by black market, medical marijuana

[DigitalDrifter]

Anytime taxes are enacted people will always look for ways to get around them.

And this comment here amazes me:

Officials in both states say they must do more to drive customers into the recreational stores.

Never thought I'd live to see the day when government would actually be promoting pot sales. Beam me up Scotty, this place isn't worth living in.

SEATTLE — A year into the nation's experiment with legal, taxed marijuana sales, Washington and Colorado find themselves wrestling not with the federal interference many feared, but with competition from medical marijuana or even outright black market sales.

In Washington, the black market has exploded since voters legalized marijuana in 2012, with scores of legally dubious medical dispensaries opening and some pot delivery services brazenly advertising that they sell outside the legal system.

Licensed shops say taxes are so onerous that they can't compete.

Colorado, which launched legal pot sales last New Year's Day, is facing a lawsuit from Nebraska and Oklahoma alleging that they're being overrun with pot from the state.

And the number of patients on Colorado's medical marijuana registry went up, not down, since 2012, meaning more marijuana users there can avoid paying the higher taxes that recreational pot carries.

Officials in both states say they must do more to drive customers into the recreational stores. They're looking at reining in their medical systems and fixing the big tax differential between medical and recreational weed without harming patients.

And in some cases, they are considering cracking down on the proliferating black market.

"How can you have two parallel systems, one that's regulated, paying taxes, playing by the rules, and the other that's not doing any of those things?" said Rick Garza of the Washington Liquor Control Board, which oversees recreational pot.

The difficulty of reconciling medical marijuana with taxed recreational pot offers a cautionary tale for states that might join Washington and Colorado in regulating the adult use of the drug.

While legalization campaigns have focused on the myriad ills of prohibition, including racial discrepancies in who gets busted for weed, the promise of additional tax revenues in tight budget times was in no small part of the appeal.

Weed sales have so far brought in some revenue, though less than officials might have hoped.

Legal pot shops crippled by black market medical marijuana

 

[TheOldSchool]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

 

[WillowTree]

Only liberals tax misery!

 

[DigitalDrifter]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

 

[Moonglow]

Only liberals tax misery!

How do you afford all your taxes?

 

[Moonglow]

The govt and business must work in tandem to keep prices at the market level.......

 

[TheOldSchool]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

 

[TheOldSchool]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

Since marijuana legalization highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows - The Washington Post

 

[DigitalDrifter]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

Since marijuana legalization highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows - The Washington Post

I sincerely doubt that will be the trend. Once the substance is legal, the availability increases, thus usage will increase, and this will inevitably lead to an increase in impaired drivers.

 

[Moonglow]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

Since marijuana legalization highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows - The Washington Post

I sincerely doubt that will be the trend. Once the substance is legal, the availability increases, thus usage will increase, and this will inevitably lead to an increase in impaired drivers.

Like those not allowed to eat and drive....

 

[TheOldSchool]

Legalization Works Washington Sheriff Tells Oregonians Marijuana

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

Since marijuana legalization highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows - The Washington Post

I sincerely doubt that will be the trend. Once the substance is legal, the availability increases, thus usage will increase, and this will inevitably lead to an increase in impaired drivers.

Unless it becomes an alternative to the much more dangerous drug alcohol.

 

[Vigilante]

What's the difference between medical marijuana, and the good shit from Mexico.... the Mexican stuff is cheaper!

 

[TheOldSchool]

What's the difference between medical marijuana, and the good shit from Mexico.... the Mexican stuff is cheaper!

Legal Pot in the US Is Crippling Mexican Cartels VICE News

 

[Vigilante]

What's the difference between medical marijuana, and the good shit from Mexico.... the Mexican stuff is cheaper!

Legal Pot in the US Is Crippling Mexican Cartels VICE News

Like Saudi Arabian oil, it just drives the price down lower, and they keep getting lower until it puts the legal business out of business.... they have the money and the manpower to do this!

 

[DigitalDrifter]

He was one of a few law enforcement officials that was for legalization in Oregon, and yes I know he's in Washington.

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

Since marijuana legalization highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows - The Washington Post

I sincerely doubt that will be the trend. Once the substance is legal, the availability increases, thus usage will increase, and this will inevitably lead to an increase in impaired drivers.

Unless it becomes an alternative to the much more dangerous drug alcohol.

I'd get rid of them both if I could. It's a shame humans need to live so much of their lives in a stupor.

 

[TheOldSchool]

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

Since marijuana legalization highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows - The Washington Post

I sincerely doubt that will be the trend. Once the substance is legal, the availability increases, thus usage will increase, and this will inevitably lead to an increase in impaired drivers.

Unless it becomes an alternative to the much more dangerous drug alcohol.

I'd get rid of them both if I could. It's a shame humans need to live so much of their lives in a stupor.

There are plenty of countries that have banned both for you to move to if you like. Just look on a map for any country whose name ends in "-istan"

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

DUI's, posession arrests, violent crimes, road fatalities... all down. Tax revenue for schools and drug programs... up. In both Washington and Colorado. Only a fool still brainwashed by a lifetime of marijuana demonization would still oppose legalization.

Where did you get traffic fatalities report ?

Since marijuana legalization highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows - The Washington Post

I sincerely doubt that will be the trend. Once the substance is legal, the availability increases, thus usage will increase, and this will inevitably lead to an increase in impaired drivers.

Unless it becomes an alternative to the much more dangerous drug alcohol.

I'd get rid of them both if I could. It's a shame humans need to live so much of their lives in a stupor.

It's a shame you and most others on the right seek to control the lives of others and compel conformity.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

So much for the idea that legalization will end the war on drugs.

Legal pot shops crippled by black market medical marijuana

And in some cases, they are considering cracking down on the proliferating black market.

 

[JFK_USA]

So much for the idea that legalization will end the war on drugs.

Legal pot shops crippled by black market medical marijuana

And in some cases, they are considering cracking down on the proliferating black market.

It's going to take time. Nothing is EVER an immediate fix.