The Wyoming News put the marijuana tax issue into perspective. They used a baseline and calculated revenues using an average retail
price of $160 per ounce and an estimated 10,000 medical marijuana patients in Wyoming smoking two blunts/joints a day. Based on that,
it would be bout 120,000 ounces consumed a year, amounting to $19 million in gross revenue. The sales tax on that would be a little
over $1 million, of which the state would get $540,000, but administration of the program would be expensive. Colorado has 55
people on staff to handle facilities in their state, and they've authorized up to 85 people to cover recreational plus medical.
Marijuana
advocates claim the cost associated with the ‘war on drugs’ doesn't justify the outcome. We spend less then $40 billion a year including
federal, state and local governments on the so called war on drugs. The federal government spends less then $15 billion a year. Yet
tax payers are spending more then $467 billion a year on cleaning up the mess associated with substance abuse/use. (our tax dollars).
For local governments, spending on substance abuse outstripped local sending on transportation and all welfare benefits combined.
For every dollar currently raised in taxes on alcohol and tobacco, we spend $10.00 cleaning up the mess. Marijuana won’t be any different.
It’s just another tax payer hook.
Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom is not only lying to the public,
he’s violating his oath of office and
the constitutional rights of millions of California residents. The 5th amendment to the United States Constitution states: “no person
shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process.” Procedural due process guarantees the Government can not deprive
one of their right to life, liberty, or property, without adequate notice. Our liberty can not be taken without procedural due process.
Substantive due process places substantial limits on Governmental infringement of fundamental, constitutionally protected rights.
In fact, it is illegal to deprive a citizen of this right. The Supreme Court added behavior that “shocks the conscience” as to what
constitutes a violation of due process.
The 5th amendment states “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property
without
due process”, and this right was extended to each state by the 14th amendment. The 14th amendment not only protects our right
to life, liberty and property, but it also guarantees our right to the pursuit of happiness. We have a constitutional right
to the pursuit of happiness through
Meyer v Nebraska. Drug use negatively impacts entire neighborhoods and surrounding communities.
Marijuana contributes to the high school drop out rate that costs $46.4 billion annually. Drug use rudely intrudes on the daily
lives of people that don’t use, through increased crime and taxes. 85 to 90% of all crime is attributable to drugs. The list
of harms associated with marijuana use is staggering. The damage caused by marijuana is indisputable.
Lt Governor Gavin Newsom
was required by law to take the oath of office. He swore to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of
the State of California. Our constitutionally protected right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness trumps a drug users desire
to use. In fact the constitution clearly states that illegal activity or behavior is not protected under the constitution, so a drug
user cannot insinuate that their drug use somehow trumps our right to live our lives and bring up our children without exposing them
to the dangerous, shady underworld of drug use/abuse, growers and traffickers. Drug use
“shocks the conscience” and therefore
violates our right to due process, as well as our right to the pursuit of happiness