LEGAL POT NO TAX BONANZA FOR COLORADO

Illegal pot sales are flourishing more than ever as potheads avoid state taxes

The proponents of pot trumpeted that Colorado would reap a tax bonanza as they campaigned to legalize marijuana for recreational use. State lawmakers favoring legalization estimated that legal pot sales would pull in $33.5 million in taxes during the first six months after marijuana became legal. Those estimates must have been made by officials under the influence of pot because they were way, way off the mark. The tax take turned out to be $21.5 million less than predicted.

The voters of Colorado bought a pig in a poke. Their expected pot tax bonanza has gone up in smoke.

The pro-pot crowd also predicted that marijuana legalization would deliver a knockout blow to the drug cartels because illicit sales of the weed would whiter on the vine. Wrong on that count too. Contrary to that rosy prediction, the illegal pot market is flourishing more than ever.

Only 60 percent of Colorado’s recreational pot users are buying their marijuana from legal pot shops where the weed is taxed at more than 27 percent. It is much cheaper to buy pot on the black market where no taxes are collected. 40 percent of the pot smokers are taking advantage of those no-tax sales.

Aside from the no-tax sales, there appear to be other reasons illicit sales are flourishing.

Under the new law, any Coloradoan 21 years or older can grow up to six marijuana plants for personal use. Just one healthy plant will produce a substantial amount of pot. Many of those back yard pot farmers are believed to be selling their produce on the black market. More taxes gone up in smoke.

Medical marijuana is taxed at a rate far less than the rate on pot for recreational use. A person wanting to obtain medical marijuana must visit a doctor to obtain the $15 state-issued medical marijuana card. Since recreational use became legal, there has been a steady increase in the number of people visiting doctor offices in order to be put on the medical marijuana rolls. It is believed that many of these ‘patients’ are selling their ‘medical marijuana’ on the black market. Still more taxes gone up in smoke.

And, of course, the drug cartels are still in the business of trafficking pot to Colorado. All this reminds me of when New York legalized off-track betting. The pro-legalization crowed predicted that legalization would drive bookies - many of which were affiliated with the Mafia - out of business. That’s far from what happened. The illegal betting business boomed because you could bet on the cuff with your neighborhood bookie, whereas the legal betting shops were a cash-only business.

What Colorado has reaped from the legalization of pot is not a tax bonanza, nor a vanishing illegal marijuana market. The illegal market is alive and healthier than ever. Legalization, though, has increased the number of Colorado’s weedheads, and you can bet there are a significant number of juveniles among them.

I, for one, am not weeping over the fact that two-thirds of Colorado’s expected pot tax take went up in smoke, marijuana smoke that is.