Pubdate: Sat, 02 Nov 2013
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2013 The Associated Press
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Kristen Wyatt, The Associated Press

25% POT TAX ON BALLOT

How Much State Reaps Could Affect Mood on Legalization Elsewhere

DENVER - A pro-pot jingle in Colorado last year went like this: "Jobs 
for our people/ Money for schools/Who could ask for more?" Nearly a 
year after Colorado legalized recreational weed, voters get the 
chance to decide exactly how much more - in taxes.

On Tuesday, voters decide whether to approve a 15 percent pot excise 
tax to pay for school construction, plus an extra sales tax of 10 
percent to fund marijuana enforcement.

Some pot activists are campaigning against the taxes, arguing that 
marijuana should be taxed like beer, which has a rate of 8 cents a 
gallon. They've handed out free joints at tax protests.

"Our alcohol system is regulated just fine with the taxes they have, 
so we don't see any need for this huge grab for cash from marijuana," 
said Miguel Lopez, volunteer coordinator for the small opposition 
campaign to Colorado's pot tax measure.

While polls suggest the tax is going to pass - even in this state 
where voters frequently reject new taxes - it is very much an open 
question how much the state is going to reap.

A projection prepared for voters by state fiscal analysts predicted 
the taxes would bring in $70 million a year. But an early draft of 
Colorado's first budget after retail sales begin, the 2014-15 fiscal 
year, doesn't include an amount officials expect in pot revenue.

Washington state isn't counting on pot revenue, either.

Voters in that state set tax rates when they approved legalization 
last year. Taxes will be 25 percent, levied at least twice and up to 
three times between when the pot is grown and when it reaches the 
customer, plus sales tax.

Marijuana's tax potential is an important question for the prospects 
for pot legalization in other states. If pot proves a tax windfall 
for Colorado and Washington, other states may be inclined to look 
favorably on legal weed.

But if recreational pot smokers in the two states stay in the black 
market to avoid taxes, while the price tag for regulating a new 
industry balloons, marijuana legalization could suddenly look like a bad deal.

That's why many in Colorado's marijuana industry are pushing the tax 
measure. They say that because most people don't use marijuana, the 
public needs to see a benefit from making the drug legal.

"Taxes are an opportunity for marijuana to show it can play a 
valuable role in the community," said Joe Megyesy, spokesman for the 
campaign promoting the tax measure.

Support for marijuana taxes extends even to politicians who opposed 
legalization in the first place, including Democratic Gov. John 
Hickenlooper and Republican Attorney General John Suthers.

"I think everyone sort of realizes that the die has been cast. We're 
really doing this, and if we're going to move marijuana out of the 
shadows, we need to regulate it and tax it," said Sam Kamin, a 
University of Denver law professor who studies drug policy and served 
on the Colorado panel that helped write state marijuana regulations.

[sidebar]

'Sin' taxes

MARIJUANA: Colorado voters are considering 25 percent taxes, 
including a 10 percent sales tax and a 15 percent excise tax, in 
addition to regular sales taxes.

BEER: 8 cents per gallon

WINE: $2.28 per gallon

LIQUOR: $2.28 per gallon

CIGARETTES: 84 cents per 20 cigarettes

CANDY, SODA: 2.9 percent state sales tax, plus additional local sales taxes

SOURCE: tax-rates.org
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom