Pubdate: Mon, 05 Jan 2015
Source: Providence Journal, The (RI)
Copyright: 2015 The Providence Journal Company
Contact:  http://www.providencejournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/352
Author: Jim Aubin
Note: Jim Aubin, of North Smithfield, is a member of Common Sense 
Citizen, which he formed to fight for legalization of marijuana in 
Rhode Island.

IT'S TIME FOR LEGAL, TAXED MARIJUANA

It is 2015 now, believe it or not. Rhode Island muddles along, 
perpetually over-taxed, under-employed, and struggling to keep up 
economically with both our neighbors and the rest of the country.

Our unemployment stands at 7.1 percent, 47th out of 50 states. The 
2015 budget projects a $200 million deficit, which is a pretty 
incredible feat considering Rhode Island is one of the most highly 
taxed states in the union.

Our state needs something new, something to boost us up and out of 
the rut we always seem to find ourselves in. The Marijuana 
Regulation, Control and Taxation Act could very likely be exactly 
what Rhode Island needs to turn itself around.

Millions of dollars and thousands of jobs are what Rhode Island 
needs, and they are what marijuana legalization would provide. A 2014 
Open Doors Report estimated between $21.5 million and $82 million in 
tax revenue for the state. Another report from 2010 by Harvard 
economist Jeffrey A. Miron estimated that Rhode Island spends $40.5 
million annually fighting pot.

That means between $62 million and $122.5 million dollars annually 
both saved and earned to plug that $200 million deficit, just from 
legal marijuana sales directly. That isn't even counting the 
additional taxes from increased retail sales of smoking accessories, 
such as glassware and tobacco wraps, plus new payroll tax revenue off 
hundreds or thousands of newly formed jobs in the industry. Tourism 
would probably increase as well, bringing in even more dollars to our 
beautiful state.

So even conservatively thinking, we would be looking at enough 
revenue to at least halfway fill our deficit, potentially even much 
more than that. Sound too good to be true? Just look at Colorado, and 
see how it has fared since legalization in 2012.

Colorado raked in $60 million in marijuana taxes and licensing fees 
in the past year, plus saved most if not all of the $145 million the 
Harvard report estimated it spent each year fighting marijuana. Crime 
and motor vehicle incidents are down. Tourism is way up, and while 
Colorado saw an 8 percent unemployment rate in 2012, it now sits at 
4.1 percent and continues to drop. Should Rhode Island regulate and 
tax marijuana sales? (4,569 votes) Yes No View results

Legal pot has created thousands of jobs for growers, trimmers, 
tenders, bakers, and chocolatiers, as well as numerous jobs 
wholesaling, distributing and retailing the products out to the 
market. These are jobs, plain and simple.

Rhode Island could easily reap the same benefits, with just a little 
common sense. Hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs for Rhode Islanders 
would be created immediately upon introduction of the new industry. 
More jobs would presumably follow, as more and more people switched 
over from black-market purchases to retail, taxable sales. Greater 
demand creates a need for a larger supply chain, and more jobs are 
created to fill the void.

As it sits now, marijuana is bought and sold on the black market at 
an astonishing rate, unregulated, and with criminals in charge of 
both quality control and profits. Some $40.5 million is spent 
annually fighting a plant 50 percent of legal aged Rhode Islanders 
have used in the past year, according to a 2012 National Survey on 
Drug Use and Health.

It is easier for children to get marijuana than alcohol or tobacco, 
simply because pot is so readily available on the black market. 
Legalization, regulation, and taxation would keep marijuana out of 
the hands of children, keep the money made out of the hands of the 
criminals, and straight into the taxpayers pocket.

Come on, Rhode Island, let's be the model for legal marijuana on the 
East Coast. Colorado has shown it can be done, with enormous benefit 
for both the state and its residents. The time for Rhode Island to 
act is now. Let's lead common sense east of the Mississippi. Rhode 
Island deserves to shine.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom