Pubdate: Sun, 18 Jan 2015
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Evan Halper

GREEN MOUNTAIN HIGH?

Vermont Is Exploring Whether to Become the Center of Legal Pot Sales 
in the East. If It Does, a Tourism Boom May Follow.

Forget ski resorts and prize-winning maple syrup. The big tourism 
draw for tiny Vermont could soon be marijuana.

Led by Gov. Peter Shumlin, state lawmakers are exploring legalizing a 
drug that has been as much apart of local culture as tie-dyes, 
psychedelic music and hippie farmers.

The state commissioned Rand Corp. to look at what it would mean for 
the Green Mountain State to become the official beachhead of legal 
recreational pot sales on the East Coast.

If nothing else, Rand's report predicts a tourism boom.

Vermonters already have a considerable taste for marijuana, smoking 
or otherwise consuming15 to 25 metric tons last year- as much as $330 
worth of pot per resident.

But many, many more consumers of cannabis live within a couple of 
hundred miles of the state's borders. One million of them, to be 
precise, or 40 for each Vermonter who regularly consumes marijuana, 
according to Rand.

"An influx of tourists can be expected immediately after stores 
open," Rand's report said, noting that the expected influx would 
dwarf the experience of the Western states that have already 
legalized recreational sales.

"This is a much larger pool of potential visitors than in the areas 
surrounding Colorado or Washington, even in absolute terms, and 
massively larger relative to the in-state population," which is just 
626,000, the report says.

All those tourists could mean tens of millions of dollars in tax 
revenue for the state. But a huge number of pot consumers crossing 
state lines could also antagonize federal drug authorities, 
triggering a crackdown, the report's authors warned.

Moreover, hordes of potheads driving long distances to get high would 
also bring predictable public nuisance and traffic problems, Rand said.

Voters in Washington, D.C., already beat Vermont to legalization, 
approving a ballot measure in November that would make the nation's 
capital the first jurisdiction in the East to permit recreational pot use.

But the law may not take effect since Congress, which has the power 
to manage the affairs of the district, is trying to block it. 
Moreover, the D.C. measure legalizes possession, but does not allow 
for sales of pot.

Thus, Vermont could be in the pole position as the East Coast venue 
for recreational pot sales.

Rand expressed no opinion on whether Vermont should go ahead with 
full legalization. The report presented extensive analysis of 
potential public health risks, pointing to "some clear acute and 
chronic health effects, especially of persistent heavy marijuana use."

The authors also noted that the state could take a different approach 
than Colorado and Washington state. Vermont could, for example, keep 
tight control over the pot trade by requiring marijuana to be sold 
through state stores or by licensing only cooperatives or nonprofit businesses.

The state could also choose to limit the potency of marijuana sold 
legally and ban cannabis products that can particularly appeal to 
children, such as fruit-flavored candies and sodas.

Should Vermont choose to legalize, Rand suggests it may want to 
follow the Western states by taxing the drug heavily. Otherwise, the 
report said, the cost of pot would plunge - which would appeal to 
pots mokers but would not be a great idea as a matter of state policy.

"For most consumer goods, lower prices are a cause for celebration, 
but, if consumers are vulnerable to overindulging, low prices might 
be problematic," the report said.

"Some view innovation that has led to very low prices for soda pop, 
junk food, and candy to be a curse, not a blessing, for the American public."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom