Pubdate: Sat, 27 Jun 2015
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2015 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Ron Nelson, Albuquerque Resident
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n338/a16.html

NM SHOULD WATCH COLORADO'S TROUBLE WITH LEGALIZED POT

State's Experiment Brought Increased Crime, Car Wrecks and Homelessness

I'd like the opportunity to reply to and rebut Rep. Bill McCamley's 
proposition to legalize marijuana here in New Mexico.

The lessons learned from legalizing alcohol should be a stellar role 
model as to why this is a bad idea.

During Prohibition, the relationship between organized crime and 
politicians helped to transition bribes - that were/are illegal - to 
political contributions that were perfectly legal. We all know how 
special interests and dollars spent to line their pockets is working 
out for the politicians today.

The amount of money spent on the health, social and public safety 
issues that are a direct result of excessive alcohol consumption is 
staggering and in the billions of dollars range. And yet we promote 
more businesses that solicit alcohol, with little to show for it at 
the medical/social and public safety end of the spectrum.

As far as reducing crime, the great social experiments in Colorado 
and Washington are already disputing this issue.

They have already learned that if a druggy will steal to obtain 
his/her illegal drugs, he/she will also steal to obtain legal drugs. 
The Denver Post ran an article a few months back saying that their 
property crime rate has increased by 68 percent, auto accidents are 
up 100 percent and homelessness is up 36 percent.

They are also learning that the combination of marijuana and alcohol 
is deadly on the highways.

Colorado has also cited a 68 percent shortfall in projected tax 
revenues. The politicians blame the medical marijuana program for 
underselling the legal market, but other sources claim black 
marketers are underselling legal businesses almost 3-1.

Eliminate the black market? Basic economics dictates that an 
individual will buy from a less expensive source.

Just this week Bloomberg business published an article saying that 
the businesses that sell marijuana and are making lots of money are 
on a downward swing due to the excessive competition.

"Bloomberg's contacts still report between 100 to 300 customers 
entering their stores each day, but they only spend about $50 per 
visit compared to $100 last June. About half of these customers are 
tourists in most stores we interviewed. ... The 10% sales tax on 
recreational cannabis will be repealed (September 16) due to a 
provision included in a bill Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper 
signed into law earlier this month. The bill also permanently cuts 
the 10% sales tax on recreational marijuana to 8% in 2017 in an 
effort to squeeze out the black market."

The Albuquerque Journal ran an article some months back showing that 
lost revenues on black market cigarettes and alcohol is costing the 
state almost $200,000 a month.

It is not forgotten that Colorado thought this was a golden egg to 
help their sagging educational system with lots of generated tax 
dollars. That system has yet to see a single dime. Every dollar has 
gone to creating the massive bureaucracy needed to regulate and enforce it.

If New Mexico's "expert" panel of politicians, law enforcement and 
judges cannot keep repeat DWI offenders off the streets, what makes 
one clearthinking individual believe he/she can effectively corral a 
bunch of legal drug users?

What I'm patiently waiting to observe is the political fallout over 
those politicians who quickly jumped on the legalization bandwagon by 
choosing what is popular over protection of public safety.

Just watching Colorado alone, I think voters may soon come to their 
senses and declare that this wasn't such a good experiment after all.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom