Pubdate: Tue, 19 Jan 2016
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: Jeffrey Zinsmeister
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n014/a07.html

LEGAL POT DIDN'T END ILLEGAL TRADE

Re: "Hasty bans on medical pot only serve black market" [Opinion, 
Jan. 8]: Your recent opinion column on marijuana legalization claims 
that California cities can eliminate the black market for marijuana 
by legalizing the drug. Reality indicates otherwise.

The Colorado Springs Gazette reported last year that the black market 
for pot in Colorado is thriving despite legalization, and a prominent 
pot industry publication claims that regulatory compliance costs will 
not eliminate the black market in California, either.

Indeed, last November a California Board of Equalization official 
told the same publication that 70 to 75 percent of California pot 
dispensaries do not pay their required taxes. It is difficult to see 
how tax-evading, law-breaking pot shops are much different from black 
market dealers  and therefore understandable why so many California 
cities prefer to keep the pot trade out entirely.

Jeffrey Zinsmeister

Alexandria, Va.

executive vice president, Smart Approaches to Marijuana
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom