Pubdate: Sat, 10 Nov 2012
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: 
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Gary Lamphier

TAX REVENUES GOING UP IN SMOKE

B.C. Should Legalize Bud

EDMONTON - Like the voters in two U.S. states, I'm in favour of 
legalizing marijuana.

As a business columnist, you may wonder why I'm even writing about 
this topic. Well, consider this:

In British Columbia, marijuana sales are believed to exceed $6 
billion a year - more than twice the size of the province's top 
forest products company, and eight times larger than B.C.'s largest 
high-tech company.

Simply put, selling weed is a big industry - one that happens to be 
illegal. But before I delve into the economics, let me explain where 
I'm coming from.

I'm hardly a regular toker. I'm a fiscally conservative grandad who 
would rather quaff a brew than fire up a joint. My idea of a big 
night out is dinner and a movie - not smoking a bong with a bunch of potheads.

Like most people, I believe heavy use of weed is a bad thing. Comics 
like Cheech and Chong played the role of chronic pot users for 
laughs, but there's little to admire about mega-tokers in real life. 
They're conspicuously dull, unmotivated, unreliable and unfocused.

Nonetheless, for most people, based on all the evidence I've seen, 
recreational marijuana use is no more toxic than enjoying a beer or a 
glass of wine - activities that our society actively encourages and 
profits from.

Moreover, the economic arguments for legalizing weed have become too 
compelling to ignore. With governments everywhere facing crushing 
deficits, we can no longer afford to waste precious public funds in a 
misguided effort to turn recreational pot users into criminals.

Like alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, our ban on marijuana has only 
led to death and destruction. It has fuelled a multi-billion-dollar 
cash industry run by violent drug gangs, and created a perverse pop 
subculture - one celebrated in endless music videos - that glorifies 
the supposedly glam lifestyle of big-time dealers.

For me, the tipping point in this decades-long debate came Tuesday. 
Although medical marijuana has long been available in many U.S. 
states, voters in Washington and Colorado backed the recreational use 
of pot, making them the first states to do so.

Washington will allow those aged 21 and older to buy up to an ounce 
(or 28.3 grams) of marijuana from a state-licensed retailer. 
Additionally, Colorado's measure permits a user to grow up to six 
marijuana plants for personal consumption.

Don't expect weed to be freely available in these states anytime 
soon, however. Since it remains illegal under federal law - 
specifically, the Controlled Substances Act - watch for the U.S. 
Justice Department to fight the pro-legalization push in the months ahead.

Still, popular opinion is clearly turning in favour of legalizing pot 
- - not only in the U.S., but in B.C., where illegal grow ops number in 
the tens of thousands, and drug-related gang shootings have become 
commonplace, not only in Vancouver but in the distant suburbs.

In fact, the B.C. Bud industry is so big, and organized criminal 
networks have become so entrenched in the West Coast's social fabric, 
that Vancouver has become a key hub in the global drug trade.

Yet not a single dollar of those illicit profits is taxed, and there 
is virtually no economic research available on what kind of impact 
all those illegal profits have had on such things as Vancouver's 
sky-high real estate prices, or sales of the kind of high-end luxury 
vehicles favoured by dealers.

On an anecdotal basis, at least, it's pretty clear that a lot of drug 
money has indeed flowed into B.C.'s regular economy. Which may help 
explain why reported income levels in Vancouver are well below those 
in Edmonton, even though average house prices are double those of 
Alberta's capital city.

By legalizing, regulating and taxing pot, the B.C. government - like 
those of Colorado and Washington - would not only threaten the drug 
gangs' key source of revenue, but open up a major new source of tax revenues.

Surely, that's one of the reasons why voters in Washington state 
chose to support the legalization of marijuana on Tuesday. According 
to Bloomberg News, Washington's Office of Financial Management 
estimates that the state could generate as much as $1.9 billion US in 
new revenues over the next five fiscal years.

West Coasters love to slam "dirty" oil. Perhaps it's time for them to 
capitalize on all the dirty money in their own backyard.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom