Pubdate: Sun, 20 Oct 2013
Source: Pueblo Chieftain (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Pueblo Chieftain
Contact:  http://www.chieftain.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1613
Author: Robert J. Corry, Jr.

PROHIBITION WOULD RETURN WITH TAX

ROBERT J. CORRY, JR. TREASURER AND ATTORNEY "NO ON PROPOSITION AA"
CAMPAIGN DENVER

This election, Colorado voters will consider Proposition AA, a 15
percent sales tax plus a 15 percent excise tax on marijuana sales.
Colorado has never taxed a particular industry or product at this high
of a rate. These taxes would be in addition to the federal, state and
local taxes already in place on marijuana. Federal taxes on marijuana
businesses and consumers already are higher than any other industry due
to the inability of these businesses to take full deductions.

Proposition AA would be the highest tax increase in Colorado history,
a reckless experiment that would create a dysfunctional market for
marijuana, undermining the goal of the "Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization
Initiative" (Amendment 64). As a framer and supporter of Amendment 64,
the purpose of the measure was to bring marijuana out of Prohibition
and regulate it like alcohol. Colorado's alcohol industry pays less
than 1 percent in state excise taxes.

Prohibition does not work. Excessive taxes are another form of
Prohibition.

The pro-tax campaign is supported by what Jacob Sullum of Reason
Magazine has accurately labeled "The Marijuana Cartel," i.e. large
dispensaries and drug dealers that use burdensome and expensive
government regulation and taxation to suppress fair competition from
smaller businesses.

The Pro-Tax campaign is running a campaign of fear, alleging that the
U.S. Department of Justice wants high taxes on marijuana. I recently
asked the U.S. Attorney for Colorado John Walsh whether he supported
Colorado Proposition AA, and he responded that the U.S. Department of
Justice did not endorse Proposition AA.

An Aug. 29, 2013, memo from the U.S. Department of Justice providing
official guidance regarding marijuana does not even mention local or
state taxes on marijuana, but does mention an enforcement system that
is "effective in practice." Excessive taxes create a dysfunctional
system that is "ineffective in practice," and creates a marijuana
market ripe for takeover by the unregulated, untaxed, underground market.

Proposition AA would re-establish Prohibition and drive marijuana back
underground, to the detriment of all Coloradans. Please vote "no" on
Proposition AA.
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MAP posted-by: Matt