Pubdate: Thu, 07 Nov 2013
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 2013 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.timesdispatch.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365

POT PROPONENTS EYE PIVOT POINT

Tax Windfall in Colo., Wash. Could Win Over Skeptics

DENVER (AP) - Colorado's hearty embrace of a 25 percent marijuana tax 
this week could prove a turning point for legalization backers, who 
have long argued that weed should come out of the black market and 
contribute to tax coffers instead of prison populations.

But it's far too soon to say how much revenue the marijuana taxes in 
Colorado and Washington will actually produce when retail sales begin 
next year.

A tax windfall in the two states could win over skeptical states that 
may be interested in pot legalization but wonder about costs of 
regulation. On the other hand, if many pot smokers in Colorado and 
Washington stay in the black market to avoid taxes, supporters could 
lose a major plank of their longstanding argument that legalization 
will take money from criminal cartels and benefit government programs.

"It's a crucial question," said Sam Kamin, a University of Denver law 
professor who served on a panel that helped write Colorado's 
marijuana regulations. "There's this premise that marijuana 
legalization can be a net-net win, spending less money putting people 
in prison and seeing a tax benefit from the sale of marijuana. Voters 
are going to expect to see both."

Colorado's vote Tuesday showed that residents want the benefits, even 
in a tax-adverse state that typically rejects proposed taxes. The pot 
tax question - on an excise and special sales tax that could add more 
than 25 percent to the sales price of weed - passed by nearly 2-to-1.

That margin was much broader that Colorado's legalization vote itself 
in 2012. Many who opposed legalization then supported the taxes this 
time around; last year's legalization measure also called for tax 
revenues for the state.

Washington state has already settled its pot taxation scheme, 
charging 25 percent at three possible transfer points from production 
to retail sale, plus sales taxes.

Several Colorado municipalities approved additional pot taxes 
Tuesday, ranging from 3.5 percent in Pueblo County to up to 10 
percent in the city of Boulder.

Meanwhile in Colorado, voters Tuesday in a half-dozen rural counties 
rejected a call to break away and create a new state.

Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom