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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom