In 2018, Republicans accidentally legalized cannabis. Now 22 AGs want them to undo it
In 2018, Republicans accidentally legalized cannabis. Now 22 AGs want them to undo it
A coalition of 22 state attorneys general is calling on Congress to address “the glaring vagueness” that has led to legal cannabis products being sold over the counter across the country …
A coalition of 22 state attorneys general is calling on Congress to address “the glaring vagueness” that has led to legal cannabis products being sold over the counter across the country — including sometimes from vending machines or online.
A letter dated March 20 addresses the consequences of Republican lawmakers’ choice to legalize hemp production in the 2018 omnibus Farm Bill — a decision that perhaps inadvertently led to a multibillion-dollar market in intoxicating cannabis products that are arguably federally legal.
Now, the attorneys general want Congress to shutter the market it helped create. In the new Farm Bill, they want the legislature to enshrine in statute the idea that intoxicating cannabis is not federally legal — contrary to what the law currently states.
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They don't want to raise taxes on the rich. Here's a massive way to raise taxes that won't affect the income of rich people unless they want to buy a shit ton of weed.
And yet they're still against it.
They pretend like a 100% tax free nation is a possibility.
When Kansas under Brownback, (with full control of the statehouse), went all-in on supply side and it was a objective failure that really shoulda been the end of the idea that R's had any savvy regarding improving the economy.
Magical thinkers do not respond well to concrete examples.
They pretend like a 100% tax free nation is a possibility.
Well sure there are, Haiti probably isn’t collecting any taxes right now, so they’ve got that going for them…
They pretend like a 100% tax free nation is a possibility.
They know this isn't possible. They want no income tax for the wealthy and increased taxes on goods and services, which will mostly affect the working masses.
Then shouldn't they want highly-taxed cannabis?
I think you're giving them too much credit. They're ideologues that think taxes = bad. They just don't care so much when they hurt the poor because they think the poor deserve to have bad things happen to them.
To prove your point, Colorado has collected over $1.5 billion is cannabis tax since it was legalized. That's just a single state, and not a huge one at that.
Here's even republican/wealthy friendly article talking about it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthoban/2021/05/23/the-success-of-colorados-marijuana-tax-dollars/?sh=14e60c79529d
Illinois got even more. $1.6 billion in 2020 alone. That's where I buy from, although I cross the border from Indiana.
Is it expensive because of the tax? Yes it is. But I'm fine with that because legalizing and taxing it should be the model everywhere and I'm happy to support it.
As someone from MO, fuck IL's tax. Went from paying $125 for a gram of wax to ~$40 once MO legalized.
It's better than it being illegal, obviously, but it's so clearly only that high so they can extort out of state buyers.
Sounds like an argument for national legalization. Which raising a bunch of tax money will encourage.
Oh absolutely agreed. The fact we have to play these games in the first place is bullshit
Yup. In MO we've seen not far off of $100mil in state tax revenue and it's only been legal since Feb 2023. At least one city near me was pushed into a surplus because of the extra revenue (admittedly, they were running at a very, very small deficit previously, but still).
It might compete with big pharma's profits, though.
I honestly think it's totally ideological for a lot of them. Drugs = bad and it doesn't go further than that.
These AGs are elected officials and they aren't getting elected for their brains, they're getting elected for their party affiliation.
As we have seen with lawyers like Alina Habba and Rudy Giuliani, it doesn't actually take a lot of intelligence to pass the bar exam.