Dear Friend,
This Sunday at 7:30 PM Eastern, 7:00PM Pacific, CBS’s “60 Minutes” will be presenting a segment on how the marijuana black market in California is "burning up profits" of the state's "legal" marijuana industry. You can read their teaser on the segment here.
As you know, the promoters of legalization routinely claim that, among other things, legalization will result in the elimination of the black market and will shower the state with sky high tax revenues. California voters were sold the line that pot taxes would bring in upwards of $1 billion in revenue.
Of course, as our one-pager on marijuana tax revenues, 'Revenues vs. Reality' states, "revenues often fall short of what was promised and only amount to a drop in the bucket of state budgets. Of the six states for which we have data, four of them (CO, WA, CA, and AK) missed initial revenue targets."
Several governors of "legalized" states have also poured water on the "windfall" argument:
"We get $200 million a year in tax revenue, which, you know, we’re a $30 billion budget, so it’s a drop in the bucket – it’s not going to pay for early childhood education or solve any big social ill..."
- Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
“I have not counted on any revenue from marijuana. Who’s counting on the marijuana revenue? People said that to make it more plausible for voters.”
- Former California Governor Jerry Brown
Please be sure to share this email with your friends, family, and colleagues. We will be doing our part to ensure lawmakers and other officials tune in as well.
Proving one of the main talking points of Big Marijuana false is a crucial first step in our efforts to protect public health and safety.
Thanks for all that you do,
Dr. Kevin Sabet
President and Founder,
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)
