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A Colorado measure to impose sales and excise taxes of 25 percent on newly legalized recreational marijuana and earmark the first $40 million in revenue for public schools was approved by voters on Tuesday, Governor John Hickenlooper said. The move showed a willingness on the part of Colorado voters to tax marijuana for the public benefit even as they roundly defeated a broader tax measure that would have increased state income taxes to raise $1 billion for schools.
Colorado and Washington last year became the first U.S. states to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. But Colorado, whose constitution requires a statewide vote to approve tax increases, left it to voters to decide how to tax the newly legal drug. "We are grateful voters approved funding that will allow for a strong regulatory environment, just like liquor is regulated," Hickenlooper said as returns showed 65 percent of voters in favor of the tax and 35 percent against with about a quarter of votes counted.
"We will do everything in our power to make sure kids don't smoke pot and that we don't have people driving who are high. This ballot measure gives Colorado the ability to regulate marijuana properly," the Democratic governor said in a statement. Under the marijuana tax proposal, a combined 15 percent excise and 10 percent sales tax would be imposed on recreational pot sales, with the first $40 million raised to fund school construction projects.
In Denver, a local ballot measure that would tack an additional 3.5 percent city sales tax on pot shops also appeared headed for passage, by a margin of 69 to 31 percent with roughly a third of votes counted. Even as many proponents of legalizing recreational marijuana supported taxing the drug, some within the pot legalization community opposed the tax. Rachel Gillette, president of Colorado's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said before the vote that her organization was not against taxing cannabis sales, but that the state was going too far. "This is not keeping with the promise to tax marijuana like alcohol," Gillette said. "It's more like regulating the sale of plutonium than alcohol. It looks like a law-enforcement money grab."
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Channelstv.com
Author: Staff
Contact: Contact Us ? www.channelstv.com
Website: Colorado Voters Approve 25 Percent Taxes On Recreational Marijuana ? www.channelstv.com
Colorado and Washington last year became the first U.S. states to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. But Colorado, whose constitution requires a statewide vote to approve tax increases, left it to voters to decide how to tax the newly legal drug. "We are grateful voters approved funding that will allow for a strong regulatory environment, just like liquor is regulated," Hickenlooper said as returns showed 65 percent of voters in favor of the tax and 35 percent against with about a quarter of votes counted.
"We will do everything in our power to make sure kids don't smoke pot and that we don't have people driving who are high. This ballot measure gives Colorado the ability to regulate marijuana properly," the Democratic governor said in a statement. Under the marijuana tax proposal, a combined 15 percent excise and 10 percent sales tax would be imposed on recreational pot sales, with the first $40 million raised to fund school construction projects.
In Denver, a local ballot measure that would tack an additional 3.5 percent city sales tax on pot shops also appeared headed for passage, by a margin of 69 to 31 percent with roughly a third of votes counted. Even as many proponents of legalizing recreational marijuana supported taxing the drug, some within the pot legalization community opposed the tax. Rachel Gillette, president of Colorado's chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said before the vote that her organization was not against taxing cannabis sales, but that the state was going too far. "This is not keeping with the promise to tax marijuana like alcohol," Gillette said. "It's more like regulating the sale of plutonium than alcohol. It looks like a law-enforcement money grab."
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Channelstv.com
Author: Staff
Contact: Contact Us ? www.channelstv.com
Website: Colorado Voters Approve 25 Percent Taxes On Recreational Marijuana ? www.channelstv.com
