Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
With solutions to Illinois' fiscal crisis seemingly blocked by partisan politics, it's time to start looking at new ideas. That's why we have introduced a bill to legalize the purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana, regulating and taxing it as we already do with alcohol. The revenues would help the worst victims of our budget crisis, such as the elderly and ill who rely on social programs and our state colleges and universities that are leaking students and staff.
The fiscal benefits of legal marijuana are real and significant. Last year, Colorado collected nearly $200 million in fees and taxes from recreational marijuana sales. More than $138 million of that amount went to education. During that same period, Washington state generated $255 million in excise taxes from marijuana sales. Oregon and California are poised to join this gravy train.
The fiscal impact of legal marijuana sales for Illinois would range from $350 million to $700 million. That won't solve our current budget deficit of about $9 billion, but it could go a long way toward restoring the ruinous cuts in state aid to vulnerable residents. And unlike other revenue measures, such as hiking income or sales taxes, a vote for regulating and taxing marijuana won't put state legislators at political risk.
A recent poll of 1,000 registered voters in Illinois by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute found that regulating and taxing marijuana like alcohol was favored by every segment of the electorate. Overall, 66 percent of Illinois voters support such a step – 45 percent strongly. In contrast, 31 percent opposed the idea, only 19 percent strongly. Support for legalized pot ranged from 74 percent in Chicago and 70 percent in the suburbs and collar counties to 54 percent in the rest of the state.
Similarly, Democratic voters favored legalization by 76 percent, followed by independents at 68 percent. Republican voters provided majority support, with 52 percent in favor. Even among the oldest voters, ages 66 and higher, a slim majority of 51 percent also lined up in favor. So it should be clear that legislators would not jeopardize themselves by voting for such a measure. In fact, they could gain support by taking a concrete step toward solving our state's budget woes.
We've all heard the arguments of the drug warriors who claim legal marijuana will bring disaster. But there is solid evidence that such claims are overblown, based on the experience of states that have embraced it. For example, the advent of legal marijuana has not caused a crime wave. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, there's been a slight decrease in both violent and property crime in Washington state; those numbers have basically stayed the same in Colorado. Similarly, marijuana use among teenagers in both states has stayed the same or dropped slightly since legalization.
And while there has been a national trend of increasing traffic fatalities in recent years, they rose at a greater rate in many states than in Colorado, where marijuana is legal.
The truth is that arresting and prosecuting marijuana offenders is ineffective and expensive. According to the FBI, 12 million people have been arrested since 1995 on charges related to marijuana. Eighty-eight percent of those arrests were for possession, not manufacturing or distributing.
By legalizing and regulating marijuana sales, we can prevent some of the gun violence and other bad outcomes afflicting some Chicago neighborhoods. For example, no drug dealer is likely to ask the age of anyone making a purchase. Under a legal sales regime, purchase by minors can be outlawed – much as it is for alcohol.
Legal marijuana would also create thousands of jobs statewide – particularly in downstate communities dependent on agriculture. Revolution Enterprises, which grows medicinal marijuana, has brought more than 50 good-paying jobs to the downstate communities of Barry and Delavan. Local mayors and representatives praise the company as a valuable corporate citizen.
Regulating and taxing marijuana is not the entire answer to solving our budget crisis. But it would provide a significant revenue stream that could be directed to the sick, the elderly and the disabled.
No longer are the fears and benefits of legal marijuana the subject of mere conjecture. Other states have taken this path, generating higher revenues and lower crime rates.
Illinois voters are on board. It's time for the state's politicians to get the message.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Regulating and taxing marijuana could help solve Illinois budget woes - Chicago Tribune
Author: Kelly Cassidy
Contact: Chicago Tribune contacts - Chicago Tribune
Photo Credit: Stacey Wescott
Website: Chicago Tribune: Chicago breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic - Chicago Tribune
The fiscal benefits of legal marijuana are real and significant. Last year, Colorado collected nearly $200 million in fees and taxes from recreational marijuana sales. More than $138 million of that amount went to education. During that same period, Washington state generated $255 million in excise taxes from marijuana sales. Oregon and California are poised to join this gravy train.
The fiscal impact of legal marijuana sales for Illinois would range from $350 million to $700 million. That won't solve our current budget deficit of about $9 billion, but it could go a long way toward restoring the ruinous cuts in state aid to vulnerable residents. And unlike other revenue measures, such as hiking income or sales taxes, a vote for regulating and taxing marijuana won't put state legislators at political risk.
A recent poll of 1,000 registered voters in Illinois by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute found that regulating and taxing marijuana like alcohol was favored by every segment of the electorate. Overall, 66 percent of Illinois voters support such a step – 45 percent strongly. In contrast, 31 percent opposed the idea, only 19 percent strongly. Support for legalized pot ranged from 74 percent in Chicago and 70 percent in the suburbs and collar counties to 54 percent in the rest of the state.
Similarly, Democratic voters favored legalization by 76 percent, followed by independents at 68 percent. Republican voters provided majority support, with 52 percent in favor. Even among the oldest voters, ages 66 and higher, a slim majority of 51 percent also lined up in favor. So it should be clear that legislators would not jeopardize themselves by voting for such a measure. In fact, they could gain support by taking a concrete step toward solving our state's budget woes.
We've all heard the arguments of the drug warriors who claim legal marijuana will bring disaster. But there is solid evidence that such claims are overblown, based on the experience of states that have embraced it. For example, the advent of legal marijuana has not caused a crime wave. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, there's been a slight decrease in both violent and property crime in Washington state; those numbers have basically stayed the same in Colorado. Similarly, marijuana use among teenagers in both states has stayed the same or dropped slightly since legalization.
And while there has been a national trend of increasing traffic fatalities in recent years, they rose at a greater rate in many states than in Colorado, where marijuana is legal.
The truth is that arresting and prosecuting marijuana offenders is ineffective and expensive. According to the FBI, 12 million people have been arrested since 1995 on charges related to marijuana. Eighty-eight percent of those arrests were for possession, not manufacturing or distributing.
By legalizing and regulating marijuana sales, we can prevent some of the gun violence and other bad outcomes afflicting some Chicago neighborhoods. For example, no drug dealer is likely to ask the age of anyone making a purchase. Under a legal sales regime, purchase by minors can be outlawed – much as it is for alcohol.
Legal marijuana would also create thousands of jobs statewide – particularly in downstate communities dependent on agriculture. Revolution Enterprises, which grows medicinal marijuana, has brought more than 50 good-paying jobs to the downstate communities of Barry and Delavan. Local mayors and representatives praise the company as a valuable corporate citizen.
Regulating and taxing marijuana is not the entire answer to solving our budget crisis. But it would provide a significant revenue stream that could be directed to the sick, the elderly and the disabled.
No longer are the fears and benefits of legal marijuana the subject of mere conjecture. Other states have taken this path, generating higher revenues and lower crime rates.
Illinois voters are on board. It's time for the state's politicians to get the message.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Regulating and taxing marijuana could help solve Illinois budget woes - Chicago Tribune
Author: Kelly Cassidy
Contact: Chicago Tribune contacts - Chicago Tribune
Photo Credit: Stacey Wescott
Website: Chicago Tribune: Chicago breaking news, sports, business, entertainment, weather and traffic - Chicago Tribune
