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Cali
pot down to $38 an ounce?
That's what they predict if Prop 19 passes
The cost of marijuana
would drop as much as 80% and consumption would rise if Californians
vote for Proposition
19, the legalization measure on the November ballot, researchers at
Rand’s
Drug Policy Research Center have concluded in a detailed analysis of
the issue.
The Santa Monica-based,
nonprofit research institute predicted the cost of marijuana, which
runs
between $300 and $450 per ounce, could plunge to about $38 by
eliminating the expense of
compensating suppliers for the challenges of operating in the black
market.
The report noted that it
was impossible to predict tax revenues from the initiative, which
leaves
that decision up to individual cities and counties. Based on a
statewide $50 per ounce tax proposed
in a legalization bill introduced by Sen. Tom Ammiano (D-San
Francisco), the report said state tax
revenues could range from $650 million to $1.49 billion.
“California voters and
legislators face considerable uncertainty because it is very difficult
to estimate
how much more marijuana will be consumed in the state or how the change
will affect tax revenues,
criminal-justice costs and healthcare costs,” the study concludes. The
54-page report, with 14 pages
of footnotes, is called “Altered State?” and was paid for by Rand.
My guess?
Rand hates pot and this report
sends the message that with $38 pot, every broke dick
in California will be too stoned to drive so, to save your kid's lives,
you must defeat
this measure because God will be angry if you don't.