Comments

1
Different FROM. What are you, English or sumpin?
2
I was raised by an Australian mum, does that count?
3
Crikey! Thanks.
4
Let's cut taxes wasted on this.
5
actually not laborious or dirty to grow this weed. probably about the easiest plant possible. way easier than getting a good tomato harvest.
6
Clearly, Obama's actions speak louder than his words, and they're telling me that the drug war is definitely not over.
7
@5 Sure, it's easy to put some pot seeds in the ground and get *something* to grow. But to cultivate certain strains, get a good yield and all that, it takes some effort. I'm a balcony gardener, and I've grown tomatoes without too much difficulty, but unless I pay attention to them, they don't yield a lot or grow very big.
8
#7's got it. A neglected or poorly grown plant can quickly die. Marijuana is very particular about the climate, ph levels of the soil, sun exposure, etc and it'll let you know that you've fucked up pretty quickly. The grower must take great care of their crop to grow a quality product. I'm not very convinced that #5 has any experience with this at all.

We have become a culture of convenience and no amount of penny pinching really changes that. You'd also have to consider the space a person would be willing to sacrifice to grow in their own home/condo/apartment. I'm certainly not interested in growing or brewing anything in my crowded 900 sqft apartment.
9
I totally would grow weed if it were legal, but I'd also probably buy it, just like tomatoes. Though I suppose it's far less likely that youths will hop your fence and take your tomato crop.
10
Eggs are not taxed that heavily and it would be a pain to grow and process tobacco to feed decent habit.

In a completely deregulate environment weed would be, like almost other agricultural product, nearly free. Taking the price point of orchids, one of the harder to grow plants, gives an upper bound of about 20 a plant. And one plant makes a lot of weed.

With a tax regime it has to be more costly and risky to grow or by on the black market than pay the tax. Its not unreasonable to think that if the taxes were too high people would avoid them. Especially if the penalty for illegal growing or selling was light.
11
The cost of keeping grow operations and distribution networks secret is very high, resulting in relatively expensive pot. In order for a black market to thrive the untaxed, illegally sold pot would have to cost less than the legally grown and distributed version. Unlikely. The cost savings of not having to hide the operation would more than offset the tax burden.

Sure, lots of people would grow a plant or two for personal consumption, but lots of people brew their own beer as well and it still doesn't significantly cut into state profits on liquor tax.
12
I wouldn't grow my own. I hate grubbing in the dirt, and I have terminal black thumb. Every plant I touch dies. This is why I buy those tasteless red softballs that pass for "tomatoes" at the grocery store - they're marginally better than nothing.
13
so here's a question about prop 19: what's the chance that the law, if passed, would survive more than a week? prop 215 (medical marijuana) remains valid because it allows for legal cannabis in a medical context. yet the csa still exists, as does the commerce clause, and the fungibility of marijuana has been noted by the supreme court in gonzales v raich. also has anyone read prop 19? i don't think the authors thought this one through. i'm still going to vote for it to see what happens, but still.
14
Yes, but, as the Stranger has taken to telling us on a regular basis -- meth causes AIDS. So evidently some drug laws are perfectly valid. As long as it's not a drug you guys like.
15
Every democratic party voter I know is strongly pro-marijuana yet leadership of the democratic party is STILL for prohibition. What a crock of shit. I'm sure Robert Gibbs would just blow off this majority of the democratic party as a bunch of loons, out there with the folks who believe the moon landing was staged or something.

The democratic party has largely been moderate-conservative ever since I was a teenager, or earlier and I'm in my early 30s now. And I'm told that I'm a bad liberal if I vote for a third party that would be in favor of bold, reasoned, important progressive policy, and the right to ingest THC. Carry this logic all the way through and the conclusion seems to be that progressives who are pro-pot do not deserve to be represented in the United States. And this is as much an unshakable reality as the sky being blue. I'm getting pretty fucking impatient and can't be expecting to stay with the dems.

The insane teabaggers however, who want to revoke amendments to the constitution, go gestapo on suspected illegal immigrants, prosecute the Obama administration, expand gun rights everywhere including bars, and wipe out social safety nets, on and on? Republican candidates & leaders bend over backwards for this insanity. When the far right keeps going further and further to the right and the democratic party remains more in moderately-conservative zone, the real 'center' just keeps recalibrating further and further to the right, as the middle of a rope in a tug of war.
16
@14 I'm pretty sure watching Fox News causes AIDS.

Or was that Gold Fever ... it's hard to be sure.
17
Even if everyone could grow marijuana as easily as, oh, say, turning on a tap, it doesn't mean they won't buy it packaged anyway like friggin bottled water.
18
What an absurd argument. Even if only 10% of people buy legally grown weed, (which would be absurdly low compared to any other agricultural product in the US) the government still MAKES money through taxes, rather than shell out a bunch of money on convictions.

Of course, you have to admit that Kerlikowski is just doing what any company leader would. A significant chunk of the money that supports his employees (and their faimilies) comes from the "War on Drugs".
19
One variety of pot is distinguishable in price and availability, and one company's legal pot will be sold at a vastly different price than another's. This proves that pot isn't a commodity like potatoes. The assertion that a black market would shrivel and vanish with legalization is wrong, and that's actually not a bad thing. Any time someone does business under the table for cash they are part of a black market. We all have done it, and always will. The finding is correct that many will shirk taxation and find "moonshine" bud, because it isnt like corn or dog chow- it's more like engagement rings. The real question is, so what? This illegal behavior happens constantly on Craigslist for everything from hired help to canned tuna.

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