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Originally Posted by robwod
PR Phil, I agree with some of what you said, but my point was that anyone who thinks the blackmarket is going to be hurt by this is naive.
The government WILL tax the hell out of this. Which in itself is not an issue. The problem will be the gov't tends to overbloat things to cover huge bureaucratic oversight which you'd have to believe is going to be part of this. It's much too lucrative a business to let slide for bureaucracy and "job creation".
The gov't and the blackmarket will absolutely compete for potency and price. I heard one report where there was suggestion of a permit based system, where legal vendors need a permit and BUYERS need a license. If that thought process goes forward, you're just giving the blackmarket a big orgasm.
It's not often that a bunch of bureaucrats can get something right. I am certainly not holding my breath this bunch of bureaucrats gets this right either. I'm hopeful they do, but after the fiasco of the gun registry and the entire farce that was -- and some actually defending the long gun registry still and wanting it back -- I'm not holding my breath that they get this right either.
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Well there are going to be trade offs and certainly like anything our government does, the first iteration will not be ideal, I can't disagree with that. I just think that in the end, or eventually, this will change a lot of things for the better.
I make my own beer, because I don't like paying $40+ a case when I can make it for about it for $6 a case at home and I know I'm never buying beer that was on the shelf for 6 months. I think this is a similar situation, if you are unhappy with what taxes do the price, there is a legal way to get around paying them and as you said, there will always be a black market you can turn to.
I just put my mom in a nursing home in December, she deals with a lot of chronic pain, as well as headaches due to issues with her eyesight. She's won't consider trying weed because it is illegal and she thinks that would make her a bad person. Legalization is the only thing that will convince people like her to try it and see if it helps.