Letter: Legalizing Pot Would Generate 'Unimaginable' Tax Revenues
James Elkins
April 13, 2009
The Stuart News (Stuart, FL)
This is in response to Robert Vandergrift’s letter advocating the legalization of pot. I agree with him wholeheartedly for several reasons and I’m not a pot smoker (and never have been). But, I know a cash cow when I see one.
A tax on marijuana would bring in an unimaginable amount of revenue.
The No. 1 cash crop in both California and Kentucky is, you guessed it, pot! It’s not going away, so get used to it. Washington hasn’t figured out a way to tax it to keep people from growing their own. It’s simple, really. Sell licenses to grow it and have very severe penalties for noncompliance.
Or have the tobacco companies grow it and take the taxes from them.
Lord knows they’ve got thousands of acres lying fallow. No one kills people over a joint. Legalize it. Regulate it. Tax it. Make it a commodity, not a crime.
Did you know it’s also illegal to possess tobacco seeds? It’s true. I worked tobacco for years. The government doesn’t want you to possess it because, if you did, you could grow your own. Then what? No tax for the man! That’s why pot is illegal. | 
