[420 Girl]

A new six-month study by the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit institution based in Santa Monica, says legalizing marijuana in California could cut the price of pot by as much as 80 percent. The institution's drug policy research center held a Capitol Hill briefing Monday with reporters to discuss their findings and how they relate to recent marijuana reform efforts on the west coast.‬‪‬‪‬‪

Marijuana supporters gathered enough voter signatures this spring to put an initiative –- Proposition 19 -- on the California ballot that would –- if passed -- make it legal for anyone over 21 to have small amounts of the drug for recreational use. With California struggling to close a 19.1 billion dollar deficit, enthusiasts insist legalization of marijuana would bring large amounts of new tax money into the depleted government. The measure would also allow each local jurisdiction to come up with its own policies with respect to taxes and regulations.

Separately –- a bill was recently introduced that would legalize the drug and impose a $50 per ounce tax. ‬‪‬‪

However the new study from RAND says if legalized, marijuana prices would plummet. Beau Kilmer, a director for the research organization, told reporters that the cost for sinsemilla, a high quality marijuana in California, could fall from $375 to less than $40 an ounce. Why? Kilmer sites a number of reasons, including the competition legalization would encourage as well as the elimination of risk of arrest that drug dealers currently face.

And while RAND acknowledges that consumption would increase, they say there is no way to determine by how much. No modern nation has ever legalized commercial marijuana production, so there are literally no relevant data to guide estimates. The RAND study suggests a central question about legalization is whether marijuana consumption would go up a little or a lot, and adds, “It is difficult to answer that question because different people have different thresholds for distinguishing between ‘a little’ and ‘a lot.’”

Kilmer also raised concerns about tax evasion if the tax rates are set too high and pointed to Canadian provinces as an example. In the early 1990s, various provinces tried imposing a cigarette tax on the order of $3 per pack but ultimately had to repeal them because a black market of untaxed cigarettes quickly emerged that accounted for 30 percent of sales.

Proponents of legalizing marijuana have long pointed to the costs associated with law enforcement, treatment, hospitalizations and regulation as a key component of their argument. The Rand study takes the question of whether the savings from legalization would equal the current amount now being spent on prohibition head on, and finds it likely would not.

Kilmer says freed resources could be used for other purposes rather than refunded to the taxpayer, and points out that most of the criminal justice resources associated with marijuana enforcement involve local and county, not state, agencies. He adds there likely would be new administrative, regulatory and even enforcement costs of managing the legalized distribution of marijuana.

Further clouding the picture for advocates – a recent state poll, the California Field Poll, shows that the majority of California voters oppose the proposition, with 48 percent of the 1,005 likely voters saying they would vote no, and 44 percent saying they would vote yes. But the same poll finds Democrats support the measure, 53 percent to 38 percent. How will it all play out? We’ll have to wait until the smoke clears on election day…


NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Liveshots
Author: Pat Summers
Contact: Liveshots
Copyright: 2010 FOX News Network, LLC
Website: California: An Altered State?

* Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article


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