[420 Girl]

Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s marijuana legalization bill would net California $1.38 billion in tax revenues per year, according to a newly released analysis by the State Board of Equalization. The BOE’s estimate parallels a similar analysis by California NORML, which estimated tax revenues at $1.01-$1.26 billion. Not included are savings in law enforcement costs for investigating, arresting, prosecuting, and imprisoning marijuana offenders, which are estimated to total some hundreds of millions per year.

“With the state in dire financial straits, it makes no sense for taxpayers to be paying to arrest, prosecute, and imprison marijuana offenders, when they could be reaping revenues from a legally regulated market,” says Dale Gieringer, author of the Cal NORML analysis.

The bill introduced by Assemblyman Ammiano in February would allow adults to legally possess, grow and sell marijuana. Ammiano has promoted the bill as a way to help bridge the state’s $26.3 billion budget shortfall. The state could not begin collecting taxes under the bill, as written, until the federal government legalizes marijuana. However, a spokesman says Ammiano plans to amend the bill to remove that provision.

“It defies reason to propose closing parks and eliminating vital services for the poor, while this potential revenue is available,” Ammiano said in a statement.

The BOE estimates that the Ammiano bill would net $990 million in excise tax revenues, plus another $392 million in sales taxes, based on a projected state consumption of about 20 million ounces per year.

Based on an estimated 16 million ounces of annual consumption in California and several assumptions (which are summarized in the Qualifying Remarks section), the revenue effect of the bill is an estimated total annual revenue gain of $1.4 billion, as follows: $990 million from the proposed $50 per ounce levy on retail sales of marijuana; $392 million in sales tax revenues; California produces 8.6 million pounds of marijuana (an extraordinarily high figure in Gieringer’s opinion), of which only 1 million is consumed in-state. It then goes on to claim that “most marijuana is produced for local, in-state use.”

Based on California’s consumption rate, 8.6 million pounds would be enough to satisfy total US demand.

California was the top producing state. It produced 8.6 million pounds with a value of $13.8 billion. The report also discusses that, although most marijuana is produced for local, in-state use, California is considered an export state in which marijuana is produced for both in-state use and export to other states. “Our literature review indicates that estimated consumption of marijuana in California amounts to one million pounds per year, or 16 million ounces,” Gieringer says.

The Ammiano bill, AB 390, is expected to be heard by the Assembly next January. Approximately 443,000 signatures will be required to put the Tax, Regulate, and Control Cannabis Act on the November 2010 ballot. The measure would repeal all state and local laws that criminalize marijuana.

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