No, the state of California is not bailing out the marijuana industry. But it may be vice versa (no pun intended). State assemblyman Tom Ammiano has introduced a bill that would legalize marijuana and implement a state sales tax on the weed. It may be hard to believe but pot is reportedly the largest cash crop in California with supposedly $16 billion in sales, and could generate billions in tax revenue for the state. California is currently received sales tax from the $200 million in medical marijuana sales.
Is there an investment play on marijuana? You can always check out the previous article on marijuana stocks. Unfortunately, these are very speculative and mostly low cap plays.
Marijuana prohibition has been a total failure and is perhaps this country's greatest mistake. Not only has it created criminals out of nearly a third of the country's populace, it costs our society billions of dollars every year, creates a strain on our prison system, and has little or no effect on marijuana use in the US. In some cases, prosecuting marijuana use has turned non-violent, middle class kids into violent and unpredictable, career criminals. Once a person has a criminal conviction on their record, they are far less likely to find a good job and become a useful member of society. Other countries with more liberal drug laws have much lower rates of drug addiction among their people. I invite you to my web-page devoted to raising awareness on the assault on our civil liberties: http://freethegods.blogspot.com/
ReplyDelete