Illegal Weed is Expensive: Marijuana Speech #8

8 ^th speech in this series to the Josephine County Commissioners, July 15, 2009.  

A further finding in A Resolution Regarding Marijuana, currently before this Board, is:

“WHEREAS unlicensed marijuana users are forced to pay black market prices for their herb, providing high profits for criminals and reducing money available to spend on legitimate products and services; …”

You might believe that this is a personal problem, even a good thing for society, since it ought to reduce the use of marijuana.   But expensive illegal weed is expensive for all of society, not just the users.

It reduces the money that we might otherwise spend on other products and services, or even save for the future.  I currently spend more than $300 per month on herb that shouldn’t cost more than $30 in a liquor store or that I could grow myself.  That’s money that I could be spending on little luxuries, paying down debts, saving for contingencies, or for my retirement U-pick farm.  Money saved in a bank or used to pay bank debt is then available for lending to businesses. 

Don’t tell me that I could do all this if I didn’t buy weed.  I decided over 25 years ago that marijuana is a necessity for me, not a luxury. 

Where does all that money go?  It goes to middle men who might work hard as salesmen, except that the necessity of weed sells itself.  It gives them an income that they can’t report or pay taxes on, and work experience they can’t put on a resume.  One such connection started in high school and has done nothing else for over 10 years.  He needs to find his own place to rent, but landlords want references and pay stubs.  He’d be better off with a real job, but selling weed is easier than finding a job, or working at it.

It also goes to growers who make a lot of money on relatively few plants.  Once again, it is income that is not reportable or taxable, going to people who don’t deserve it, beyond the obvious risk.  Some of those growers are Mexicans who grow their weed in our national forests, sell it to us, and send much of the money out of the country.  

If the Oregon legislature would pass the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, the money we currently spend on weed would plummet.  The state and its licensed growers and processors, liquor stores and pharmacies would make what profit there is to be made off of medical-grade marijuana, while farmers would be freed to grow hemp for fiber, oil, and fuel.  And the money we are currently spending on illegal herb will be available to boost the rest of our economy.

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener         541-955-9040         rycke@gardener.com