Colorado Governor Candidate Tom Tancredo, has publically claimed that marijuana should be legalized. “Legalize it. Regulate it,” said Tancredo. Dan Maes, Tancredo’s main competition, opposes the potential legalization. “If pot was legalized and taxed, the money brought in would probably just be wasted on the expansion of social programs.”
Not to undermine the significance of this issue, but perhaps there is another topic within the drug and alcohol department that’s being overlooked. As cited from my last post (Alcohol Tax Increase), alcohol abuse is the third leading cause of death in the United States while marijuana doesn’t even make the list.
In 1983, Alaska recorded a 29 percent drop among alcohol related deaths following a two-cent per drink increase. Furthermore, Associate Professor David Jernigan’s case study concludes that a 10-cent per drink tax increase will save each state millions in healthcare costs while generating millions in revenues.
After taking these facts into account and considering our nations current economic state, it would only seem logical for our government to reevaluate their priorities and put more emphasis on a potential alcohol tax increase. However, because of the controversy surrounding marijuana, this isn’t so. Marijuana, illegal, is healthier than both tobacco and alcohol, legal. Enough said.
The facts stated here will be presented to various police officers, college students, politicians, bartenders, dispensaries and doctors within the next several days. Various objects hindering a potential tax increase will unfold.
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