New Year’s Eve was about lighting fireworks. New Year’s Day in Colorado was just about lighting up.
But that’s old news, of course. It’s nearly impossible to live in a college town like Gainesville and not hear some excited stoners talk of the new weed mecca.
Marijuana’s legalization means more than a few people getting high: Tax revenue will rise, too. Some estimates state that it’ll generate $67 million each year for the state, with just less than half that revenue going to schools, the Los Angeles Times reported.
But with strict regulations on growing and selling, it’s difficult for stores to keep up with demand. At least 37 stores are licensed to sell pot, and they collectively made more than $1 million the first day.
Many of these shops are saying a sellout is imminent. Such a limited supply, of course, is increasing prices and might push some back to the black market where prices are low because of nonexistent taxes.
That black market is part of why marijuana has had such a bad reputation for so long. This is not a column to glamorize weed or speculate how long it’ll be before it’s legal in Florida — it’s to lament injustice many face because of this plant.
Despite known medicinal properties, prescription weed will only be legal in 21 states and Washington, D.C. — at least once New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo legalizes it by executive order.
And even though there has never been a documented death because of marijuana, it’s beaten into our heads that it is a dangerous drug. It remains a schedule-one drug along with heroin, apparently worse than methamphetamine and cocaine.
In a way, it is more dangerous — because it’s illegal. Without legalization, marijuana profits fall to drug cartels instead of state coffers.
Multimillion-dollar tunnels dug under the U.S.-Mexico border can get weed here without customs and drug-sniffing dogs. And even though they’re expensive to construct, they can pay for themselves multiple times over in a single day.
So, because marijuana is illegal here, drug cartels that kill innocent people and control countless Mexican government officials through bribery continue to rake in massive profits.
Not much is known about the people who dig the tunnels. At first, it was rumored anyone who dug them were killed immediately afterward to maintain secrecy. One of the only firsthand accounts from a tunnel digger tells the story of someone forced at gunpoint to dig for 12 hours a day for $150 a week.
As long as it remains profitable, these cartels will continue to operate and mar everything around them.
Uruguay recently legalized marijuana to combat this very problem. To ensure it’s not profitable, they’re setting the price at only $1 a gram. Stores running short on green in Colorado were charging up to $70 for an eighth of an ounce, or 3.5 grams, according to Time magazine, which by comparison was selling the same product for $35 for medicinal purposes before if was legal for recreational purposes.
It’s not just cartels that are threatened by the legalization of weed, though. The prison industry is as well. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with roughly 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, according to an OP-Ed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Its high population stems from numerous nonviolent offenders housed in our prisons such as those charged with marijuana possession.
Legalizing weed is one of the best things we can do for this hemisphere. It will reduce crime and the number of people in prison who shouldn’t be there, and it will boost our economy.
So you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Justin Jones is a UF journalism senior. His column runs on Thursdays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 1/9/2014 under the headline "Legalized marijuana means higher tax"
