.Datafeed: California Spending $1 Billion Per Year Fighting Weed

Libertarian think tank The Cato Institute ran the numbers on national legalization and came up with some startling stats, released yesterday. For one, they say California can make $351 million taxing the plant, which is lower than prior estimates of $1.4 billion by the state’s Board of Equalization. Author Jeffrey Miron also finds California $20 billion in debt, yet spending about a billion dollars a year ticketing stoners. And usage is actually going up. California’ ineffective arrests help make marijuana possession almost half of all national drug arrests. And still, pot is a flourishing, untaxed $18 billion U.S. industry. “Meanwhile, the national debt currently stands at 60 percent of GDP, its highest level since World War II, and under current projections this ratio will rise to more than 75 percent of GDP by 2020 and continue increasing thereafter.”

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