‘Rocky Mountain High’ may become the song lawmakers sing in Colorado — and in Washington, where some congressmen are talking about putting dough from the bud in their budgets.
Lawmakers in state that have legalized recreational pot use are talking about taxing the herb — and getting some of its green into the budget.
People getting trashed may turn into states getting cash, if legislatures in states that have recently legalized marijuana get their way.
Lawmakers in Colorado and Washington, whose residents legalized recreational pot use in November, are considering taxing the green stuff, allowing, in essence, not only residents to get high, but state revenues to get a lift as well.
According to Politico, one Rocky Mountain congressman is estimating the taxes could bring in as much as $100 million in potential revenues for Colorado alone.
“I’ve seen some estimates in the high tens of millions, as much as $100 million for [COLORADO],” Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) told Politico.
“Money like that could make a big difference,” added Polis, who has been advocating for federal legislation in Congress that would permit robust taxation of sales of the drug.
In November, Colorado voters approved “Amendment 64,” allowing people 21 and under to possess, consume, gift and grow up to one ounce of marijuana.
The Washington state measure, called “Initiative 502,” legalized small amounts of marijuana and marijuana products for people 21 and older adults and established an excise tax on those products of 25%.
But exactly how to tax the drug in both states has remained unclear.
A task force in Colorado met earlier this month to formulate a reasonable plan to answer the tax question.
The panel ended up proposing two ballot measures, that residents would eventually approve or vote down, under which recreational marijuana would be heavily taxed.
One measure would impose a 15% excise tax on recreational marijuana that dispensaries and stores would have to pay at the wholesale level, the Denver Post reported.
The second measure would implement a special, but still unquantified, marijuana sales tax that buyers would pay. Recreational marijuana would also be subject to standard state and local sales taxes.
Colorado lawmakers are also discussing whether they should tax medicinal marijuana, which is not currently taxed. Medicinal marijuana is taxed in Washington.
The task force’s proposals will now go to the state legislature, which will attempt to build a bill around the ideas.
The situation remains delicate, however, due to the fact that marijuana, despite being legalized for recreational use in the two states, continues to be an illegal controlled substance under U.S. federal law.
But in an interview in December, President Barack Obama said the federal government will not arrest individual marijuana users in states that have legalized the drug.