Colorado gets $98M; CNMI gets more casino BS

I summarized the article below so voters can see for themselves:

DENVER (AP)—Colorado’s legal marijuana market is far exceeding tax expectations, according to a budget proposal released Wednesday by Gov. John Hickenlooper that gives the first official estimate of how much the state expects to make from pot taxes. The proposal outlines plans to spend some $99 million next fiscal year on substance abuse prevention, youth marijuana use prevention, and other priorities. The money would come from a statewide 12.9 percent sales tax on recreational pot. Colorado’s total pot sales next fiscal year was estimated to be about $610 million.

The governor predicted sales and excise taxes next fiscal year would produce some $98 million, well above a $70 million annual estimate given to voters when they approved the pot taxes last year. The governor also includes taxes from medical pot, which are subject only to the statewide 2.9 percent sales tax. Hickenlooper’s proposal listed six priorities for spending the pot sales taxes. The spending plan included $45.5 million for youth use prevention, $40.4 million for substance abuse treatment and $12.4 million for public health.

“We view our top priority as creating an environment where negative impacts on children from marijuana legalization are avoided completely,” Hickenlooper wrote in a letter to legislative budget writers, which must approve the plan. The governor also proposed a $5.8 million, three-year “statewide media campaign on marijuana use,” presumably highlighting the drug’s health risks. The state Department of Transportation would get $1.9 million for a new “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign to tout the state’s new marijuana blood-limit standard for drivers.

“This package represents a strong yet cautious first step” for regulating pot, the governor wrote.

Mason Tvert, a legalization activist who ran Colorado’s 2012 campaign, said other states are watching closely to see what legal weed can produce in tax revenue. “Voters and state lawmakers around the country are watching how this system unfolds in Colorado, and the prospect of generating significant revenue while eliminating the underground marijuana market is increasingly appealing,” said Tvert, who now works for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Meanwhile, The Denver Post reported Wednesday that banks holding commercial loans on properties that lease to Colorado marijuana businesses say they don’t plan to refinance those loans when they come due. Bankers say property used as collateral for those loans theoretically is subject to federal drug-seizure laws, which makes the loans a risk.

Colorado has proved the only drawback to legalizing it were the bank loans and we don’t even have that worry as the cultivation for public sales will be done on government-sponsored land for growers in the form of farm lots and we have CDA to help start up cultivation businesses. The feds would also catch hell trying to take land from the CNMI government anyway. Voters, we have been waiting on something to fix our economy and this is truly a heaven-sent solution in the form of a natural herb. Colorado almost equaled the CNMI’s yearly budget in their first year’s collection from marijuana taxes alone, meaning we may be able to double or triple our budget in the first year. The time is now to carpe diem as we are talking of hundreds of millions. Colorado is estimated to earn over $610 million next year but our governor and his followers continue to disrespect the NO decision and want us to settle for their casinos BS.

P.S.: I just happen to believe in that old American saying that one person can make a difference and if Mason Tvert, a legalization activist for Colorado, can lead change that’s bringing in hundreds of millions for his state, then I am willing to do it for the CNMI since our leaders are acting dumbfounded. Don’t believe the casino BS if retirees really want your 25 percent and those who want our economy to fully recover. Call everyone that you can in the Legislature and let them know you want them to Legalize It, as they obviously need a push from the people. We the people must start a Power to the People Movement if there is going to be any hope of legalizing pot and fully restoring our economy. Not everyone reads the paper so pass the good news on and tell a friend to tell another friend to sign the initiative and vote to pass it in November. If you want to help with the signature drive for the initiative please call me, I’m in the book.

Ambrose M Bennett
Kagman, Saipan