Marijuana brings in more tax revenue than beer, wine and liquor combined

[Lowell]

And that accounting doesn't include the misery and millions of dollars saved in the prosecution and incarceration of harmless citizens.

Sales of legal marijuana in Michigan contributed $266.2 million in tax revenue to the government during the most recent fiscal year, according to a new report from the legislature’s nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency. That’s more than the state made from the sale of beer, wine and liquor combined.

Tax from sales of adult-use cannabis were up 49.1 percent in fiscal year 2022–23, which ended in October, compared to $178.6 million collected the year before. That amounted to an additional $87.6 million in state revenue from cannabis sales compared to the prior 12 months.

Of all the major tax revenues itemized in the House Fiscal Agency report published last week, none grew at a faster rate than cannabis revenue.

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/mich...ohol-earnings/

[401don]

And that accounting doesn't include the misery and millions of dollars saved in the prosecution and incarceration of harmless citizens.

Could save a lot more if people would try going for a run instead of using alcohol and drugs.

[Bong-Man]

"Indiana wants me, lord I can't go back there!"

Possession of up to 2 ounces is categorized as a Class B misdemeanor and subject to a 1-year prison sentence on top of a $5,000 fine.

Indiana, you're now surrounded! Kansas, you're East and West borders are now compromised by your own citizens running the gauntlet to surrounding States. Idaho is the same. Time to join the 21st century. If I can stop and watch porn at every other freeway exit, I think I should be able to enjoy some weed. No?? That's fine. I vote in the booth and with my pocketbook, and I won't even fill up my car or vacation in your State if I can avoid it.
Would Republicans change the national laws if a federal tax went towards the debt or shoring up SS? Most participating cities in Michigan are using their new revenue to shore up under-funded pension plans.

[Richard]

Oklahoma has a medical weed program but yet

On November 9, officials say the task force searched a Wagoner Co. business where more than 72,000 lbs. of marijuana was recovered.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/attorney-...164558058.html

CALIFORNIA – Building upon the momentum in Q1 2023, the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce [[UCETF) seized more than $109 million in illegal cannabis in Q2 2023. This total represents a 104 percent increase from the $52 million in unlicensed cannabis and cannabis products in Q1 2023.

Tomorrow marks five years since California voters passed Proposition 64, legalizing the use of recreational marijuana and paving the way for the eventual cultivation and sale of legal weed in one of the world's largest economies. Five years later, cannabis is selling in record amounts, but fully legal weed makes up just a fraction of the state's marijuana market, with some experts estimating that 80 to 90% of cannabis sales in California still fall into a legal gray zone. In other words, the industry is, quote, "a mess."

Rather than make cannabis a Main Street fixture, California’s strict regulations have led most industry operators to close shop, flee the state or sell in the state’s illegal market that approaches $8 billion annually, twice the volume of legal sales.

[softailrider]

From what I understand the strains of weed they're producing now are way more potent than the stuff I was smoking back in the 70's and 80's. Not to mention the eatables that are available. I quit smoking that stuff in 1989, and think it was a great choice for me, but I'm all in for giving people anything they want - legalize everything as far as I'm concerned.

As far as increased tax revenue goes, I think that's fantastic.

[Gistok]

^ Agree Softailrider.

I went with a friend to one of the MJ dispensaries in Warren a few weeks ago... just to see what the experience was like. I remember the cheap Mexican "seeded rag weed" back in the 70s, and what is available thru these stores is "gourmet" compared to a lot of the crap back then.

Also, I found out that the prices of weed here in Michigan has come down in the last 2 years... thus erasing much of the black market MJ sales here in our state. Other states where over taxing the price of MJ may have kept black market sales lucrative.

[Bong-Man]

Edibles are all regulated to be 10mg per dose, regardless of form or how they're packaged.

Weed is no longer tested the same way it was back in the 70's and 80's. Nothing has changed except access to the products. In the 70's, you could buy some seeded garbage 'mexican/jamaican/mohican' from your shady neighbor. You could also get some primo Maui wowie from Hawaii shipped in a sealed coconut can that would knock your socks off. At any legal dispensary today, you can buy an ounce of weed from $50 to $300 bucks depending on quality, and that weed is inspected and clean. Not much different than your consumer choice between a Bud light and a shot of whiskey.

California is a unique situation for several reasons. It's a prime outdoor growing area, and the 'illegal' market was well established and pretty much condoned by local law enforcement.

I still have access to illegal weed, but I refuse to purchase. I'm more than willing to pay my legal taxes in the name of safety and cutting out the middleman. I'm not going to help you smoke for free and avoid the taxes. I don't drink illegal white lightning either.

On a personal note, I've been on a one-man mission to get these local dispensaries to seal my purchases with a stapler after verifying the contents and delivering it to my car in a paper bag. If I get stopped by the cops, I don't want there to be any confusion about me sampling the products on the way home.

[Jimaz]

...On a personal note, I've been on a one-man mission to get these local dispensaries to seal my purchases with a stapler after verifying the contents and delivering it to my car in a paper bag. If I get stopped by the cops, I don't want there to be any confusion about me sampling the products on the way home.

That's like how a partially used bottle of wine can be {now in Michigan} recorked by the restaurant so you won't be driving with an open container. This also removes an incentive to finish off the bottle before driving.

Thanks for all those details, Bong-Man.

[Jimaz]

Does Legalized Weed Hit Different? Sarah Investigates

Smoking pot is now legal in NYC, but is it still cool? Sarah Silverman hits the streets to find out how New Yorkers have changed their weed habits and checks out one of NYC's newest licensed dispensaries.

[Jimaz]

Back Of Library Smells Like Weed

But Jared's such a good boy.

[Gistok]

^ Oh that is such a hoot!!

This video reminds me of an SNL skit... those 3 librarians they were interviewing were jabbering all at the same time [contact buzz]... and the suspects all seemed to have had the munchies. And that young teen was so mellow and happy to be at the library, and claims he didn't smell anything. Hehehe... yeah right!

It was so entertaining I watched it 4 times... hilarious...

Now where's that bag of chips....

UPDATE: I just read the comments... it was a THE ONION parody... well done.

[Jimaz]

...it was a THE ONION parody... well done.

Yet it was from 10 years ago but remains hilarious. That's the kind of wit we need to bring DetroitYES! back to its previous glory.

[Richard]

Edibles are all regulated to be 10mg per dose, regardless of form or how they're packaged.

Weed is no longer tested the same way it was back in the 70's and 80's. Nothing has changed except access to the products. In the 70's, you could buy some seeded garbage 'mexican/jamaican/mohican' from your shady neighbor. You could also get some primo Maui wowie from Hawaii shipped in a sealed coconut can that would knock your socks off. At any legal dispensary today, you can buy an ounce of weed from $50 to $300 bucks depending on quality, and that weed is inspected and clean. Not much different than your consumer choice between a Bud light and a shot of whiskey.

California is a unique situation for several reasons. It's a prime outdoor growing area, and the 'illegal' market was well established and pretty much condoned by local law enforcement.

I still have access to illegal weed, but I refuse to purchase. I'm more than willing to pay my legal taxes in the name of safety and cutting out the middleman. I'm not going to help you smoke for free and avoid the taxes. I don't drink illegal white lightning either.

On a personal note, I've been on a one-man mission to get these local dispensaries to seal my purchases with a stapler after verifying the contents and delivering it to my car in a paper bag. If I get stopped by the cops, I don't want there to be any confusion about me sampling the products on the way home.

That has me wondering that based on other threads about the BP influence in Detroit,so on the federal level it’s illegal so maybe it depends on who pulls you over ?

Where I am at,if it is approved for medical and you are supposed to have the card if you are caught with it,but for the most part the police really are not bothered with it if it is a small amount,unless you have a big list of infractions where they will tack it on.

But if it is in a clearly marked dispensary container,then it becomes questionable,so it is easier and quicker to just dump it in a baggie,instead of having to produce the card and wait for that verification etc.

[GPCharles]

At my W's high school one student was caught selling edibles that her father had purchased for her to the other students.

Don't tell me this is problem free.

[Lowell]

Yet it was from 10 years ago but remains hilarious. That's the kind of wit we need to bring DetroitYES! back to its previous glory.

In bygone The Simpson's episodes, that strange smell was always from the art department. I can't imagine why.

[Richard]

At my W's high school one student was caught selling edibles that her father had purchased for her to the other students.

Don't tell me this is problem free.

Its actually quite common,kids being taken to the hospital from school after eating them,child resistance caps on a bottle of aspirin but gummy edibles eaten like candy.

I tried one to see if it helped my sciatica,it floored me PCP style,can’t imagine a child 1/2 my size n weight.

[Zacha341]

It IS not! If you go to most marijuana/ cannabis sites you see the colorful, often animation themed advertising, naming and packaging of the vapes/ edibles - targeting youth and children. And kids are smart and wise! Don't cha know? They're trusted and affirmed to make all kind of choices, after all.

If you have worked with or have teens YOU KNOW that many know the kinds, availability, potency levels and nicknames for these products. Bet.

This is not new. Anyone recall a few decades back when the colorful flavored 'wine cooler' manufacturers were getting alot of heat for their advertising billboards, themes and labeling of those products? I do.

At my W's high school one student was caught selling edibles that her father had purchased for her to the other students.

Don't tell me this is problem free.

[Lowell]

Cannabis products need to be put in child-proof containers. So should alcohol and tobacco products, right?

There's my solution. Now who's going to politically put that bell on the cat?

Underaged teens and tweeners will still get them, just like you old-timers got your smokes, brews and pot.

But those products need to be secured against tots at the least.

[Jimaz]

Cannabis products need to be put in child-proof containers. So should alcohol and tobacco products, right?....

Yes. And while we're at it, firearms too.

Of course that shouldn't need to be said but lately I'm not too sure it doesn't need to be said.

[Ray1936]

Underaged teens and tweeners will still get them, just like you old-timers got your smokes, brews, and pot.

Hey, I'm 87. I don't smoke [[quit in 2001); have one or two beers a week, tops; and never once had the least bit interest in pot. Other than planting flowers, which I still do. Alas, I moved to Las Vegas when I retired and love blowing my pension money on the bartop slots. Just sayin'.

[Lowell]

Thank you to our friends and neighbors in Indiana and Ohio?

[oladub]

In the early 70's, a Michigan State study showed that as marijuana usage increased, alcohol usage decreased. If that equation persists, then the increased taxation of legal marijuana is being offset by a reduced amount of taxation derived from alcohol sales.

[Richard]

Thank you to our friends and neighbors in Indiana and Ohio?

I know people serving life in prison for selling that much weed,now states have eliminated the competition.

I think it would be more risky to travel out of state to purchase then buying illegally locally,interstate transfer of a controlled substance is federal.

I think it was easier in the 70s when it was decriminalized,nobody cared about end users and the police did not bother you,but now they have added more laws to the books then they had before and now when you travel sone states will throw you in jail for $5 worth while the next one will not care .

[Lowell]

...and that doesn't include the money and misery saved that used to be wasted prosecuting and incarcerating harmless users.

Michigan communities will share $87 million, with nearly $2 million of it going to Detroit

Adrienne Roberts
Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK

Detroit will receive the largest portion of the more than $87 million in marijuana tax revenue that's being distributed among the 269 municipalities that allow these businesses, the Michigan Department of Treasury said Thursday.

Detroit, which has 33 recreational marijuana dispensaries, will receive nearly $2 million in revenue collected from the 10% recreational marijuana excise tax, the most of any city. Each eligible municipality and county will receive $59,000 for every licensed retail store and microbusiness.

Wayne County, which has a total of 59 dispensaries and microbusinesses, will receive $3.5 million, the most of any county.

[Henry Whalley]

Signs You Definitely Smoke Too Much Weed [[theonion.com)