If they can make it happen might as well raise toll rates too. I could see a lot of "day visitors" streaming in from NYC and Philadelphia
when we said "regulate and tax it" for decades, we didn't mean give the blackmarket a greater marketshare by making the taxes exorbitant.
People are going to buy weed, if the taxes make it not worth purchasing legally the blackmarket will always be there to undercut it.
you have to COMPETE with blackmarket prices, you can't just jack up prices, legalize it and then expect people to stop paying $25 for 3.5 grams of top-tier marijuana.
no one is going to continually pay $75 for 3.5 grams, especially after the novelty has worn off.
If you have a who buddy will sell you the same amount of equal or higher quality for a 1/3rd of the price, would you pay 2/3rds more?
If cities add more tax on top of state tax, then it'll push more medical and recreational users right back into the untaxed newly formed gray market. Same with cities who don't open shops.
I think this is a result of being blinded by dollar signs instead of practical and thought-through policy.
Yes, it'll still rake in tax dollars and yes, people who don't know any better will buy from shops, like tourists.
But for the target market? I'm not so sure.
I don't know about the US, but in Australia where cigarettes are heavily taxed (one packet of cigarettes can go for AUD$30) there's a small but pretty active market for imported untaxed cigarettes.
But for your regular person who's made due without a legal marijuana distribution network isn't going to start paying a premium on the regular for the privilege of retail. It's mostly a novelty, IMO, and may increase graymarket demand for untaxed marijuana for everyone BUT the people looking to do some weed tourism, etc.
1. Home cultivation is legal (and not controlled by local officials), and therefore the "black" market is booming / prices are dropping.
2. Municipalities are blocking recreational cannabis businesses, in many cases instituting "moratoriums" for 1-2 years to "allow the state legal framework to be hammered out" (which is complete BS) This helps the black market further.
3. Furthermore, the shops that are allowed are heavily regulated and taxed, further helping the black market price advantage.
Until recreational cannabis businesses are open and thriving, the black market will continue to surge, and probably hasn't even peaked.
(the massive amount of sarcasm should be obvious)
Seriously, other than a few extra dollars in the short term and making the roads less crowded for those who have the money to justify their value proposition what is the befit of raising tolls?
I can understand if you want to basically levy a tax on tourism but levying a tax on people showing up to buy stuff doesn't seem smart.
You mean, like a sales tax?
Obviously it's not just sales tax. The real estate on my town is owned almost entirely by two people. One with a lucrative housing contract with the prisons re-integration program. A great idea but not when captured by cronyism.
So it ends up that tax hurts the poor a hell of a lot worse than the rich. And the fact that 7% of someone who is "poor" is a hell of a hit on the low wage they already get (and taxed on).
35% on labor tax, but only 18% on investments. I'm pretty sure Warren Buffet came out on that talking point a while back.
A flat tax (perhaps an even steeper on than generally exists currently) on goods purchased might help to curb consumption/consumerism that is destroying our environment. That's one context. How should a government tasked with regulating commerce seek to fund such endeavors otherwise? I'm not baiting; I really don't know.