Thread: Pot prices could plummet post-legalization

Study: Pot prices could plummet post-legalization

By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 10:05 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO — A new study says legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in California could drive down prices and undercut the potential tax windfall that supporters have touted.

The study published Wednesday by the RAND Drug Policy Research Center says "considerable uncertainty" surrounds the state ballot initiative. It would allow adults, 21 and over, to possess an ounce of marijuana and cities and counties to license and tax commercial pot sales.

The authors predict that retail marijuana prices could drop from $375 an ounce under the state's current medical marijuana law to as low as $38 per ounce, in part because growers and sellers would be taking fewer legal risks.

According to the RAND analysis, consumers would pay more than that - about $91 an ounce - once taxes imposed by local governments are figured in.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... alization/

The taxes from sales would not be the only benefit. It would lower the cost of enforcement. It would also free up the detention space which could be used for detaining illegal aliens on state tresspassing charges. The cost of running a tent system like Arpaio's can be sustained out of the fee portion of the penalty for violating state tresspass laws. Freeing jail space of minor marijuana offenders would permit a larger number of immigration violators to be detained at economic cost.