U.S. lawmakers have said that a tax on legal marijuana could put significant dollars into the budgets, which are still hurting from the recession, Politico reported on Thursday.
"I've seen some estimates in the high tens of million, as much as $100 million for" Colorado said Rep. Jared Polis, who's pushing for federal legalization of marijuana in Congress. If the projections are correct, Colorado could make "substantial dent in needed school improvements, particularly in poorer districts," Polis said.
The Director of the California National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said the legalization of cannabis would bring in at least $1.2 billion to his state. Politico said his study assumes a sales tax would be applied, added with an additional $50 levy per ounce of marijuana.
Colorado is not the only state looking to boost its cash reserves from a marijuana tax.
"Support for changing our marijuana laws is growing as more and more elected officials realize it makes no sense to maintain a system of prohibition for a substance that is objectively less harmful than alcohol," David Boyer, Maine's political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement. "Maine can and should take a more sensible approach to marijuana policy, and we are glad to see so many legislators agree."
The rate of marijuana use for Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 has increased as well. More Americans are smoking, which means more possible revenue for those in favor of enacting a marijuana tax.
Still, not everyone believes that a marijuana tax will be able to drastically improve a state's finances.
"This is not a cash cow that can solve anyone's fiscal problems," Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard economics professor and a pro-legalization speaker at the Cato Institute, told Politico. "There is a lot of exaggeration about how big the revenue can be."
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