Here’s a fact: marijuana costs literally pennies a pound to grow. This fact makes tax based legalization either a fool’s errand or the basis for even more high handed and intrusive tax department enforcement.

But the above is also why it makes no sense to fight against folks using marijuana for its’ many medicinal uses … all together now … say it with me … REDUCE THE COST OF HEALTHCARE!

The major fiscal benefits to society will come from three places: the above medical costs; not ruining families by running people through high priced lawyer based court systems over smoking a little pot; and growing industrial hemp not only for the many, many fiber and food and plastic and fuel products that can be made from it … but also for the non-petroleum based farming benefits: the roots act as natural plows thus reducing tractor time, and the broad leaves block sunlight thus acting as a natural de-weeder in the fields to mention two.

Did I mention that hemp has the drug abuse potential of an empty toilet paper roll?

The reality is that the cannabis prohibition (ie keeping marijuana for personal and medical use illegal and making sure our farmers don’t grow a cash crop made by nature for our sub-prime soils) has made it sound reasonable to put restrictions on the medical use of marijuana that rival the most potent opiates as well as keeping farmers from growing a wonderful crop … all to keep folks from smoking a little pot in the privacy of their own lives.

Now guess which activity is engaged in the most? In the end, however, I agree with BP above regarding the likely-hood of ending the cannabis prohibition vs. bringing casino gambling into the state.

The cannabis prohibition provides billions of dollars to lawyers, laboratories, police/test equipment manufacturers, corporate jails, law enforcement and more … the effect on individuals be damned. The cannabis prohibition funnels money to the petroleum industry by keeping competition in the form of hemp fibers off the market … how else can we keep these synthetic fibers such as rayon? The cannabis prohibition is a cash cow for the pharmaceutical industry because as long as I could lose my home for growing “pennies a pound” medicine in my own backyard … why I’m dependent upon the pharma industry and their good graces and when THEY decide they’ll help keep costs down. This is a very abbreviated list.

What matters: ending the cannabis prohibition returns a little bit of freedom to people while depriving corporate America of billions of tax payer subsidies.

A casino has none of those “drawbacks”. A casino sucks cash out of folks pockets and puts that cas in an easy to count, control and tax single entity. A casino keeps us all at the mercy of big government politicians and their corporate string pullers.

So while ending the cannabis prohibition makes eminent sense, it’s the blood sucking casino that has a better chance.

Ending the cannabis prohibition would mean putting you and me ahead of corporate profits … ain’t gonna happen any time soon.

Doubt this is actually true. In CA, pharmacy weed is as expensive or more expensive than street-corner weed. Cost is the same in Amsterdam as it is in VT. Doesn’t seem to matter if it’s legal or not.