Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

March 2015 – Colorado and Washington are one year into their experiments with marijuana legalization. While many expected interference from the federal government, the real problem, according to marijuana suppliers, is the black market. The black market and medical dispensaries sell the drug at lower prices than legal marijuana stores can charge.

One major argument for legalizing marijuana is always that it will produce tax dollars.

While both states did see a small statewide profit, that increase may well be lost defending the law that allows the drug to be sold legally. For example, Nebraska and Oklahoma have filed suits against neighboring Colorado, alleging that they are being overrun with marijuana.

Supporters of legalized pot in those states promised the removal of problems such as low tax income, the booming black market, and decrease in abuse of state medical systems. But it hasn’t happened.

Alaska and Oregon have also legalized marijuana and face different problems. It appears that wherever marijuana has been legalized, problems have not only stayed, they have grown.

mashable.com, 1/3/15