2 ms·

What are the issues? Increased tax revenue for towns from outside buyers? Are these new issues that didn't exist in the black market? I can see issues with sec

What are the issues? Increased tax revenue for towns from outside buyers? Are these new issues that didn't exist in the black market? I can see issues with security/robbing facilities that are cash rich due to issues depositing the cash due to federal regulations... but that's not the dispensaries fault.

mschuster91 5y ago
> Increased tax revenue for towns from outside buyers? Are these new issues that didn't exist in the black market? For what it's worth, the Netherlands allow communities to ban foreigners from coffee shops - Maastricht already has such a ban, and proposals to do the same in Amsterdam crop up regularly (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/foreigners-face-ban-from-amsterdams-cannabis-cafes https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/foreigners-fac...). The issue is that especially in border-adjacent cities coffee shops attract a lot of "weed tourism": people coming only for the weed but not spending much outside of the coffee shops, causing traffic issues and the likes, that are nowhere near appropriately covered by the pot taxes. We Germans have a similar issue with prostitution - Germany is widely seen as the "biggest brothel of Europe", so especially French clients (where "thanks" to the "nordic model" prostitution is criminalized) overrun the brothels close to the border. In Czechia, prostitution is legal as well - but vastly cheaper than in Germany, which means a lot of Germans living near the border go there.
tartoran 5y ago
The main issue is abuse which is not limited to pot of course and seems to cause fewer issues than alcohol, but it’s nonetheless something not to be proud of.
CountDrewku 5y ago
I don't have actual data because it's not available. Anecdotally, I have friends/family who teach and there seems to be a definite increase in the amount of kids smoking. It's much easier for them to get their hands on it now. Just like having legal alcohol, they send in their older friends to buy cannabis. Additionally, you have a lot of families moving in just to grow pot and they'll come in buy up some sort of low end desert property shack thinking they can grow a bunch of plants all over their property legally. They don't take care of their kids at all so there's a large influx of kids just wandering around without parents, missing school etc. because their parents are high all the time. I see people smoking and jumping in vehicles regularly, they also appear to think it's just fine to drive intoxicated since it's not alcohol. Then you have the whole cannabis oil vape pen issue which is sort of a downstream effect. I'm not advocating for keeping it illegal. I'm just pointing out it's not all rainbows and unicorns when you legalize it. Supposedly the tax money goes to schools but I've yet to witness any actual improvements from it. Like most things, they'll say they're going to put taxes in one place and then pull other money away from them. There's also this strange pervasive idea that no harm can come from cannabis. There are multiple studies showing it isn't good for adolescents.

mschuster91 5y ago

> Increased tax revenue for towns from outside buyers? Are these new issues that didn't exist in the black market? For what it's worth, the Netherlands allow communities to ban foreigners from coffee shops - Maastricht already has such a ban, and proposals to do the same in Amsterdam crop up regularly (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/foreigners-face-ban-from-amsterdams-cannabis-cafes https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/11/foreigners-fac...). The issue is that especially in border-adjacent cities coffee shops attract a lot of "weed tourism": people coming only for the weed but not spending much outside of the coffee shops, causing traffic issues and the likes, that are nowhere near appropriately covered by the pot taxes. We Germans have a similar issue with prostitution - Germany is widely seen as the "biggest brothel of Europe", so especially French clients (where "thanks" to the "nordic model" prostitution is criminalized) overrun the brothels close to the border. In Czechia, prostitution is legal as well - but vastly cheaper than in Germany, which means a lot of Germans living near the border go there.

tartoran 5y ago

The main issue is abuse which is not limited to pot of course and seems to cause fewer issues than alcohol, but it’s nonetheless something not to be proud of.

CountDrewku 5y ago

I don't have actual data because it's not available. Anecdotally, I have friends/family who teach and there seems to be a definite increase in the amount of kids smoking. It's much easier for them to get their hands on it now. Just like having legal alcohol, they send in their older friends to buy cannabis. Additionally, you have a lot of families moving in just to grow pot and they'll come in buy up some sort of low end desert property shack thinking they can grow a bunch of plants all over their property legally. They don't take care of their kids at all so there's a large influx of kids just wandering around without parents, missing school etc. because their parents are high all the time. I see people smoking and jumping in vehicles regularly, they also appear to think it's just fine to drive intoxicated since it's not alcohol. Then you have the whole cannabis oil vape pen issue which is sort of a downstream effect. I'm not advocating for keeping it illegal. I'm just pointing out it's not all rainbows and unicorns when you legalize it. Supposedly the tax money goes to schools but I've yet to witness any actual improvements from it. Like most things, they'll say they're going to put taxes in one place and then pull other money away from them. There's also this strange pervasive idea that no harm can come from cannabis. There are multiple studies showing it isn't good for adolescents.