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Six Months After Legalizing Marijuana, Two Big Things have Happened in Colorado

posted by azrael on Friday July 04 2014, @04:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the tax-not-war dept.

Monogamous Coward writes:

It's now been six months since Colorado enacted its historic marijuana legalization policy, and two big things have already happened:

  1. Colorado's cash crop is turning out to be even more profitable than the state could have hoped.

    Tax revenue from marijuana sales is expected to top $130M over the next fiscal year.

  2. Denver crime rates have suddenly fallen.

    The Denver city- and county-wide murder rate has dropped 52.9% year-to-year since recreational marijuana use was legalized in January.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by hoochiecoochieman on Friday July 04 2014, @03:10PM

    by hoochiecoochieman (4158) on Friday July 04 2014, @03:10PM (#64184)

    Your absurd health care system keeps the costs sky-high. You are the biggest health spender in the world, and you spend twice as much on health care as the next country. Yet, your health care ranks third-world level. So, the Medicare problem is way more complicated than you put it.

    About Social Security, you mention cuts to afford it, but maybe the problem is somewhere else. With the crazy levels of inequality and unfair taxation in your country, cuts are not the first thing that comes to mind.

    But this is my opinion. It's not my country, it's yours. If you don't give a shit about the poor, the sick and the old, have it your way and be happy. But please, stop trying to export your model, we don't want it.

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  • (Score: 2) by khallow on Friday July 04 2014, @05:08PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 04 2014, @05:08PM (#64248) Journal

    Your absurd health care system keeps the costs sky-high. You are the biggest health spender in the world, and you spend twice as much on health care as the next country. Yet, your health care ranks third-world level. So, the Medicare problem is way more complicated than you put it.

    Here's an example of the expensive civilization.

    About Social Security, you mention cuts to afford it, but maybe the problem is somewhere else. With the crazy levels of inequality and unfair taxation in your country, cuts are not the first thing that comes to mind.

    Social Security doesn't help the situation. And the crazy levels of inequality just aren't that crazy or worth that much effort to reduce. Further, unsustainable spending increases inequality, because it is the people who can buy politicians or move their assets easily out of a country into another, who can best take advantage of high levels of short term spending.

    • (Score: 2) by hoochiecoochieman on Friday July 04 2014, @06:16PM

      by hoochiecoochieman (4158) on Friday July 04 2014, @06:16PM (#64273)

      Your absurd health care system keeps the costs sky-high. You are the biggest health spender in the world, and you spend twice as much on health care as the next country. Yet, your health care ranks third-world level. So, the Medicare problem is way more complicated than you put it.

      Here's an example of the expensive civilization.

      Since when your expensive, ineffective and inhuman (lack of) healthcare system is civilised?

      About Social Security, you mention cuts to afford it, but maybe the problem is somewhere else. With the crazy levels of inequality and unfair taxation in your country, cuts are not the first thing that comes to mind.

      Social Security doesn't help the situation.

      Just because you say so.

      And the crazy levels of inequality just aren't that crazy or worth that much effort to reduce.

      I see you're on the 1% side. Either you're one of them or you're blind.

      Further, unsustainable spending increases inequality, because it is the people who can buy politicians or move their assets easily out of a country into another, who can best take advantage of high levels of short term spending.

      So you agree with me, it's better to spend money on the poor than injecting liquidity on the rich. The poor will inject the money right back in the economy, the rich will transfer it to the Caymans and sit on it.

      • (Score: 2) by khallow on Friday July 04 2014, @07:38PM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday July 04 2014, @07:38PM (#64290) Journal

        Since when your expensive, ineffective and inhuman (lack of) healthcare system is civilised?

        The obvious rebuttal is that you're employing the No True Scotsman fallacy. None of the US health care changes of the past half century were justified on the basis that they were barbaric. That's just a consequence.
         
         

        Social Security doesn't help the situation.

        Just because you say so.

        It's a retroactive tax and people retiring after about 2020 will get out less than they put in.

        I see you're on the 1% side. Either you're one of them or you're blind.

        Just because you say so.

        So you agree with me, it's better to spend money on the poor than injecting liquidity on the rich. The poor will inject the money right back in the economy, the rich will transfer it to the Caymans and sit on it.

        And it's easy for the rich to subvert such sentiments. A fraction of money allocated to "the poor" will end up in the hands of various rent seekers. That's just how it works.