I’m writing about Chuck Reasor’s thoughtful letter: “Sales-tax increases are rarely ‘temporary’â€? (Dec. 22-29).
Instead of increasing the existing sales taxes, why not tax a product that is now completely untaxed? Why not tax marijuana? Instead of attempting to nullify the immutable law of supply and demand, our government should regulate, control, and tax it. We could easily tax marijuana at about 90 percent of its retail price. The vast majority of marijuana’s current price is the result of the “prohibition taxâ€? that now goes to criminals — our government gets nothing.
It seems to me that non-marijuana users would be in favor of taxing a product that they don’t use. Around here, taxing somebody else’s vice is very popular.
Of course, many will proclaim that regulating, controlling, and taxing the sale of marijuana will “send the wrong message� to our children.
But what message are we now sending to our children by regulating, controlling, and taxing the sale of tobacco products and alcohol?
Kirk Muse – Mesa, Ariz.
This article appears in Dec 29, 2005 – Jan 5, 2006.
