Legalize it, tax the hell out of it.

Today is March 22.  "On this day in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Beer and Wine Revenue Act. This law levies a federal tax on all alcoholic beverages to raise revenue for the federal government and gives individual states the option to further regulate the sale and distribution of beer and wine." ~History.com

For the past few months newly elected President Trump has been trying to cut government spending... with an ax.  Some of these cuts I'm in favor of, some I'm not, and I suspect that all American citizens feel the same.  I'm a Libertarian that leans Conservative.  What that means is that I'm not in favor of government funding for Planned Parenthood (should be private donations), and I'm also not in favor of building the border wall (we need immigration reform first, the Berlin wall didn't work either).

Today, 84 years ago was the end of prohibition.

This got me thinking, it would be a good way to end the war on drugs against marijuana.

It would be easy... the president could step up to the microphone and say:

"Just like Prohibition, we're spending a ton of money on the DEA trying to keep people from smoking a plant that they can grow in a closet, a plant that has been shown to actually have health benefits in certain situations. Instead of spending money ineffectively trying to stop people, we're going to Tax it's legal sale and turn it into an income stream that will help pay for Healthcare, rehabilitation, and fighting the war against organized crime, specifically the Drug cartels."

When you put it that way it makes sense.  I think everyone knows someone who has destroyed their life with alcohol... we all know smoking tobacco is bad for you too... pot isn't any worse than them.  Heck, we would probably end up with less automobile accidents... there's a saying "Drunks run stop signs, pot heads wait for the sign to change to green."

I'm not saying that everyone should go light up, I personally don't care for pot (yes I inhaled), it sends my ADD into overdrive, and I get hit with a billion ideas at once that I can't process.  I also don't care to get drunk, but I have had a 5th of whiskey with one drink taken out of it on my kitchen counter for about six months.

Now I'm sure someone reading this is thinking "But pot is a gateway drug!!!!" yes, it is... because we force people to buy it from drug dealers, and drug dealers I suspect don't draw an ethical line at just selling pot.  So by making pot illegal we're forcing people who choose to smoke pot to go to people who may try and sell them some other drug ("Hey, this one is an even better high!").  You just don't see that from the guys that sell you a 5th of bourbon at the liquor store.

Anyway Back to the mechanics of legalization. 

- In terms of sale, (federally) any place that sells 100 proof liquor can sell pot.  This excludes the corner gas station. 

- In terms of manufacturing, same oversight as the people who manufacture 100 proof liquor.  I'm surmising that would be the USDA, maybe it's the ATF.

- In terms of legal enforcement, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) becomes the ATM Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Marijuana... firearms never really go well with alcohol anyway.

- Firearms get spun off into a completely new agency, one that would maintain a database easily accessible to EVERYONE of "Do not sell firearms or ammunition to this person".  I think everyone can agree that there are people who shouldn't have guns, convicted felons, non-citizens, the mentally ill... Sure they can't buy a gun at a gun store, but what if I want to sell my shotgun?  How do *I* as a responsible gun owner do a "due diligence" background check?

Federal tax on cigarettes is $1.01 per pack, on alcohol it's "$13.50 per proof gallon" and "$18 per barrel of beer" I don't know how that gets calculated at the cash register, but it came to $9.7 Billion in 2012 for drinking and $15.5 billion in 2010 for cigarettes.  As someone who occasionally drinks, and smokes, I'm totally OK with increasing both, now earmark that money for Rehabilitation, Healthcare, and Fighting organized crime, specifically the drug cartels.  Then add in a hefty tax on marijuana.  Colorado collected just shy of $100 million at a 15% tax rate on Marijuana in 2016... and it's not even one of the "Big three" states (CA, TX, NY). 

We're talking about billions in lost tax revenue that we can't collect because "it's illegal" and we can't regulate it's sale (it's easier for High school kids to get pot than it is for them to get beer because Drug dealers don't check their ID like the Liquor store does).

Just freaking legalize it.  Stop spending money trying to enforce the law (ineffectively), storing the people that DO get caught in prisons, and then supporting them when they get out because it's hard for someone to find a job if they have a criminal record.

My "wet finger in the air" calculation is that this is a Multi-Billion dollar swing in the federal budget.  Most of the law enforcement and tax collection infrastructure already exists, capitalism will figure out the marketing and distribution pretty quickly all on it's own I suspect (just a tiny bit of sarcasm there).

There, I just killed a bunch of birds with one stone.  People for personal rights are happy because the government is out of their personal business (people against personal freedom can piss up a rope and quit reading my blog, I'm not interested in enabling the nosy neighborhood busybody that wants the right to tell you what color you can paint your house).  People in favor of healthcare reform just got a boost in funds to actually pay for it.  People in favor of common sense gun legislation just got a little bit of that.  I reduced the drug problem in schools, and maybe a few people that get all worked up by the news media can roll a joint and chillax a little bit.