Nebraska and Oklahoma sue Colorado over marijuana legalization

[TechBoyJK]

That sounds like a lot of money. It's a shame there isn't some way to avoid spending all that money on marijuana prosecutions.

And you'd think the police might actually be enjoying the overtime pay.

 

[TheSlamma]

If they win this state will be in trouble as none of the promised tax revenue from sales has been coming true.

 

[hal2kilo]

Why would anybody go to Colorado or Wahington to buy weed when they can buy it in there own state for a Hell of alot less. I guess it's rubes that are so out of touch with world around them that they don 't know where they can get any in their own locale?

 

[Fern]

Why would anybody go to Colorado or Wahington to buy weed when they can buy it in there own state for a Hell of alot less. I guess it's rubes that are so out of touch with world around them that they don 't know where they can get any in their own locale?

They're "rubes" because they're not personal friends with drug dealers?

Fern

 

[TechBoyJK]

If they win this state will be in trouble as none of the promised tax revenue from sales has been coming true.

If you're talking about CO they are raking in the tax revenue.

The idea that CO isn't making tax revenue from legal weed is a fabrication. You have to literally be in denial to look at the facts and say they aren't making money. They're making a killing.

 

[TheSlamma]

If you're talking about CO they are raking in the tax revenue.

The idea that CO isn't making tax revenue from legal weed is a fabrication. You have to literally be in denial to look at the facts and say they aren't making money. They're making a killing.

Umm what state do you live in and what state do I live in.

No it's not happening as it was told it would in the voting campaign.. not even close. The ESTIMATED numbers are huge but OUR (Colorado) not YOUR schools are still in the top 10 bottom funded in the nation.

Some backup to my statement
http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/02/news/economy/marijuana-taxes-colorado/index.html

 

[Zorba]

And you'd think the police might actually be enjoying the overtime pay.

Actually Oklahoma should setup their own store front in CO, to sell the weed back. Seems like a good way to pay for the overtime.

 

[brycejones]

I hope our AG here in Kansas doesn't get any equally retarded ideas.

 

[hal2kilo]

They're "rubes" because they're not personal friends with drug dealers?

Fern

I no it's hard to imagine in your world. They could just be friends.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Nebraska and Oklahoma want to ensure they are oppressing poor and minority people and the flow of weed from Colorado is making that oppression more difficult.

 

[Fern]

Anybody here live near the borders between Nebraska/Oklahoma and Colorado, or travel there?

I'm curious if there are pot shops located near the border.

Fern

 

[TechBoyJK]

Umm what state do you live in and what state do I live in.

No it's not happening as it was told it would in the voting campaign.. not even close. The ESTIMATED numbers are huge but OUR (Colorado) not YOUR schools are still in the top 10 bottom funded in the nation.

Some backup to my statement
http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/02/news/economy/marijuana-taxes-colorado/index.html

What were you told in the campaign?

Nobody could know for sure. If you were looking for matching numbers, then of course you're disappointed. Also it will take several years if not a decade for things to settle.

If you look at the numbers without bias or expectation, yes, the numbers are sweet! CO is doing good!

 

[TechBoyJK]

Anybody here live near the borders between Nebraska/Oklahoma and Colorado, or travel there?

I'm curious if there are pot shops located near the border.

Fern

The shop I bought from in Boulder basically said I'm an asshole if I try to leave the state with it. "We have something good, don't spoil it. "

 

[Carson Dyle]

The shop I bought from in Boulder basically said I'm an asshole if I try to leave the state with it. "We have something good, don't spoil it. "

Did you just want to experience buying weed in a store? Because you probably paid 2x to 3x what you would have paid some kid on the Pearl Street mall for the same (or better) stuff.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Anybody here live near the borders between Nebraska/Oklahoma and Colorado, or travel there?

I'm curious if there are pot shops located near the border.

There's like one shop near Nebraska along I-76.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Anybody here live near the borders between Nebraska/Oklahoma and Colorado, or travel there?

I'm curious if there are pot shops located near the border.

In Colorado, municipalities have the right to ban retail shops or grow operations. The eastern plains counties and towns tend to be very conservative and most have outlawed retail shops.

From this map, it looks lie there's one shop near the Nebraska border. Nothing close to Kansas.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Umm what state do you live in and what state do I live in.

No it's not happening as it was told it would in the voting campaign.. not even close. The ESTIMATED numbers are huge but OUR (Colorado) not YOUR schools are still in the top 10 bottom funded in the nation.

Projections might have been overly optimistic, but it's not like "NO" revenue has been coming in.

About $60 million this first year.

The idea of relying on pot taxes to adequately fund schools was always a joke (and it was only allocated for capital expenses anyway). Our schools are underfunded because there's a big anti-tax culture in Colorado and the people persistently vote to keep them underfunded.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Did you just want to experience buying weed in a store? Because you probably paid 2x to 3x what you would have paid some kid on the Pearl Street mall for the same (or better) stuff.

Meh, I buy retail, largely because I don't buy frequently, and what I do buy lasts a long time...and there's a shop I like right on my way home from work. Also for the principle I suppose.

Before we had a red card for my wife, but figured since we buy so infrequently we're happy to eat the extra cost for the convenience of not having to schedule a doctor's appointment to renew it. I kinda feel bad though. That doc was always happy to see my wife because she was one of his few legit patients with real medical issues.

 

[Fern]

The shop I bought from in Boulder basically said I'm an asshole if I try to leave the state with it. "We have something good, don't spoil it. "

Yeah, I saw that before.

Mostly I'm thinking back to Europe and The Netherlands. I traveled in the Netherlands a lot, and lived there on off over the years. Their pot laws caused a lot of friction with their neighbors. I think some of their examples would be more helpful to mitigate the 'spill over' LE problems than this stupid lawsuit.

I support legalization, but the other two states have their prerogative to keep it illegal, as much as I think that's stupid, and their complaint is legit if it's them costing money and trouble.

The Netherlands made a concerted effort to keep their pot from crossing borders. E.g., if pot shops are setting up just across the border it's obviously going to cause a problem. I recall living next to a dry county, my county wasn't. Well, even though the border was out in the middle of nowhere the biggest liquor store I ever saw was built just inside our county border out in this forest. Obviously they were just there to sell to those from the dry county. If such a thing is going in CO the state govt could offer some help to forestall a lawsuit.

Edit: OK, now see that's not a problem. Not legal pot sales anyway.

The Netherlands had airports patrolled pretty well. Drug dogs and all. CO could possibly do the same thing but focus on flights to Nebraska and Oklahoma to placate those states.

The Netherlands had the benefit of being a country so any car traffic had to pass thru a border checkpoint (this was before the EU). This allowed them to check cars. Who would they check? French people going back into France.

All this stuff cuts down on the complaints and shows the neighboring country (states in this case) that you're trying to help eliminate spill over problems/costs. IDK if there's cooperation now or not, but if there were it may mean we don't see such lawsuits.

I've seen it work in another way too. Here in NC we didn't have any gambling, no lotto etc., for the longest time. Well, the people of NC just drove across the border to buy a lotto ticket, so much so NC politicians just gave up and allowed lotto here. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Fern

 

[Belegost]

What were you told in the campaign?

Nobody could know for sure. If you were looking for matching numbers, then of course you're disappointed. Also it will take several years if not a decade for things to settle.

If you look at the numbers without bias or expectation, yes, the numbers are sweet! CO is doing good!

It's worth posting the actual numbers

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/1014 Marijuana Sales Tax by County Report.pdf

For October there was nearly 1M in medical taxes, and a further 3.6M in recreational taxes.

Predictions were as high as 33M in 6 months, which would be nearly twice that revenue, but adding 4.5M to the coffers every month is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Jhhnn]

There's like one shop near Nebraska along I-76.

And there's always a package liquor store right across the line from a dry county.

Go figure.

The suit is a giant uhh-wah! from (losing) culture war crybabies.

Anybody who knows anything about cannabis knew that prohibition was snakebit when the Obama Admin allowed retail to proceed in CO.

That's because the facts don't support prohibition, never have. Exploitation of fear of the unknown has been the modus operandi all along. Universal prohibition meant nobody knew the consequences of legalization & too few people had the guts to want to find out for sure.

We're building a database of what really happens. All kinds of statistics. Anybody else notice that it's been mighty quiet over there in the Doom sayers' corner?

There's a reason for that. No Doom has been encountered in 2 years of legalization & 1 year of retail sales. Mostly, a whole lot of nothing has changed other than people not getting busted. Fewer hassles for everybody. Pretty much the way that truly rational people said it would be, even if they were stoned.

 

[Jhhnn]

It's worth posting the actual numbers

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/1014 Marijuana Sales Tax by County Report.pdf

For October there was nearly 1M in medical taxes, and a further 3.6M in recreational taxes.

Predictions were as high as 33M in 6 months, which would be nearly twice that revenue, but adding 4.5M to the coffers every month is nothing to sneeze at.

It also unloads the justice system which should create better results in general. Nobody really wants to pay for marijuana enforcement in a smaller govt model, anyway.

 

[positivedoppler]

conservative states, mind your own businesses if I want to eat until I die of a heart attack at the age of 50, but dont let thos hippies smoke pot, its bad for you

 

[Nebor]

I know several detectives in mid-size and large cities throughout Texas who are now tasked almost exclusively with interdicting CO grown weed in Texas. It's selling for 10x the price that the Mexican stuff sells for. I was at some training with one of the guys last week up in Austin, and I asked him if he felt silly waging a war on weed when it's being legalized across the country. He said no, that the bank account seizures and property forfeiture that accompanies weed busts pay his salary. A nice car with a felony amount of weed in it pays his salary for 6 months, with a 60\40 split with the district attorney's office.

 

[KMFJD]

Yeah, I saw that before.

Mostly I'm thinking back to Europe and The Netherlands. I traveled in the Netherlands a lot, and lived there on off over the years. Their pot laws caused a lot of friction with their neighbors. I think some of their examples would be more helpful to mitigate the 'spill over' LE problems than this stupid lawsuit.

I support legalization, but the other two states have their prerogative to keep it illegal, as much as I think that's stupid, and their complaint is legit if it's them costing money and trouble.

The Netherlands made a concerted effort to keep their pot from crossing borders. E.g., if pot shops are setting up just across the border it's obviously going to cause a problem. I recall living next to a dry county, my county wasn't. Well, even though the border was out in the middle of nowhere the biggest liquor store I ever saw was built just inside our county border out in this forest. Obviously they were just there to sell to those from the dry county. If such a thing is going in CO the state govt could offer some help to forestall a lawsuit.

Edit: OK, now see that's not a problem. Not legal pot sales anyway.

The Netherlands had airports patrolled pretty well. Drug dogs and all. CO could possibly do the same thing but focus on flights to Nebraska and Oklahoma to placate those states.

The Netherlands had the benefit of being a country so any car traffic had to pass thru a border checkpoint (this was before the EU). This allowed them to check cars. Who would they check? French people going back into France.

All this stuff cuts down on the complaints and shows the neighboring country (states in this case) that you're trying to help eliminate spill over problems/costs. IDK if there's cooperation now or not, but if there were it may mean we don't see such lawsuits.

I've seen it work in another way too. Here in NC we didn't have any gambling, no lotto etc., for the longest time. Well, the people of NC just drove across the border to buy a lotto ticket, so much so NC politicians just gave up and allowed lotto here. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Fern

Last i heard is that in southern Netherlands you had to show proof that your where a Dutch citizen in order to purchase, especially close to the border, Amsterdam however is business as usual. I could be wrong, haven't been back there in a while, when i was there in the 90's they never checked for ID (other than for age verification).