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Legalize, Tax Pot: Vancouver Mayor.
By admin | August 10, 2004
Canadian Press
May 13, 2004
Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell says marijuana sales should be taxed and the revenue used to fund treatment for the effects of more serious drugs.
Campbell made the suggestion Saturday in a speech to the annual meeting of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.
“Taxes levied on marijuana sales could add to the resources for treatment. Remember, the B.C. marijuana trade is estimated at $6 billion annually — larger than construction or forestry,” Campbell said.
The former Mountie and coroner also noted that enforcement money freed up from legalizing pot could support treatment and better policing of other crimes.
Campbell said he was calling for the regulated sale of marijuana along the lines of the way that sales are managed for tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
He cited the case of Amsterdam, noting that the status quo there is legal-but-regulated cultivation and sales.
He said studies show fewer residents of the Netherlands than, for example, Americans, have actually tried marijuana, and cannabis use among Dutch schoolchildren has fallen.
“The conclusion is pretty clear: legal, regulated sale of marijuana may actually produce less consumption,” he said.
Campbell said he is opposed to decriminalization because it does not deal with “real criminals” such as the dealers and the crimes they create.
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