(CAV News) - Of course, legalizing marijuana would help the budgets of many states. I’m not sure that’s the only reason you should want to pass such legislation.

Are you advocating for the right of people to make their own choices such as they do with unhealthy food? Or are you advocating passing legislation in order to fix the budget, curb deficits, and even worse, add another industry into the regulatory fold?

Can’t we just pass something without taxing it? Look I understand the argument is more appealing for those who don’t favor passing any Marijuana legislation. Those who oppose it, say, ” wait, did you just say tax?” 

Why yes I did you thief, meanwhile, the potheads, and medical patients who use marijuana are happy, because it’s no longer illegal, the taxpayers don’t have to foot more money into the justice system because of silly marijuana laws that incarcerate folks, and everyone wins.

Well do you really win? Haven’t we learned that regulating industry has actually hurt the patients, consumers, and the industry it strived to help ? I think it’s refreshing to get more politicians on board to decriminalize marijuana law, but let’s pass it for the fact of liberty not taxation. Let’s pass it out of personal choice, and not for the fact that many officials couldn’t balance a budget. I know it’s cliché, but more money equals more power. How do you get money when you are a government? You take it.

From Sen. Daylin Leach’s website:

As Gov. Corbett lays the groundwork to privatize Pennsylvania’s liquor stores and fund education this year with the revenue raised, Sen. Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery/Delaware) has offered an alternative plan: legalize marijuana and generate a constant revenue source for the state to use for years to come.

“We don’t need to sell our state stores to the highest bidder to bring in money to fund education, especially if the money gained can only be used once,” Leach said. “This plan may help our state in the short term, but is a foolish long term strategy, as it offers no permanent solutions. Why eliminate a constant revenue stream when we could keep it, continue to benefit from it, and add to it by regulating, taxing and selling marijuana under the state store umbrella?”

Corbett’s proposal would relinquish the state’s control over its liquor stores and use the $1 billion raised from licensing fees to fund a four-year state education grant program. Under the plan, schools could only use the block grant funds for school safety purposes, to create individualized learning plans, to improve reading and math skills in early elementary classrooms and for science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs. The plan would aim to resolve a major crisis our public schools faced after Corbett slashed $1 billion in education funding in his first budget.

Leach, who this session will introduce a marijuana legalization bill, said the answer our state is looking for is simple.

“In addition to raising millions of dollars per year from tax revenue, Pennsylvania would save more than $325 million per year by legalizing marijuana. The most conservative estimates say the revenue generated by taxing the sales of marijuana would amount to at least $24 million per year. Legalizing marijuana and taxing its sale could provide a multi-million dollar reoccurring revenue source that our state could tap into for years to come,” Leach said.

Under the terms of Leach’s bill, marijuana would be a regulated product, treated similarly to alcohol. He noted that his bill would not change current laws against driving under the influence of marijuana, selling marijuana to minors and disorderly conduct while publicly intoxicated.

Source: Daylin Reach, Activist Post