TAX THE POTHEADS

Canada has more money than it thinks. As we are coping to find ways
to deal with the effects of the global recession and struggling to
maintain our social infrastructure for services as essential as
education, health care and roads, there is a massive underground
economy that is essentially stealing billions through tax evasion.
The worst part is that we have let various arguments stand in the
way of what should be done.

Let's legalize marijuana and tax the potheads.

The Conservatives have cut our GST by two percentage points and many
provinces have tried to cover these revenue losses with the HST,
something most taxpayers disapprove of. Our marijuana industry has
revenues of more than $7 billion; greater than the cattle industry,
twice the pig industry and three times our wheat industry. The
Fraser Institute believes that legalization would provide the
government with tax revenues in excess of $2 billion. This money
could be used to fund education and health care, or
used specifically to wipe out the whole underground
cannabis industry. Because trafficking is illegal, the premium on
marijuana sales has allowed traffickers to charge five times the
production cost. Standard market practices would bring the buying
and production costs closer, saving money for many low-income users
to reinvest in our economy.

The UN has found that Canadians lead the industrialized world in
marijuana use, and 30% of Ontario students in grades 7 to 11 are
involved in marijuana use. The RCMP has connected the cannabis
industry to weapons trafficking, cocaine smuggling and stock market
fraud. Leaving this industry in the control of organized criminals
puts impressionable youth at risk. Teenage users must find
connections into this world to obtain their drug of choice, adding
the risk of physical danger. I would rather see children hanging out
beside The Beer Store asking for someone to buy them their alcohol.

We have a moral obligation to protect our youth from harm, but we
must be pragmatic in our approach. If we take the stance that
marijuana use can be eradicated, we might as well assume universal
teen abstinence is also possible. Let's take the business away from
the criminals and put it in the hands of the government. Product
regulations ensure safety requirements and financial supervision.
Plus, why should the potheads get off tax-free while most of the
population pays inflated taxes on cigarettes and alcohol -- both far
more fatal drugs?

The legal debate with marijuana has been a useless charade between
the government and the various demands of the population. Ottawa has
considered legalizing small amounts, targeting traffickers and
grow-ops and creating mandatory sentences for those who are caught.
Allowing personal use but targeting the providers is an oxymoron.
Why not take over the whole industry, reap the benefits, isolate the
criminals and force them to find real jobs?

Legalization experiments in other countries have yielded positive
results in lowering usage rates. Lower usage rates would decrease
the strain on our courts and prisons, allowing for a full crackdown
on illegal traffickers. Legalization would drive illegal
producers out of business, requiring fewer funds to battle
the remnants of the underground economy. Today's producers could
never match the productive abilities of big business, and contraband
would go the same route as illegal alcohol sales.

Even though statistics show marijuana is less harmful than alcohol
and cigarettes, we sell and profit from both products. Neo-cons and
hippies have different reasons, but many are in agreement. It is
time for a change. Organized criminals have had too much
privilege for too long. They put our youth in danger and
use marijuana cash for a range of crimes. Let's run them out of
business and tax the potheads. They can subsidize the rest of us and
make real contributions to our struggling economy. It's time they
got jobs and paid taxes like the rest of Canadians.