Creampop said:
there is no sense in arguing with you, the point is, it would be money coming in that wasn't coming in before sheeesh why do you take everything so flipping literal...
You made the point - not me - that the additional income to the states would help pay down the debt. That's a fairly literal statement. And I simply pointed out that, no, it will NOT pay down the debt, or even a tiny fraction of it, because it's a completely insignificant number. Having money trickle in at the rate of a few billion per year will never pay down the debt, because the debt will continue to grow if SPENDING is not curtailed.
Any state which is trying to legalize marijuana under the guise of "it will help pay down the debt", is doing so dishonestly. Furthermore, with legalization, the states won't get ANY money because people will be able to grow their own and sell to each other.
The so-called "legalizing" in Washington state is anything but legalizing. The only thing that changed is that they now established a system of state-controlled marijuana growers, processors, and stores where adults can buy their dope (up to an ounce only). In other words, the state of Washington is now your dope dealer. That's why it's nothing but a sham. It was just a quick tax-grab from a liberal state that ranks in the top 10 of being the most in debt.