Tony Evers is not the brightest bulb in the basket--not by a long shot. So it's not likely that Evers came up with the idea to legalize weed; it's a play to enhance the Democrat GOTV operation, cooked up by some backroom Democrat operative and fed to Tony in small bites. A Pubbie legislature, even with its few ding-a-lings who think pot is a great source of tax revenue (it is not), will never put a legalize-dope measure on his desk.
But just in case........PowerLine provides a short essay detailing the Problem with Pot. And it begins with narco-terror gangs.
...The gangs of Los Angeles are getting in on the act, according to law enforcement. Two of the area’s largest gangs, Varrio Nuevo Estrada and East LA-13, have opened dispensaries of their own, according to the Los Angeles Times. These shops also sell methamphetamine, heroin and guns, fueling their rivalry....
By the way, these guys do not pay "sales tax," except perhaps on the thousands of rounds of ammo they use every year.
Speaking of tax revenues--the selling point peddled to Government Uber Alles types:
...Unburdened by the onerous taxes and regulations that legal dispensaries in California must contend with, the illicit shops can offer marijuana at much cheaper prices.
This, campaigners say, is a sign that the state’s well-intentioned experiment to legalise cannabis is failing and has created a thriving black market for untested and unregulated products, all while serving as a hotbed for crime.
***
“The illegal market still dominates California, just about everywhere,” Adam Spiker, the co-founder of Southern California Coalition, a cannabis trade association, said....
(All quotations are from the London Times.)
Summarily, the drug gangs are not going to give up and go home because of 'legal' weed shops. The drug gangs will under-sell those places, and will not even fill out the paperwork Government requires (!!!!) This means the 'legal' shops will go BK, of course.
Further, there will be turf wars between drug-gangs, using live ammunition, firebombs, terror, 'n stuff. And of course, they will not be submissively mailing checks for 'sales tax' no matter how many times Tony Evers asks. They'll treat him the same way they treat any other bothersome teacher and it's not likely to be pretty.
But Tony's base? They'll vote for legal weed so they're ready for their classroom the next day.
A friend who frequently talks to Colorado law enforcement tells me that, off the record, they say that there's more illegal weed there now than before, and that usage of the harder drugs is growing fast.
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