Pot Prices Could Drop 90 Percent

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Pot Prices Could Drop 90 Percent

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/politics/Pot-Prices-Could-Drop-90-Percent-jw-97981334.html

Low prices and legal operations could cut out drug cartels

By JACKSON WEST
Jul 7, 2010

Decriminalizing the marijuana trade in California could lead to a
nationwide drop in prices while use could potentially double,
returning to levels from the 1970s, according to the hippies at the
RAND Corporation.

Economies for sale and the risk costs associated with production
could drive the price down as much as 90 percent, and exports from
the state's largest cash crop could deliver those savings nationwide.

The good news is that it would essentially price drug smugglers out
of the market, and make it unprofitable for unlicensed grows on
public land, which contributes to deforestation in the state.

Proposition 19, the Tax Cannabis Act, would decriminalize production
and use of marijuana in the state if voters approve the ballot
measure in November.

Additionally, a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San
Francisco, would similarly decriminalize and tax the drug.

The decriminalization would also decrease costs to the state of
enforcing existing laws by up to $300 million, according to RAND.

The NAACP has come out in support of decriminalization, arguing that
existing laws unfairly discriminate against African Americans.

That position has been attacked by the International Faith-Based
Coalition, which represents predominantly black churches, which has
called for the resignation of NAACP President Alice Huffman.

However, a survey of 500 California voters conducted in April by
Survey USA showed that 67 percent of African American respondents
supported legalization, the largest percentage among ethnic
groups. Only among Hispanic voters did the majority oppose legalization.

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