In 2012, one topic was on every school and community’s minds: Amendment 64, the legalization of marijuana. Do you ever think what happened with this legalization since it has passed? This is where Proposition AA, the Marijuana tax, comes into play.
Since marijuana is legal for anyone 21 and up, just like alcohol, the government wants to tax it. The only difference is that the plan being discussed will help our school, and schools all around.
One of Proposition AA’s actions is to build and renew Colorado schools and provide funding for the renewal and construction of public school facilities. The measure is going to have a 15 percent marijuana excise tax that would go toward school construction. “I’d rather see the tax dollars go to funding school education instead of construction” said Bruce Wright, assistant principal.
The amendment will also have a 10 percent sales tax to pay for the retail regulatory structure. This means that the citizens won’t have to put their tax dollars towards marijuana distribution, the buyers and consumers will be taxed, referred from ballotpedia.com
The local governments are saying that separate taxes that would be stacked on top of the statewide tax to cover local costs. All marijuana sales will be subject to the existing 2.9 percent state sales tax. Regulators say that will put the price of marijuana pretax at an average of $12 a gram.
Citizens that are opposed to the tax think that the proposition will be a legal nightmare that will make our highways, workplaces and communities less safe, stated noovertaxarion.org. Legalization can result in additional substance abuse, and the long-term public costs associated with that could exceed the amount of new revenue legalized marijuana might bring in.
If Proposition AA does not pass, the state will need to divert funds from elsewhere to cover enforcement costs. “I think it’s great that money from weed is going toward schools; I don’t see any problems with that,” said senior, Noelle Bergan.
Michael Guglielmi, Staff Reporter