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Weaponized_Puddle t1_j7hz4a2 wrote

Reply to comment by misterferguson in The Mayor Says He’s Cracking Down on Unlicensed Weed Sales. His Task Force Says Otherwise. by drpvn

If a business the size of modern cannabis companies can’t compete with the black market because of laws, it reveals how ridiculous these laws are.

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misterferguson t1_j7hzmns wrote

Maybe you’re not one of these people, but I’m old enough to remember everyone in this sub (rightfully) hoping for a day when substances like cannabis could be sold, regulated and taxed.

If you’re too obtuse to see that any business that dodges taxes has an unfair advantage over its competitors, I don’t know what to tell you.

This is to say nothing of the lost tax revenue that could go to, well, helping people in our society with all the social programs that seem so venerated in this sub.

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Weaponized_Puddle t1_j7i08fp wrote

There’s a tax on liquor in our city, but I’ve literally never heard of a liquor black market. Why can’t they just regulate it like liquor?

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misterferguson t1_j7i0iok wrote

Am I supposed to disagree with this?

The answer is: if storefronts started popping up all over the city where people were selling liquor without a license, they’d get shut down.

My original comment was disagreeing with someone who seems to think that that sort of enforcement would be unjust because “fuck big liquor” or whatever.

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Weaponized_Puddle t1_j7i1d50 wrote

I disagree, I think the liquor tax being so small and unnoticeable is the reason a big black market for liquor exists.

I also disagree that our government is competent to shut down these theoretical stores if they existed in the same vein as the weed stores.

The whole illegal weed store situation could simply be solved by less government regulation on weed. Then people would be buying through the channels that it would actually be taxed through.

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misterferguson t1_j7i1nsg wrote

This doesn’t line up with my personal experience. In my neighborhood, two of the places that sell weed (illegally) are also the spots where everyone buys Virginia cigarettes and loosies. They’re just in the business of dodging taxes. But agree to disagree.

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