DENVER — Governor Bill Ritter will use $9 million in fees from medical marijuana registrations to help pay the $60 million budget shortfall that the state is currently facing. The state predicts that there will be over 150,000 applicants for medical marijuana cards this year. That is an increase of over 100,000 from last year. At $90 per medical marijuana card, the state’s coffers stand to gain $13.5 million this year.
Supporters of both medical marijuana legislation and general legalization legislation across the nation have used the economy and the revenue that it could generate as a selling point for their cause. Colorado is helping them justify that claim.
According to a research study by Dr. Jeffery Miron, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, marijuana legalization would yield $6.3 billion in tax revenue.
That figure is just for tax savings, it does not include the savings from not having to enforcing current laws, nor the cost of incarcerating those Americans who have violated those laws. It also does not include the jobs that would be created by a legal marijuana industry, or the revenue it would create for other industries, such as agricultural products, shipping, etc.
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