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In Ireland in 2008 we were warned the only two industries that would remain unaffected by the looming recession were the funeral and cigarette manufacturing industry. The two were absolutely stable the entire time almost every other industry brought in less tax revenue/revenue.

Sin taxes can be some of the most stable sources of income as in the case of cigarettes and this is more evident during times of downturn when everything else is being slashed or falling in value. The problem is you need to wait to judge revenue after other states legalise.



> it takes very little willpower to stop using it during times of hardship.

...and yet that's often a great time to smoke a blunt. Fewer side effects than alcohol.


Should we start a HN smokers club?


Death is inevitable. Cigarettes are addictive - there's a physiological impetus to continue smoking if you're addicted. Marijuana is significantly less addictive, and it takes very little willpower to stop using it during times of hardship.


For clarification I wasn't referring to the funeral industry as a "Sin Tax" -- I just included it because it was a quoted industry so we can agree to discard it. My point is "Sin Taxes" in the case of tobacco are extremely stable even if predictably dwindling. Tobacco is universally and legally available. Marijuana isn't as addictive but luxury goods/Sin Taxes have a whole different set of economic laws applying to them that makes them stable and both MJ and tobacco are luxury goods.


It's also pretty trivial for smokers to grow a few marijuana plants if disposable income gets low. There goes that tax revenue. Cigarette tobacco on the other hand requires more processing and growing it for personal consumption generally isn't done.


This fact - that weed is not an industrial crop solely amenable to cultivation by industrial agriculture - is one of two major reasons that weed isn't legal and tobacco is.

The other is that grass makes the citizenry less economically productive.


I use marijuana as a pain killer alternative to opiate based pills. I can not stop using it, I have a chronic pain condition. My consumption exceeds the top 10 of my friends casual use. I don't think marijuana revenue will decline as much as you do.


I would think that your anecdotal evidence wouldn't map to the actual circumstances very well. A strong majority of marijuana users in Colorado are recreational, and they can give it up without any physical consequences like you would face if they had to deal with difficult financial times.


According to [0], $326,716,273.59 sales were made for medical marijuana, $246,810,599.03 sales were made for recreational marijuana. Recreational marijuana is also a little less than 30% more expensive. [1]

I guess that means that more pot is being sold with a medicinal marijuana card than recreational. Or, did you have other numbers?

[0] http://www.thecannabist.co/2014/12/26/pot-sales-taxes-statis...

[1] https://www.coloradopotguide.com/colorado-marijuana-blog/201...


The line between medical and recreational is (or at least was) very fuzzy, though.

Before recreational was legal there were a lot of more or less healthy people getting licenses for silly symptoms, like nausea or difficulty sleeping. There was a very low burden or proof and it was pretty well known that a lot of people were making up problems just to get the license.

I don't know of anybody actually doing it, but it's entirely possible that a lot of the not-so-serious medicinal users are now just keeping the license for price discounts and better availability. It'll be interesting to see those numbers in a few years as the licenses need to be renewed.


Medical marijuana is not subject to any special taxes (aside from normal sales tax on all goods, which is 2.9% across the state + any local sales tax). That amounts to less than $10MM, and it dosn't count towards the tax revenues from Amendment 64, which was the constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana.

It's also worth mentioning that because it is relatively easy to access a medical marijuana card in Colorado, heavy recreational users have an incentive to get a medical card.


Nope, I don't have different numbers. I retract my point in the face of this evidence.


In particular as smoking seems to tie in directly with the stress response. Stress any smoker, and the first thing they want to do is to light one up. And what is more stressful than being "downsized"...


Video games are one of the best investments during bad times as well.


I probably would have killed myself if it wasn't for pot and video games when I was younger.




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