One thing which anti-cannabis types often put forth as a counter point to the tax element of legalising cannabis is “but, if it were legal nobody would buy it, they’d grow it themselves, so there’d be no tax money.” I think this is silly.
1) A lot of things are legal. Chairs, pens and Coca-Cola are all legal. Do you make your own? Alcohol is legal and highly taxed. Do you make your own? No, you buy it because it’s easier and more convenient. Growing vegetables is legal and cheaper than buying them, but few people grow everything they eat.
2) Remember, cannabis would be cheaper if legal. Most people hear the word ‘tax’ and assume it would increase the cost of what they pay now. But, they forget that huge margins are currently added onto the price of cannabis as it tends to go through many chains of selling, rather than just a few, and it’s illegal, so they can charge what they want. Make it legal and that huge profit margin goes down.
So. Yeah. Of course some people would grow it and the government wouldn’t get any tax but most people aren’t going to go to the trouble of setting up lamps and everything else when they can just buy it in their newsagent.