
Click here for more opinions
Let’s give medical marijuana a chance - Comments (7) View Comments Melanie Brubaker Mazur - 3/26/2010
I’m not going to delve into the argument of whether smoking marijuana is right or wrong. You’ve probably made up your mind on that. I think Bayfield should lift its medical marijuana moratorium based on purely financial factors. We need tax revenue, and buying and possessing medical marijuana is legal in the state of Colorado. Ignacio’s in the same boat as Bayfield. Our sales tax revenues in both towns depend on two small grocery stores, Lewis True Value Mercantile, and liquor stores. That’s about it. If more businesses want to move in, and they’re providing a legal service that pays sales tax, they should have at it. Throwing up roadblocks while we sit and try to figure out what to do is just going to send that revenue elsewhere. If town trustees and managers can show us where we have an excess of sales tax revenue coming in, I’m all ears. Until then, get out of the way and let the free market do its work.
|