Amendment 64

 The 15 percent wholesale excise tax created by the amendment will not reach the goal of $40 Million for school construction as stipulated in the ballot language approved by voters.  The high water mark for marijuana tax revenue is likely to be in the first few post ‐ legalization years with revenue flattening or declining thereafter.  Marijuana tax revenues may not cover the incremental state expenditures related to legalization.  Marijuana tax revenues will not close Colorado’s structural budget gap.

 In fiscal year 2012, the State of Colorado collected $5.4 million in sales tax on medical marijuana purchases – and also experienced a $5.7 million budget shortfall because of medical marijuana regulation expenses. Much of the required regulation did not happen

In a memo dated March 8, 2013, the Colorado Department of Revenue stated: “It will take additional years of operation to adequately determine the cost of regulating the Colorado Medical Marijuana industry. “We do not currently have the necessary data to project the costs associated with collecting an excise tax on marijuana product transferred to a production facility or retail store, as set forth in Amendment 64. Finally, we do not have data regarding costs associated with collecting any additional tax on marijuana for adults age 21 and older that the legislature may decide to bring to a citizen vote.”

 MMED has reported 19 consecutive months of operational losses  Seed-to-Sale tracking system was never implemented  Improper licensing procedures

 Tobacco is legal and regulated. Its use is also our nation’s No. 1 cause of preventable death. Tobacco use costs our country at least $200 billion annually — which is about 10 times the amount of money our state and federal governments collect from today’s taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

 Alcohol is legal and regulated. Its use is our nation’s No. 3 cause of preventable death, behind diet-related illness. Alcohol use costs our country at least $185 billion annually — which is also roughly 10 times the amount of money our state and federal governments collect from today’s taxes on the substance

Because of uncertainties like those expressed by the Dept of Revenue, the legislature will be asked to consider using the state’s general fund to pay for marijuana regulation for the first four years of the industry’s launch. That means the general fund — which is used to pay the salaries of state workers and for public schools, healthcare and parks — would pay to subsidize the recreational marijuana industry.

 Amendment 64 provides no funding for marijuana regulation, education or treatment unless voters approve an excise tax. until  Even if voters choose to approve an excise tax, the amendment prohibits them from approving a tax greater than 15 percent until  Amendment 64 provides no funding for marijuana regulation, education or treatment unless voters approve an excise tax. until  Even if voters choose to approve an excise tax, the amendment prohibits them from approving a tax greater than 15 percent until 2017.

“No modern nation has ever legalized commercial marijuana production, so there are literally no relevant data to guide estimates of marijuana-production costs after legalization. Amendment 64 goes far beyond the Dutch de facto legalization of small-quantity transactions. In no country is it completely legal to produce, sell and use marijuana irrespective of quantity.” — Rand Corp

 The State of Colorado was not adequately prepared to handle Medical Marijuana appropriately  The Department of Revenue has not had time to institute the proper regulatory framework as the challenges are great with an intensely short amount of time  The fiscal costs are unknown and the social costs have yet to be considered  We do not yet understand the full set of risks to our community and should proceed in a fashion that is protective of our resources