High Tax States

Potential tax rates and revenues have been a prominent theme in discussions about legalizing marijuana. State agencies have produced fiscal impact analyses—some featuring fairly large projected revenue numbers—to inform voters about proposed laws and ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana. Most discussion has focused on revenue estimation, analysis of likely post-legalization prices compared to current illicit prices, and the questions of evasion through "gray" and "black" markets. This Article seeks to broaden the revenue discussion about marijuana legalization with respect to policy goals, types of taxes, and components of revenue.