A Colorado measure to impose sales and excise taxes of 25 percent on newly legalized recreational marijuana and earmark the first $40 million in revenue for public schools was approved by voters on Tuesday, Governor John Hickenlooper said.
The move showed a willingness on the part of Colorado voters to tax marijuana for the public benefit even as they roundly defeated a broader tax measure that would have increased state income taxes to raise $1 billion for schools.
Taxing goods with demand that is relatively insenstive to price changes--we call that inelastic demand--as we might expect the demand for marijuana among marijuana users will raise revenue and create a disincentive to smoke marijuana for some (although that disincentive might be small). Taxing income will raise revenue and create a disincentive to work (although that disincentive might be small as well).
