It appears after one year of legal marijuana sales, Washington State has generated an eye-popping $70 million in tax revenues:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/06/washington-marijuana-taxes-70-million_n_7737722.html

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ve never so much as taken one sampling of any “illicit” substance.  I tried smoking cigarettes when I was young and stupid and thought it looked cool but didn’t find it worth pursuing (thank the Gods!).

In High School and College I certainly had illicit drugs within my reach, including marijuana, but I never once was tempted to use them nor cared to.  Even today I’m so damn “straight” that I don’t even drink alcoholic beverages.

And yet I fully support legalizing drugs.

No, I certainly don’t want my daughters or relatives exposed to them or, even worse, hooked on them.  However, drug use is something that in my opinion has always existed and always will, and like Prohibition in the 1920’s, fighting its use only criminalizes and jails people while allowing shady characters to make a ton of money off it.

So why not do like Washington State and, at the very least, legalize marijuana and then tax its sale?  Rather than police action, the tax revenue could at the very least be better spent on education and treatment.

It would appear that the first year of legalization in Washington state has certainly created a tax boon.  As Tom Angell, chairman of the advocacy group Marijuana Majority stated in the article:

…these are real dollars that can now be spent on things like schools, healthcare and road repair instead of going straight into the pockets of the drug dealers who controlled the marijuana market prior to legalization

It’s that last part that I think is the key and perhaps the ultimate solution to society’s many problems with illicit drugs.