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Comment by aikah | Hacker News Reader

> “It’s simple,” she says. “A high tax rate drives black market growth. It’s an incentive for risky behavior.”"

I disagree, as a smoker , I'd prefer buying the legit stuff somewhere safe rather than going into a dangerous neighbourhood to get a 33 percent rebate on a product with questionable quality. the premium is worth paying for my safety. And at least i'm not financing some gangs that will later be raiding my house or mugging my friends. I just want to get my shit legally. How many adults buy their booze illegaly today? none.

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I'm guessing that $7 isn't a big deal to you, and that you don't ever chose between legal drugs, or food and illegal drugs. The person you're quoting is specifically talking about poor people. Allowing those people to grow and sell cannabis, rather than forcing them to buy it from expensive state shops, would probably be a good thing all round. It might help reduce the amazing levels of violence in Mexico.

> How many adults buy their booze illegaly today? none.

What do you mean? "How many people make, sell or buy 'moonshine'?" - probably very very few people. (a quick search shows this: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91768)

But if you mean "How many people are arrested for buying alcohol in one country (or state) and transporting it across a border?" - well, I don't know but searches turn up results to show that it does happen. http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/InTheNews/Etc/1077647092.htm... http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/InTheNews/Etc/20070112112826... etc etc

I'm guessing that more people are arrested for illegal spirits in Alabama ($18.23 tax per gallon) than in Colorado ($2.28 tax per gallon) http://taxfoundation.org/article/state-sales-gasoline-cigare...

Honest question: in tobacco growing regions, people would be able to grow tobacco plants in their backyards and thus be able to produce "moonshine tobacco", bypassing the high taxation of tobacco. Is this a thing? I've only ever seen commercially produced tobacco smuggled from a lower tax jurisdiction, but I live far from tobacco growing regions.

That is an interesting question. A quick search shows a few websites saying that it's legal (in the US) and trying to sell seeds for tobacco.

I guess it's only when you start distributing the product that people get involved.

Isn't it similar to fry-oil? If the owner pays for it to be disposed of that's one thing, but if the owner sells it off for someone to use in their car then someone wants tax?

Presumably, the legal product will drive down the price of black market product. If the only reason to buy it illegally is price, then there better be a significant discount.

Putting pressure on the dealers could lead to nasty shit happening (diversification into other products and services, or hostile competition) in the mid term.

> If the only reason to buy it illegally is price, then there better be a significant discount.

Yes, in the GP quote the discount is 30%.

> Putting pressure on the dealers could lead to nasty shit happening (diversification into other products and services, or hostile competition) in the mid term.

Yes. This was a problem with limited decriminalisation experiments with parts of London (UK) - criminal gangs flooded regions where cannabis was decriminalised; and the rest of the chain of production and distribution was still illegal so minor decriminalisation did not stop people being trafficked into the UK and forced to grow cannabis.

>How many adults buy their booze illegaly today? none

What about adults between the ages of 18 and 21?

18 to 21 year olds are likely to pay far more than market prices. They are not likely to purchase homemade liquor when getting an adult to buy for you is trivial.

>How many adults buy their booze illegaly today? none

Its a lot more than none. You can't buy good traditional local corn whiskey legally, and quite a premium is paid.

The black market isn't all stabbings ... certainly in CA, it isn't. I make good money and I wouldn't think twice about going to the black market for my medicine if they had crazy tax like that here. I mean, I (and many other people) already won't shop at places that don't roll sales tax into their prices.

Do you buy your alcohol on the black market?

Once the legal market for marijuana matures, why should it be any different?

Alcohol isn't my fucking medicine, alcohol is a lot cheaper, I seldom buy alcohol, there is no black market for alcohol because alcohol is a lot cheaper, the means of producing cannabis and alcohol differ starkly, alcohol abuse can have serious health effects, ..

What a lazy hypothetical. And very disrespectful.

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