When Connecticut’s most recent attempt to legalize recreational cannabis was cut short by a state house General Assembly in April, Democratic lawmakers insisted that the fight for legal weed in the northeast must continue.
According to the Connecticut Mirror, those same Democratic legislators are expected to introduce a new budget proposal that includes cannabis legalization as a part of an effort to alleviate the state’s projected $5 billion financial deficit.
And while even creative estimates don’t put the state’s legal weed profits anywhere close to what is needed, they do project that tax revenue could bring Connecticut $60 million next year and $180 million by the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year – not exactly chump change.
The Democratic proposal would excise a 25% sales tax on cannabis, and even by the state’s most conservative estimate would put over a million dollars into the state coffer by 2019.
Cannabis legalization is often suggested for states facing seemingly insurmountable budget woes, but recreational legalization has yet to be implemented in the United States by any process other than popular vote.
