/sci/ - Science & Math

'Tax it' argument is retarded

The average acre yield for bud is on the order of 6000lbs/yr, about 16x that of vanilla bean, vanilla sells for about $20-$30/lb and even very high quality beans only sell for around $150/lb.

Given that vanilla is for more labor intensive to grow, requiring things like hand pollination, using vanilla as a rough scale of the costs for licit production should produce very conservative numbers.

Based on high-end vanilla we have a projected licit price of bud of <$10/lb, or about .5%(half of one percent) of the illicit price. If this ratio holds for the entire distribution chain(a conservative estimate given that an illicit market should have higher margins then a licit one) gives a licit retail 1/8 a price of 40¢(for an illicit 1/8 at $80, higher than the average)

Total US consumption is around 2000mt or about or about 550 million eighths, with a projected retail licit price no more than $200 million. Even a tax rate of 400% (about what the Brits tax tobacco) would only generate 800 million a year in tax revenue.