Buzzby

Rabbitt: Massachusetts Marijuana revenues a bust
Bill Rabbitt | Woburn Advocate | 11/17/2004

In these last few weeks before the Commonwealth releases its new audited annual report (always late in election years) that well-worn copy of last season's compilation gets a severe going-over for any tidbits that might have earlier been missed. It is kind of like the scrutiny the bathroom copy of Sports Illustrated or Newsweek goes through a day or two before the new edition comes out - articles that couldn't catch any attention on Day 1 are read with rapt awe by Day 6. (A perfect example would be finding yourself reading this column on a Wednesday.)

So it was with some sense of satisfaction that I was able to discover the Massachusetts Department of Revenue Annual Report of 2003 had at least one more tale to tell.

[Snip!]

And just when you think they've thought of everything possible to tax, you come across a line called "Marijuana Tax": $3.50 per gram. They even have a stamp, which must be purchased from the "Commissioner," with "payment due immediately by acquisition or possession in Massachusetts by Dealer."

I don't know what the "Massachusetts Marijuana Commissioner" makes, but I'm sure he's a qualified fellow with an accurate set of scales and a keen eye for consumer fraud.

I missed last summer's Jimmy Buffet concert, but I can just imagine the boost it must have been for our state's economy. Forget the tax they charged on the phone call you made to purchase the ticket, and the "entertainment tax" they charged on the ticket itself. Don't fret the gasoline tax you paid to fuel the car you originally paid a sales tax on, then the yearly excise tax they take for the pleasure of watching it get older each year. Never mind the two dollar "Convention Center Financing Act" parking fee tax, or the 5 percent food tax on that "Cheeseburger in Paradise" you bought before the show. Parrot-head hats or inflatable sharks? Five percent sales tax, of course. No, all those revenues must have paled in comparison to the windfall Massachusetts realized from the pot commissioner's office that night...

How much you ask? Well, you won't find a figure in the annual report.

But the answer, my friend, was blowin' in the wind - and at $3.50 per gram, the commish must have been smiling all the way to Margaritaville...

Bill Rabbitt is a Woburn resident and columnist for the Advocate.

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