* From the Illinois Family Action “About” page…
Illinois Family Action seeks to fortify the traditional foundations of civil society through efforts to educate, inform and influence elected officials in support of the country’s historic ideals of equality under the law, and the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness on which the nation was founded.
I’m all for that.
* Kathy Valente at Illinois Family Action…
Illinois State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) has been an outspoken proponent for legalizing high-potency marijuana and he wants a “seat at the table” when Gov.-elect JB Pritzker and other Chicago Democrats move the bill in 2019.
Take ACTION: Barickman will be the featured speaker Dec. 4 at the McLean County Chamber of Commerce’s BN The Know event in Bloomington, titled “Recreational Marijuana and the Business Community.” You can register to attend HERE. […]
The chart below is from a new report released this month put out by the Centennial Institute titled Economic and Social Costs of Legalized Marijuana. It is the first of its kind to calculate the negative costs associated with legalization. For every dollar spend on legalization, it’s costing Colorado residents $4.50. They claim this is a low estimation. Can Illinois afford more bad public policy that will cost the taxpayers in the end? […]
Please plan to attend this event and bring up this timely report. Point all in attendance to the www.NoWeedIllinois web site to get the facts for themselves.
Hey, what happened to liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
Also, Kathy Valente happens to be the author of every, single article at NoWeedIllinois.
* A story in Reason about the Centennial Institute “study”…
A new report from Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute claims that “for every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spent approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of [marijuana] legalization.” That factoid is already showing up in arguments against legalization, even though it is plainly fallacious.
Centennial Institute Director Jeff Hunt, who is also the university’s vice president of public policy, takes the approach favored by anti-pot polemicists, conflating correlation with causation and counting every purported cost to which a number can be attached, no matter how implausibly, while ignoring every benefit except for tax revenue and the increased value of Colorado homes since legalization (which suggests the state has not turned into the drug-addled dystopia predicted by prohibitionists).
Most glaringly, as Paul Danish notes in the Boulder Weekly, Hunt et al. make no attempt to isolate the impact of legalization, which is supposed to be the subject of the report. Instead they tote up supposedly marijuana-related costs without regard to whether they were caused by the change in policy the authors claim to be analyzing.
* Yep. Thoroughly debunked…
The study, which was carried out for the Institute by a research firm named QREM, is a dog’s dinner of statistical scraps that run the gamut from misleading to dishonest, irrelevant and embarrassing.
The assertion that “for every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spend approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of legalization” is the first sentence of the study’s executive summary.
In order to arrive at this conclusion, the study’s authors had to tote up all the supposed costs of legalization they could think of, including some that are pretty silly. Like the $54.8 million cost of stoners’ “physical inactivity” due to marijuana turning them into couch potatoes.
Other “costs” are not so silly, but are much more dishonest. Like the alleged $423.4 million in lost income over a lifetime of the kids who dropped out of high school in 2017 supposedly due to their marijuana use. The latter figure is the single largest “cost” in the study’s laundry list. […]
The figures, even if accurate, represent the economic and social costs of marijuana use in 2017. But the study’s supposed purpose is to identify the economic and social costs attributable to marijuana legalization, which are different than the overall costs (real, imaginary or theoretical) of marijuana use generally.
Marijuana use in Colorado didn’t begin when pot became legally available at the beginning of 2014. Coloradans used marijuana illegally for decades before then, and it’s reasonable to assume that if pot was producing stoner sloths and stoner school dropouts in 2017, it was also producing them prior to legalization.
And that means that the only economic and social costs that can be attributed to legalization are those that occurred incrementally after marijuana became commercially available at the beginning of 2014.
But in most cases the Institute’s study doesn’t include cost estimates for the years prior to the beginning of legal sales, so it’s not possible to calculate what costs, if any, are attributable to legalization.
- OneMan - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:45 pm:
You hear about the hemp powered car?
It only goes 20 miles an hour but after 20 minutes you don’t really care…
- Demoralized - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:45 pm:
==in support of the country’s historic ideals of equality under the law, and the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness==
If they are like their sister organization, the Illinois Family Institute, that’s not exactly how I would describe them.
- JoanP - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:47 pm:
Sounds like they have been smoking that which they oppose.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:49 pm:
–Illinois Family Action seeks to fortify the traditional foundations of civil society…–
I don’t think peddling lies and being Nanny Buttinsky up in other people’s private business advances the stated goal.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:50 pm:
Junk Christianity
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:51 pm:
You can add Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area to that list of purveyors of junk science.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2015/09/17/supposedly-neutral-federal-report-stacks-the-deck-against-marijuana-legalization/
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:52 pm:
“Like the $54.8 million cost of stoners’ “physical inactivity” due to marijuana turning them into couch potatoes.”
Hey, man, can you go to the fridge and get me some pizza slices? I’m all crumbled out on the couch.
What a ridiculous argument. Millions of non stoners are overweight and out of shape. I know stoners who work out.
- anon2 - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:53 pm:
This bogus study is in the reefer madness tradition, greatly distorting the truth. Unfortunately, pendulums tend to swing back the other way. The risk today is not that most Americans will believe all the old reefer madness myths about cannabis. Instead, the risk is they will go to the other extreme, and conclude that cannabis is harmless. The truth is not on either extreme.
- OneMan - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:54 pm:
== Like the $54.8 million cost of stoners’ “physical inactivity” due to marijuana turning them into couch potatoes. ==
Heck the cost of video games on the Senior Class at my kid’s HS has to be that large then.
- A Jack - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 12:59 pm:
Okay, but what about the economic benefit from those who smoked pot in high school and went on to earn upper middle class wages? Anyway, its a silly example since legalization will hopefully reduce high school use by making it less accessible to those under 21.
- Truthteller - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:00 pm:
Surprise the ’study” didn’t state pot will cause white women to want to have sex with minorities. About the only thing they left out…oh the demon weed
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:03 pm:
Only semi related to this post but between this and his vote for gay marriage a few years ago, is Barickman the only one on his side who seems to be aware of the opinions of younger voters?
- Amalia - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:04 pm:
I once had a cartoon that was of a cow and the headline Bossy Busted. 100% of all marijuana users started with milk.
junk science. meanwhile, the shelves are selling absinthe, super proofed alcohol, etc. and barely a peep from them. I guess when these folks start getting edibles or vape cartridges served at parties with cheese and crackers they will get off their (un) high horse.
- Johnnie F. - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:04 pm:
I don’t know. Pot can also increase productivity; the first thing I do after smoking is fold all baskets of clean clothes. It’s just so much more interesting.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:06 pm:
“In this Christmas season, stop being Nanny Buttinsky up in other people’s private business.”
A ready made Christmas card. Sign it and send it.
- A 400lb. Guy on a bed - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:07 pm:
Wasn’t the same argument used against riverboat gambling?
- KTM350 - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:10 pm:
God made weed, he wants us to use it.
Mind if I do a jay?
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:10 pm:
NoWeedIL = actual fake news.
- A Jack - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:11 pm:
What about that kid who smoked pot in high school who went on to become President?
- Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:24 pm:
Man, there’s always someone tryin to harsh my buzz.
- Al - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:24 pm:
In the recent Republican governor primary seven or eight candidates ran, six or seven wanted to repeal legalization. The single candidate who was sane and not a hysterical idiot won. As the Seattle Times said a few years ago in a banner headline the era of prohibition is over.
- ChrisB - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:24 pm:
Looks like they forgot to allocate the windfall when the Colorado Pension System hedged their bets and bought a lot of Frito-Lay stock. Pearl prices, it seems, are at an all time high as well.
That’s gotta offset, like, $2 of that cost per calculation right there, man.
- Techie - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:25 pm:
“What about that kid who smoked pot in high school who went on to become President?”
Or the kid who smoked pot and was a multi-gold medal winning swimmer? It’s almost like weed has nothing to do with being successful; like it’s just something fun people can choose to do or not.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:28 pm:
–the economic benefit from those who smoked pot in high school and went on to earn upper middle class wages? –
How about smoking pot consistently since high school, and still earning those upper middle class wages?
I suppose all that pot has kept me beat down in the upper middle class, and prevented me from becoming as wealthy as rauner?
Wait, that almost seems to be an argument for legalization… what was I talking about again?
- A - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:29 pm:
Illinois “Family” Action is nothing more than a bunch of homophobic zealots parading around under the guise of promoting a “moral home.”
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:31 pm:
==You can add Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area to that list of purveyors of junk science==
No you can’t.
Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
It is a part of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) since 1996. Over 150 local, state and federal agencies contribute to this Federal organization.
That article is the opinion of one journalist. The RMHIDTA represents the facts from thousands in their respected fields.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:33 pm:
===RMHIDTA represents the facts===
LOL
They’re drug warriors, for crying out loud.
From your own link…
The Rocky Mountain HIDTA mission is to support the national drug control strategy of reducing drug use. Specifically, the Rocky Mountain HIDTA’s ultimate mission is to facilitate cooperation and coordination among federal, state and local drug enforcement efforts to enhance combating the drug trafficking problem locally, regionally and nationally. This mission is accomplished through intelligence-driven joint multi-agency collocated drug task forces sharing information and working cooperatively with other drug enforcement initiatives including interdiction. The aim is to:
Reduce drug availability by eliminating or disrupting drug trafficking organizations.
Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement organizations in their efforts within HIDTA.
- Dance Band on the Titanic - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:37 pm:
Last year, if you were a devout IFA and/or IFI follower, you believed the three biggest threats to family values were legal marijuana, NFL players taking a knee and LGBTQ students having rights.
A alleged child molester running for Senate in order to spread his “values” across our nation? Nothing to worry about there.
- Skeptic - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:42 pm:
“actual fake news.”
Accept no imitations.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:42 pm:
-That article is the opinion of one journalist.-
Did you read the article? One journalist who raises some good points.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 1:48 pm:
There is room at the table to include those agencies and organizations with valuable facts regarding this issue.
Reducing drug use is a good thing, regardless of legalization.
Shutting down the black market is a good thing in any industry.
- goose-gander questions - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:00 pm:
What’s the age restriction?
Does it require cancer carcinogen warnings?
- Henry Francis - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:02 pm:
==Illinois State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) has been an outspoken proponent for legalizing high-potency marijuana==
I didn’t see Barickman advocate for “high-potency” MJ.
Is “high potency” MJ so potent it will make Pinto go schizo?
Is “high potency” MJ the equivalent of “late-term” abortion for opponents?
- Nearly Normal - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:06 pm:
Consider the source. Colorado Christian University no doubt has an agenda to counter marijuana use in that state. It started out as the Denver Bible Institute and is very conservative.
- Illinois Resident - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:12 pm:
In many respects, we give these prohibitionists too much coverage. 66% of people in our state want marijuana legalized. 62% of people in the united states want marijuana legalized. It is over. They have lost.
- Illinois Resident - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:16 pm:
10 states currently have legal recreational cannabis. In the next 6 months, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Connecticut & Rhode Island have a strong possibility of legalizing. Others coming in 2020. It is over.
- S of I-70 - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:21 pm:
Is legalizing recreational weed the most important thing in Illinois State Government?
Seems like there is a story about it on here daily.
It didn’t realize it was the number one issue to so many people.
- SSL - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:22 pm:
Nobody is going to change their mind because of these anti drug people. Alcohol is far more damaging and addictive, but the country is in love with booze and it isn’t going anywhere. Add pot to the list of vices people are glad to pay a tax to enjoy and move on to more difficult issues.
- Gruntled University Employee - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:25 pm:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’d like to congratulate Drugs on winning the war on drugs.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:27 pm:
===Seems like there is a story about it on here daily. ===
That’s clearly not the case, but you can always just go somewhere else if it offends you or scroll down to other stories.
And if you think I’m gonna just stand by while an Illinois group tries to spread false propaganda on an important Illinois issue, you’re out of your mind.
- Terry Salad - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:31 pm:
No “study” can replicate the results of decades of marijuana use observation that has occurred in this nation since the 1960’s — even while it was illegal. Most people who want to smoke weed do so regardless of its legal status. And many do it often. Any ill effects would be quite apparent now. The only concern about legal weed that I have is the fact that psychiatrists generally understand that frequent marijuana use by adolescents is associated with mental illness, particularly motivational disorders. This is well-studied and well-established. Keep legal weed for age 21 and over. Just like alcohol.
- @misterjayem - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:32 pm:
“Why do you think they call it dope?”
“Dude, nobody calls it dope.”
“Well… well, they should.”
– MrJM
- DarkDante - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:36 pm:
==Is legalizing recreational weed the most important thing in Illinois State Government?==
This is the one definite revenue solution (other than expanded gaming) that Gov-Elect Pritzker has committed to seeing done in the next year, and the state has a ~$1.2B deficit that is set to grow (no pun intended) in future years. At the same time, there’s a bit of a horse race angle here, as both Michigan and Illinois are moving to legalize recreational, and there is at least the perception that the first mover will enjoy a banner tourist traffic. Put another way, we need cash, and recreational is the biggest way our future Governor is proposing to get that money.
- anon2 - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:39 pm:
== high-potency ==
States could cap the THC content. States regulate alcohol beverage concentrations in various ways, including different tax levels for products of different strength. In most states, for a beverage to be marketed as beer, its alcohol content must fall within a specified range. Similarly, if wine is distilled to the point that its alcohol content rises too high, some states require it be sold and taxed as spirits.
- Amalia - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:42 pm:
ok, now I’m just going over and over Cheech and Chong bits, and singing “don’t bogart that joint my friend,” ……waiting for next year, or the year after that.
- DuPage - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:49 pm:
A concern I have is if someone smokes too much and then has difficulty driving a car. Is there any way to know how much is too much to drive?
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:52 pm:
===high-potency marijuana===
It’s mostly Maui Waui man, but it’s got some Labrador in it.
- Grandson of Man - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 2:54 pm:
Potency cap is a terrible idea, in my opinion. That would drive people to the black market. It’s weed, man, not hard liquor.
I think I read about misleading advertising in the other direction, where dispensaries in some state advertised potency estimates or ranges, meaning people thought they were buying something as strong as advertised but it could have been weaker. I would like to see honest labeling of potency/THC (if that’s possible) and to be able to buy the good stuff.
- S of I-70 - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 3:02 pm:
I’m not offended.
Just think it is amusing how important recreational pot is to so many people.
Again, I am grateful for this blog. Best place to get IL government news IMO.
- Illinois Resident - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 3:07 pm:
Anon2- maybe we should get rid of whiskey, vodka, tequila, scotch, etc because they are high proof. Are you an advocate for that? High thc cannabis only means that you can consume less for desired effect. Plus you cannot fatally overdose on cannabis.
- Chippy Dave - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 3:23 pm:
Did the study account for the increase in sales tax revenue that will occur due to increased sales of Ding Dongs and Ho Hos?
- Frank Manzo IV - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 3:23 pm:
Rich:
I just read the study and have a few thoughts in addition to what was said in the critiques above.
1. The authors get costs and benefits wrong on many occasions. Take marijuana arrests, for example. The authors report that marijuana-related arrests dropped from 11,361 in 2012 to 5,154 in 2017. Using an ACLU cost per arrest figure, they report that Colorado spent $14.8 million on marijuana-related arrests in 2012 and $7.2 million in 2017. But they use that $7.2 million figure in their cost summary when instead it should be listed as a net $7.6 million benefit (from taxpayer savings).
2. A true cost-benefit analysis would include the impact on economic activity, or GDP, on the benefits side of the equation. They ONLY use tax revenue on the benefit side, which is preposterous. That would be like saying no one should ever drive to work because the costs of accidents, pollution, and congestion are more than the cost of (only) gas taxes paid at the pump. Sure, but by going to work we earn incomes and boost GDP and that needs to be factored in, not just taxes.
3. And they fail to include local tax revenue, income taxes generated by workers newly employed in the industry, reduced incarceration costs, reduced policing costs, and the impact of public investments (like increased school construction, which creates jobs) that accrued from the increased tax revenue.
No economist or academic journal would consider this report credible.
- frisbee - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 3:27 pm:
==Is legalizing recreational weed the most important thing in Illinois State Government?==
No but it is an industry that will likely bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, create tens of thousands of jobs depending on how much the state regulates it and add to the tourism revenue of this state. Plus it corrects what will most likely be viewed as another failed prohibition in the history books.
Sure addressing the bill backlog and pension reform are the perennial issues of IL but re-legalizing the wacky tobacky is something that has been approaching a critical mass for a LONG time.
- JDuc - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 4:31 pm:
Gateway mind altering drug, period. Used as a crutch similar to alcohol.
- Illinois Resident - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 4:40 pm:
JDuc - How does it feel to be in the minority on this position? How does it feel to know that cannabis legalization in Illinois is inevitable? Now that people have google and smartphones, reefer madness does not work anymore.
- Illinois Resident - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 4:46 pm:
S of I 70 - I find it amusing that you find it amusing that legal recreational cannabis (including growing rights) is important to citizens in our state. When you add up tax revenue, jobs, tourism, industry, criminal justice reform, and personal freedom, it is a big deal and rightfully so. People have been fighting their whole lives trying to change these archaic laws.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 4:51 pm:
==Shutting down the black market is a good thing in any industry.==
Of course it is. But that’s not what you’ve advocated. You don’t want marijuana legal. Period. You seem to have been negatively impacted by it at some point given the fervor with which you oppose it. If that is the case I’m sorry. That being said, it’s likely going to be legal. You don’t have to use it. I suggest you accept the reality and move on.
- A Jack - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 5:34 pm:
JDoc, you are misinformed. Marijuana is not a gateway. Your gateway is your unscrupulous black market dealers.
Someone may go to a black market dealer looking for pot, but the dealer is all out and may offer crack instead. You break that chain if you have legal licensed stores that aren’t going to risk their license by dealing witn an illegal product.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 5:52 pm:
==. You don’t want marijuana legal. Period. ==
Nope.
You’re wrong.
I don’t want us to go through what Colorado has gone through. It’s not a win-win.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 5:53 pm:
Pot is not a gateway drug.
That’s alcohol.
- @misterjayem - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 5:57 pm:
“Gateway mind altering drug, period.”
Period?
Golly, I guess it must be true.
– MrJM
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:09 pm:
===Gateway mind altering drug, period===
The 1980s called, they want their rhetoric back.
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:30 pm:
==What about that kid who smoked pot in high school who went on to become President?
Which one?
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:36 pm:
===Is legalizing recreational weed the most important thing in Illinois State Government?
Arguably, yes. The impact on arrests and convictions based on marijuana are both a problem for the individuals and a waste of valuable law enforcement resources.
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:38 pm:
===Shutting down the black market is a good thing in any industry.
I have a great idea of how to do that….
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:41 pm:
===Gateway mind altering drug, period. Used as a crutch similar to alcohol.
Or just used as a way to relax at the end of the day. Seriously–is everyone who had a few beers or glasses of wine some moral degenerate in your universe?
If so, one might wonder why you would ever read Rich’s website as he does enjoy a few from time to time.
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:43 pm:
===There is room at the table to include those agencies and organizations with valuable facts regarding this issue.
What valuable facts are we missing my not including this particular agency at the ‘table?’
- ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:46 pm:
===Is there any way to know how much is too much to drive?
There are a number of tests in development, but there are also tests of impairment that can work in the meantime.
The other thing I would mention is that with legalization, smoking becomes a far less common form of ingestion.
- Way Way Down Here - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 6:52 pm:
I can’t believe this is still being debated. Granted, I come in peace from the seventies, but holy moly, legalize it, tax it, and let’s move on.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 7:38 pm:
–Is legalizing recreational weed the most important thing in Illinois State Government? –
No. How’s that chewing gum and walking at the same time thing working out for you? Getting better?
–Seems like there is a story about it on here daily. –
Didn’t notice. I’ve been busy yelling at some very sinister clouds hovering over my house.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 7:44 pm:
VMan, you still got a live Oxy script? I recall you yammering on about the magic of the opioids over the years, due to those hammies you keep pulling.
How many people died from opioid ODs last year?
How many died from weed ODs?
Nanny, stifle yourself.
- Johnnie F. - Thursday, Dec 6, 18 @ 8:57 pm:
Many people just want to see something meaningful (and certainly positive) happen from our state leadership. It has been too many election cycles since we’ve had that. We really need some problem solving in this state. This seems to be a great opportunity for economic growth and overall quality of life for IL citizens. Please Governor and Legislature, show us you can do this expediently, competently and even with bipartisanship.