[1]By Taxpayer Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com [2]
The future of Oregon marijuana could be caught up in the history of Oregon’s over-taxation of tobacco. Tobacco taxes were just increased in Oregon just barely over a year ago & now we are witnessing a flood of new tobacco & vaping taxes (Hb 2066, Hb 2074, Hb 2134, Hb 2160, Hb 2162, Hb 2163, Hb 2166, Hb 2555, SB 14). Right after the passage of the marijuana legalization Measure 91 there were over 50 cities that considered a local marijuana tax. Even before there was even a ballot measure written there were lawmakers considering a tax medical marijuana.
When lawmakers can’t ban the legal products that people buy they then try to force their will against consumers by taxing the product to death. When they can’t tax it to death tehy will then try to regulate it to death. This is why the tax lobby openly admits in public hearings that they don’t care about the vanishing revenue of product taxes from overtaxing. Marijuana advocates need to pay attention to this tax debate. You can see how politicians are now aiming to tax e-cigarettes and vaping products even though they do not cause lung cancer and are immensely helpful to those wishing to kick their habits. The positive benefit of a certain product does not matter to tax hungry politicians who are bent on death-by-taxation.
Another form of this can be seen as many cities nationwide have been looking at soda taxes. Then came along the Governor of New York who skipped the taxes altogether and went straight to an outright soda size ban. This is death-by-regulation. Taxes & regulation should not be used as political weapons against consumers who legal buy them.