On Taking Marijuana From Legal State (IL) To Illegal State (MO), Don't Need Answer Fast

[kayaker]

@Broomstick

Well, yesterday marijuana became legal in Illinois.

Less than half a day passed before someone from Indiana was caught crossing back into Indiana with marijuana purchased in Illinois. The authorities were not amused.

I can understand the authorities not being amused, considering the tax dollars they aren’t bothering to pull into their coffers.
ETA: yeah, what Dallas Jones said above

[Razncain]

^^^

Quite a few in law enforcement don’t really want this to end though, they profit quite nicely by just concentrating on this aspect, using the assets under the federal forfeiture laws, and having this go directly back into the law enforcement agencies that seized it. Sometimes as much as 80%.

No Drugs, No Crime and Just Pennies for School: How Police Use Civil Asset...

[Broomstick]

@kayaker

I can understand the authorities not being amused, considering the tax dollars they aren’t bothering to pull into their coffers.

I don’t think it’s just tax dollars (although that is a factor). It is still the case that there are people opposed to marijuana on principle, just as some oppose alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, etc., no one wants high drivers on the road, and the fact that the law hasn’t changed on this side of the state line.

You might as well say they targeted the guy I mentioned because he was black. Well, maybe. Or maybe not. Or maybe that and four other reasons.

[Mama_Zappa]

@Hari_Seldon

Maybe relevant, although this happened when I was still living in Philly which I haven’t since 1962. PA liquor tax was considerably higher than NJ’s. There was a liquor store a half mile from a bridge over the Delaware. Not one of the major bridges, but a small one north of the city. So people were coming over from PA to buy liquor there and bring them back which was illegal (see the 21st amendment). So PA sent a police car to note PA plates and radio them to the cops on the other side of the bridge. I don’t think they needed any excuse to stop a car and search in those days. Or maybe the fact that had stopped at a NJ liquor store was considered sufficient. Anyway, this cut seriously into the business of this liquor stare, which really got very little local business and they complained to their local police. They went and arrested the keystone cops for carrying guns without a NJ permit. They could have responded by leaving their guns on the west side of the bridge but they’d have sooner left their pants. I don’t know how this was finally resolved. I suppose they could have been arrested for trespassing on the liquor store parking lot or for loitering on the highway across the road.

Interesting. I’ve heard that for things like alcohol and tobacco, there’s no problem with purchasing personal quantities of those and transporting for your own use, and i think that’s been the case for decades. You’d think they’d have had limited luck prosecuting most of those people unless they bought a whole carload; a bottle or two would hopefully have been overlooked. I’m surprised that they felt they were nabbing enough people to make it worthwhile.

Of course, I’m always amused when we drive between Boston and Maine (did that several times, several summers in a row). Along I-95 through NH you see huge signs touting the state liquor store right off the highway. Which is an attraction because NH either doesn’t have a state sales tax, or the tax is lower than Massachusetts, or something. It’s like they’re deliberately enticing MA residents to avoid taxes. If such behavior (ID 'em in the parking lot, follow 'em back to MA) is allowable I expect it could be quite profitable.

FWIW, we did finally stop at one of those. Great selection of stuff, though we’re not big drinkers so our 2 bottles of liqueur would probably have fallen under any reasonable personal use guidelines.

[dtilque]

The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis released a report about the border effects of marijuana stores. It covers the OR-ID, WA-ID, and OR-WA borders. Well, it looks at other borders too, but they don’t have much border effects. Some highlights:

Furthermore, and in things you cannot make up, Oregon sales per adult along the Idaho border are 420% the statewide average.

Well, of course it is. As to the sales in Huntington (Baker County) and Ontario (Malheur County):

Initially the closest retailers to Idaho were located in Baker County, however that changed last summer. There are now 3 retailers in Ontario (Malheur County) which is right at the border. These new retailers are 30-60 minutes closer each way to any potential customers traveling into Oregon along I-84 than the retailers in Baker County. As one might expect, as these new stores in Malheur County came online, sales plunged in Baker County by around 80%.