the federal government says it wants to keep pot taxes low to fight the black market. that's a necessary but not a sufficient condition. i'm running into more and more medical on the street, and i'm learning that it smells terrible and gives you a headache. as of right now, i wouldn't expect that the government product will compete with the street product because - perhaps counter-intuitively - it seems like the government is spraying it with something.

to me, the bigger question is about who we're taxing. and, cities need to tax - they can't print money. do we want sin taxes that primarily penalize the poor? you would expect a conservative like john tory to push for that. i'd rather tax property, so that we're redistributing wealth from the top down.

so, when i tell the guy to tax property, it's not a 'keep your hands off my stash' type thing. it's a broader social question. sin taxes mostly target poor people, and are consequently deeply regressive. i don't know if john tory still pretends he's a progressive conservative or not, but he should live up to the title and push more for progressive taxation over property - which is the actual power that he has, as mayor and head of city council.