Hartford Courant Op-Ed: Legal Marijuana Will Help Connecticut's Economy

This is an op-ed that was originally printed in the Hartford Courant on February 12, 2017.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed his new budget, and, like many expected, it's a painful one. Due to our state's continuously sluggish economy, lawmakers face a deficit of $1.68 billion. Malloy's plan to close the gap includes $700 million in cuts to public employees, shifting $400 million in teacher retirement obligations from the state to towns and $200 million in new taxes.

The budget debate is important, but growing our state's economy is the only long-term solution. And there is one huge source of good-paying jobs, economic stimulus and tax revenue that Connecticut lawmakers have so far left on the table: regulating marijuana like alcohol.

Jobs that pay a living wage are the lifeblood of any healthy economy, and legal marijuana has already been shown to create thousands of them. Nationally, the marijuana industry is estimated to employ between 100,000 and 150,000 workers, according to the Marijuana Business Daily. In 2015 alone, more than 18,000 new full-time jobs were created in Colorado's marijuana industry, employing everyone from botanists to customer service professionals, said the Marijuana Policy Group. Because shipping marijuana between states is not permitted, these jobs are impossible to outsource — a rarity in today's global economy.

The economic benefits of regulating marijuana go far beyond job creation, as this new policy could also help our state hold onto young adults instead of seeing them move away in droves. Connecticut has the fourth worst net migration rate in the country, and not having enough young people is disastrous for any economy's long-term health. States with sensible marijuana laws like Colorado, Washington and Oregon are seeing an influx of new residents, and Alaska is losing fewer residents than it used to. Marijuana is just one factor, but it's a big one: In a recent Harris poll, 20 percent of millennials said legal marijuana was a consideration when deciding which state to move to. This isn't due to the marijuana itself, which young people can find anywhere — instead, adopting legalization signals the state has a more open-minded, thoughtful approach to policy.

Along with permanent residents, legal marijuana also attracts tourists. Colorado has now seen tourism climb for five years running, at double the national average. Of these visitors, 25 percent said legal marijuana was a factor in deciding to come, according to a study commissioned by the Colorado Tourism Office. Because tourists spent more than $19 billion in Colorado in 2015, this means marijuana helped stimulate more than $4 billion in economic activity. If we followed Colorado's lead and treated marijuana the way we treat alcohol, we could give our museums, hotels and restaurants a boost by bringing more tourists to the state.

While creating jobs and attracting new residents is more important for our economy in the long run, there's also an immediate need for tax revenue to fund social services, education and infrastructure. Legalizing marijuana wouldn't lead to more use, but it would bring the state's current illicit market aboveboard, allowing it to be regulated and taxed. Connecticut Office of Fiscal Management estimates that legal marijuana sales would generate more than $100 million in state taxes, and millions more in taxes for local governments. This won't fix everything, but it's one of the only times that people would be happy to pay a new tax, and the state shouldn't let that opportunity go to waste.

When discussing marijuana legalization, some may say that the costs outweigh the benefits, but they usually fail to recognize that there's already a thriving marijuana industry in Connecticut. It just operates in the shadows, untaxed, lacking any consumer or worker protections, and with most of the profits flowing out of the state or even the country. We're not talking about inventing marijuana, we're talking about regulating it.

This isn't a new idea, and other states have already worked through the kinks for us. Once a vocal opponent, even Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has finally admitted, "It's beginning to look like it might work." This sensible policy is long overdue. It's time to regulate marijuana.

Sam Tracy is director of the Connecticut Coalition to Regulate Marijuana, which is affiliated with the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington based organization focused solely on ending marijuana prohibition.