BCDP Recommends NO on PROPOSITION 119*:

RATIONALE Against Proposition 119 (from the Colorado General Assembly Legislative Council) — Proposition 119 allows public money to be directed to private out-of-school service providers instead of invested directly in public schools. Public dollars set aside for education are needed to support the public education system. If voters want to increase retail marijuana taxes for education, the revenue would be better used to expand the capacity of public schools in every community, keeping the money under local control and allowing school districts to reinstate programs they have had to cut and to provide additional learning and enrichment opportunities for children.

Increasing the sales tax on marijuana will further increase the gap in prices between legal marijuana and black-market marijuana, pushing more individuals into the black market and hurting legitimate retail marijuana businesses. Additionally, the retail sales tax on marijuana already places a greater financial burden on low?income individuals; increasing the tax rate will only make this worse.

*By a 2/3 majority, the Boulder County Democratic Party Executive Committee voted to oppose this proposition.