Up North Progressive

The Michigan Policy Conference on Mackinac Island is wrapping up today. Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the new auto insurance reform law that will hopefully lower the highest premiums in the country. Noted along with the irony that the governor signed the bill while visiting the one place in the state where cars are not allowed is the continued issue over how to fund fixing Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure.

One of the selling points of approving the new recreational marijuana law in the 2018 election was the revenue generated from sales could be used to fix the roads Republicans raised taxes and fees to do, then tossed the money into the general fund and spent it on whatever. Governor Whitmer, however, doesn’t seem convinced marijuana would be much help.

In order to raise enough money from pot sales to fix the roads, @whitmer says: every man woman and child would have to smoke about $2500 in marijuana a year. And at that level, nobody is going to care about the damn roads.

— Kathy Gray (@michpoligal) May 30, 2019

$2500 of marijuana per year seems pretty low. It costs a cigarette smoker smoking one pack a day about the same amount of money, and the taxes Michigan imposes on tobacco sales are pretty hefty. Taxes on marijuana sales can’t pay for all of the road repairs Michigan needs, but it could help.

Governor Whitmer supported legalizing recreational marijuana. She knows that it won’t cover all of the costs, but like tobacco, not everyone in the state uses marijuana. Recreational marijuana users will likely be more than willing to do their part to generate money to fix the damn roads. What Whitmer is trying to get across to the people of Michigan is even with taxes from marijuana sales, the 45 cent gas tax is still needed to really raise the funds Michigan needs to repair and replace our crumbling roads, bridges and other infrastructure.