re: Why isn't weed legal?

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What this all boils down to is that there is a large amount of potential weed consumption that the government is unable to tax if people decided to start growing their own crops.

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I'm growing right now in Colorado. While it's been fun, it's a lot more work than you think. If your want to grow indoors, it cost a lot of money to get setup. I'll probably do it soon. But I'm going the natural route, and am growing outdoors.

I'm watering them every day, picking through them and removing dead leaves, searching for signs of pests. If I want to feed them with nutrients, that takes at least an hour. Trimming the plants is a pain in the arse. Especially with how sticky the live plants are. You then have to dry them, then cure them.

I've been doing this for over 4 months, almost 5. It'll be another 6-8 weeks before I finish harvesting. It takes a lot of work to get good weed. Much more than just putting a seed in the ground and an occasional water.

Every adult in Colorado is allowed to grow 6 plants, 3 flowering, at a time. And yet almost nobody does it. Why? Take away the black market, and the price drops by 2/3s. I can buy an ounce for $100 any day. The shiskaberry I'm smoking now, some of the best I've ever smoked, was under $80 including taxes.

It's reasonably priced enough that people would rather just buy it. You're allowed to brew beer. How many beer drinkers homebrew? The government will still get their money.