Trump’s Proposed Budget Could Actually Help Legalization

As the 45th President of the United States recently revealed his administration’s budget proposal this spring, much of the country is trying to figure out if someone who has filed for business bankruptcy more than once should be managing our budget. Cannabis proponents, in particular, are wondering if this Daffy Donald is a lame duck.

A bird’s eye view of the trainwreck

If anyone thought that the new guy was out to “Make America Financially Stable again”, the forecast isn’t a bright one. Partly chaos with a chance of war seems to be the 4-year outlook. Here are some highlights from the plan of our peerless leader.

Spending Increases:

• Military
• Homeland Security
• Anti-Organized Crime efforts
• Anti-drug trafficking efforts
• Anti-Immigration measures

Spending Cuts in:

• Nutrition assistance for Women, Infants, & Children
• Economic development grants to struggling communities
• Training teachers for low-income students
• Training health professionals
• Community development block grant funding programs
• Affordable Housing programs
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Institute of Museum and Library Services
• Corporation for Public Broadcasting (which provides support for the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio)

The two cuts getting the most attention are

• State Departments
• Environmental Protection Agency

The very slim silver lining

While it might seem like Trump is killing hopes of a swift victory for the Cannabis Movement, he might, in fact, be doing the opposite.

The history-book version of America’s Founding says it left England to stop unjust taxation, get away from an out-of-touch government, and leaders who didn’t represent the people.

Fast forward to today, and the States are seeing a repeat of history. Our Federal Government does all these things, but addiction keeps the States in line.

The largest addiction in the United States is not to opioids, but to Federal spending. States, starved for jobs and funding, turn to the Feds for help.

But as so many Republicans like to state, a government check is not the same as self-sufficiency. So where are broke states to turn when the President tries to strip their funding?

That’s right. Those states will be forced to turn to cannabis tax dollars.

How could states pay for these programs themselves?

Colorado can attest that cannabis pays, and pays well. With over $1 Billion dollars in revenue from cannabis sales in 2016, the state has used legalization to earmark millions for road improvements, education, police budgets, and drug prevention programs.

Arcview Market Research states that North American sales totaled more than $6.7 billion last year. In 2025, the industry is expected to hit upwards of $24.5 billion according to New Frontier Data.

One in-depth report in 2015 of all secondary and ancillary businesses partaking in the cannabis industry has projected a total impact of $500 billion by 2030, according to Technical420.

When states take a stark look at their options, if this budget passes, cannabis will stand out as the most glaring source of revenue and savings. Legalization saves millions in law enforcement costs and can pay for many programs otherwise cut.

In a term of Presidency where nothing looks stable, cannabis may become the rock of stability.