As The News Journal points out in their article about businesses against raising the cigarette tax, out-of-state people come to Delaware to save money on cigarettes. When I lived in New Castle, every Saturday and Sunday morning the tobacco shop parking lots would be filled with cars from New York as well as Pennsylvania and New Jersey. These weren’t just pack-a-day smokers, some were filling their trunks with cartons and cartons of cigarettes.
I’m not against raising the taxes on cigarettes, we should do that as one of the many steps to raise money to provide services in Delaware. But what this story should tell Carney and the state legislature is that this same behavior — driving some distance from out of state to purchase products — would be a bonanza if we legalized marijuana.
Delaware would have several years of huge tax revenue from citizens of Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and, even, New York. With Rehoboth Beach being a vacation destination and I-95 bisecting Northern Delaware, the Delaware government would raise a lot of cash. All of these reasons plus then Dogfish could make a marijuana-infused IPA.
WDEL reports the following:
Members of the [Cannibus Bureau of Delaware], along with dozens of supportive citizens, flooded Legislative Hall the morning of January 19, 2017, with one goal in mind: acquire a sponsor for legislation that would tax and regulate the recreational use of marijuana.