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on March 12, 2014 at 3:55 PM, updated March 12, 2014 at 4:09 PM
A recreational marijuana menu and price list sits on a counter at 3D Cannabis Center, which opened as a legal recreational retail outlet in Denver, early Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014. Colorado began retail marijuana sales on Jan. 1, a day some are calling "Green Wednesday." (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
More than 83 percent of respondents in an unscientific AL.com poll believe Alabama would benefit if recreational marijuana was legalized in the state.
Al.com asked the question after Colorado state officials released the tax revenue generated from recreational marijuana sales during the first month of legal sales.
They tallied up to $2 million, and $195,318 of those funds are earmarked for school construction.
According to the results, 10.55 percent said no and only 2.15 percent indicated they didn’t know. A total of 559 votes were cast in the poll.
[See related: Colorado sees $2 million in recreational marijuana taxes in first month. Could Alabama benefit from legal sales? (poll)]
AL.com's online polls reflect the views of readers who choose to participate and are not the kind of scientific sampling of opinion used to predict the views of the public as a whole.
We also asked readers to comment on how the state could benefit. Below is a sampling of the nearly 90 posted comments:
1navysubman: The governor of Alabama has said that the state needs to build more prisons. Why does the state need more prisons? If marijuana was legalized and all the people imprisoned for possession and distributing released, the current prisons would have enough room for real criminals for the next one hundred years. Legalization would also cut down on robberies and murders as there would be no gangs fighting over drug territories. Legalization would also increase tax revenue for the state. So many benefits and no downside. Lets get a bill introduced to legalize marijuana and see who votes for it. Then have the public vote out the naysayers. So many good results can come from this.
Melissa Hiley: Yes. Fund mental health treatment, education, 10% of medicaid expansion costs after the 3 years of 100% federal coverage, improve prison conditions, refund public health, infrastructure repairs AND keep our hands out of the trust fund!
trondaddy: Pot should be legal and sold at stores just like tobacco and alcohol. Regulate it, put labels on it just like on a pack of smokes that says smoking causes cancer. Stop arresting people who have laughable amounts on them or in their houses. There are far more dangerous things than pot that can be bought at a pharmacy. It really is laughable that pot is such a big deal. It's embarrassing. Making it legal isn't going to force non-smokers to all of a sudden turn into pot smokers.
DonaldDunlap: So the state would benefit in the revenue such as in Colorado. MJ is a gateway drug to even stronger drugs and the problems that go along with it. In time this would become an enormous cost to the state in many ways. Oh, when Pres Obama said the MJ was no more harm than liquor, tell that to the people harmed by drunk drivers. Before any other state makes this move, they should wait for at least 3 years to see what impact it has on Colorado.
LifeObrian: No they wouldn't benefit, because they would spend it all on 10 commandment plaques and legal fees fighting the unconstitutional laws they continue to pass. It's only a benefit if you put it to good use.
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