Governors-Elect Consider Cutting Drug Programs -- Why Not Legalize Pot

Florida's Republican Governor-Elect Rick Scott is cutting jobs in the Office of Drug Control created by former Governor Jeb Bush. South Dakota's Republican Governor-Elect Dennis Daugaard inherits from his predecessor a proposal to cut meth treatment programs.

I'll invite Mr. Newland to expound further. For now I'll just note that we could probably save a lot more in law enforcement and incracertation costs by legalizing marijuana. At least that's what televangelist Pat Robertson thinks.

Green Notes: Sioux Falls Smart Speakers, Florida Super-Smart Grid

Good Friday goes grey, but this morning's Web reading has me feeling green!

In local green news, the Plain Green Conference is bringing all sorts of smart people to Sioux Falls April 28 and 29 to talk about green building, green science, and green thinking:

The Plain Green Conference and Marketplace is two days of advancing sustainability on the Northern Plains. Connect, learn and take action with hundreds of other attendees and star-power keynotes, plus green exhibitors and two days of workshops and breakouts (conservation design planning, green healthcare, eco-affordable home building, green office makeovers, LEED, straw bale construction, EPA compliance, permaculture and much more).

Cool! Here's co-organizer Joe Bartmann's pitch:



Two big speakers on the agenda: Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity; and Mitchell Joachim, co-founder of Terrefuge.

If you attend Plain Green, you might find yourself conversing with fellow South Dakotans about the smart grid. That innovation, such as the smart grid planned by our Sioux Valley Energy, is supposed to make better use of electricity. But Tallahasse, Florida, is building a super-smart grid to save electricity, gas, and water! The city will implement smart meters and software to help customers monitor and optimize their use of all three utilities. The system will also help utility crews locate and fix problems faster.

This three-in-one smart grid, the first such system in the U.S., could save the city $100K a year in current dollars. According to Mayor John Marks, "We started the investment in smart grid technology before it took off as a smart concept nationally. That's important for our customers as the bottom line is that they will be able to save energy, save water and save money." That's green everyone can love!

Guaranteed Lottery Win: Don't Play!

As Misty Young of Madison celebrates her luck in winning the South Dakota lottery, my neighbor Gerry Lange forwards me this article from the Tampa Tribune that shows how state lotteries rely on manipulating the false hopes of the poor and less educated:

[Florida state government] pays millions to probe the thoughts and habits of potential lottery players. Consultants ask what they buy at convenience stores, whether they rent videos, go to theme parks, even how they feel about owning things and belonging to a group.

The results show the lottery relies on the poorest and least educated — "Thrill Seeking Dreamers," it calls them — to spend more than everyone else. Floridians shelled out nearly $4 billion on lottery tickets in 2008-09, with the Thrill Seekers accounting for half of those purchases.

...The Thrill Seekers are the lifeblood of the lottery. They make up 15 percent of the adult population, but they account for 50 percent of the lottery's revenue.

Most of them are women. Their income and education tend to be low or moderately low, though most have full-time jobs, and they "live for the moment," said a 2006 Ipsos Reid marketing study. Last year, about 20 percent of the Thrill Seekers surveyed said they spent more than $100 on the lottery in the most recent month. Four percent spent more than $500 in that month [Lindsay Peterson, "Lottery Pushes Floridians to Spend More Amid Recession," Tampa Tribune, 2010.03.05].

Florida gets 30 cents out of every lottery dollar. So they aren't just shifting tax burden; they're also shifting income straight from the poor to the not-so-poor. How's that for regressive?

State lotteries are essentially a tax on the poor and uneducated. Instead of making the hard political case that we should all pay our fair share for roads, schools, police, and fire departments through taxes, politicians turn to lotteries to get money through marketing and manipulation.

In South Dakota, three quarters of our lottery revenues have gone to lower property taxes. So three out of four of your lottery dollars don't even go to improve South Dakota's infrastructure or services; they just go to keep someone else from paying taxes. So really, if you own property, the best way to win at the lottery is not to play. You're guranteed a payoff at tax time.