I hear this exclusively from people trying to rationalize their support for republicans despite the fact that their party opposes legalization. It’s nonsense. Grocery store beer has an ‘excise tax’. Just set up, oh I don’t know, a state pot stamp that every retail operation has to purchase for every kilogram of pot or pot equivalent (gummies etc) sold. There are always ways to get things done if you actually want to do them.

• the original federal pot laws prosecuted people for failure to purchase marijuana tax stamps.