Reply #23: Great point if it weren't being smoked

[ArcticFox]

Carbon sequestration would be a great point, except that one of the major by-products of combustion is the very same CO2 you're sequestering. The stems, etc. would be a carbon sink, but decomposition would have to be presented. Whether composted or turned to bio-fuel, they would eventually release a good deal of CO2 back to the atmosphere.

Benefits could be gotten though. If we used the stems, etc. for bio-fuel, we could leave more oil and natural gas in the ground (or remove it less quickly). Pumping oil is reverse sequestration, and is the base reason we've got so much more CO2 now than a couple hundred years ago. If we only burned oil that grew from atmospheric carbon, we wouldn't have any net carbon increase in the atmosphere.

And about the tax: $50 per oz is prohibitive and would support the black market? No way. What does an ounce cost on the black market? $300? $500? It costs nothing near that amount to produce an ounce. Even with such a tax, prices would still be below current black market prices.