Though health care reform may have passed, economic woes are far from behind us. Everyone from Wall Street investors to small business owners are trying to find ways of beating the recession, but no one has found the right answer.
Well, that’s not entirely true. As conventional businesses go under left and right, business owners and politicians are turning to the dark side to solve their problems: the industries of alcohol, marijuana and strip clubs.
Although retail stores in America might be dropping like flies, the alcohol industry seems to be flourishing. According to PR Newswire, the “bleak economy influenced the success of each segment of the beverage alcohol business in 2009.” Compare that with an already increasing number of alcohol sales per volume — Arizonans alone drank 152 million gallons of beer in 2007, according to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Retail stores on Mill Avenue like Z Gallerie and Abercrombie might have closed shop, but Tempe alone has opened numerous drinking establishments in the last six months, such as Taste of Tops and Devil’s Advocate.
Marijuana is also starting to look good (economically, I mean). This year, California legislators proposed a bill calling for a tax on marijuana, which could lead to a $1 billion dollar a year profit for the economically crippled state. Earlier this year, New Jersey followed the pattern, approving the use of legal medical marijuana, the cost of which will be set up by the state.
And the horizon keeps getting bigger. Earlier this year, Georgia proposed a bill including a “pole tax” that would help garner income for the state. The tax is an added five dollars for entrance to any strip club. This is identical to the tax adopted by Texas in 2008, although those proceeds went towards helping rape victims rather than being used for actual state revenue. Personally, I wouldn’t mind looking at a police officer or teacher, knowing their salary came from the lonely pockets of strip club aficionados.
As interesting as this all sounds, though, it is more than an interesting phenomenon. Regardless of political views or biases, it is difficult to oversee the economic desperation of a country that is pouring its hopes into vices rather than virtues. It’s okay to be for taxing and legalizing certain industries, but when it’s our last hope, that’s when you really need to start worrying.
Or, at least start diversifying your stocks into some embarrassing portfolios.
What vice would you like to support your state with? Tell Dante at dante.graves@asu.edu