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For another data point, cannabis became legalized in Canada in 2018 [1]. I'm not a user of it myself, but I have a number of friends who are and one who is for

For another data point, cannabis became legalized in Canada in 2018 [1]. I'm not a user of it myself, but I have a number of friends who are and one who is for pain management, and according to them, the rollout of licenses for legal storefronts has been pretty disastrous. Understandably, that's probably a transitional pain, and may be more of a bureaucratic hurdle than something germane to cannabis. But all this to say that changing these kinds of things takes a lot of careful planning; you can't just flip a switch to solve the problems of prohibition. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Canada

R0b0t1 6y ago
This is a good point, but in Canada's case it was self inflicted. They had a strong desire to limit the number of people in the market for, I think, very opaque reasons. Assuming it's just so politician's friends can become rich by being first movers.
pmoriarty 6y ago
"the rollout of licenses for legal storefronts has been pretty disastrous" Disastrous how?
- mikepurvis 6y ago
  Initially there weren't enough of them in many areas of Ontario [1], with a suspicious oversupply in others (for example in the Niagara region near the US border). Now there's a concern that the market has swung the other way and saturated in some parts of the country [2]. There's also been some weird ownership questions with former Toronto Police chief Julian Fantino who spend a decades-long career busting people for pot and opposing legalization only to have a come-to-Jesus moment about its medical benefits just in time to start a business around it and cash in. [1]: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-mapped-ontarios-cannabis-store-shortage-isnt-ending-any-time-soon/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-mapped-onta... [2]: https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2020/06/canada-could-become-over-saturated-with-cannabis-retail-stores/ https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2020/06/canada...
  - samatman 6y ago
    Unironically, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I like to collect anecdotes about the ineffectiveness of central planning compared to markets. Not a free market fundamentalist, but what they do well, they do very well.
    - mikepurvis 6y ago
      I'm not sure if this is necessarily a fail for a controlled market— there needed to be something in place to prevent it just being a giant land-grab followed by bankruptcies and consolidations everywhere as the bubble popped. From my point of view it's less a failure in concept and more just a matter of tuning— which has been adjusted over time, though as expected, there has been some of that post-rush activity as various players have bought each other out (but probably a lot less than there would have been without the slow start).

R0b0t1 6y ago

This is a good point, but in Canada's case it was self inflicted. They had a strong desire to limit the number of people in the market for, I think, very opaque reasons. Assuming it's just so politician's friends can become rich by being first movers.

pmoriarty 6y ago

"the rollout of licenses for legal storefronts has been pretty disastrous" Disastrous how?

mikepurvis 6y ago
Initially there weren't enough of them in many areas of Ontario [1], with a suspicious oversupply in others (for example in the Niagara region near the US border). Now there's a concern that the market has swung the other way and saturated in some parts of the country [2]. There's also been some weird ownership questions with former Toronto Police chief Julian Fantino who spend a decades-long career busting people for pot and opposing legalization only to have a come-to-Jesus moment about its medical benefits just in time to start a business around it and cash in. [1]: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-mapped-ontarios-cannabis-store-shortage-isnt-ending-any-time-soon/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-mapped-onta... [2]: https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2020/06/canada-could-become-over-saturated-with-cannabis-retail-stores/ https://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2020/06/canada...
- samatman 6y ago
  Unironically, thanks for bringing this to my attention. I like to collect anecdotes about the ineffectiveness of central planning compared to markets. Not a free market fundamentalist, but what they do well, they do very well.
  - mikepurvis 6y ago
    I'm not sure if this is necessarily a fail for a controlled market— there needed to be something in place to prevent it just being a giant land-grab followed by bankruptcies and consolidations everywhere as the bubble popped. From my point of view it's less a failure in concept and more just a matter of tuning— which has been adjusted over time, though as expected, there has been some of that post-rush activity as various players have bought each other out (but probably a lot less than there would have been without the slow start).