89 ms·
The regulators were way too aggressive. They overburdened farms and dispensaries to such a degree that legal sources are having a hard time competing with the b
by hncurious 5y ago
The regulators were way too aggressive. They overburdened farms and dispensaries to such a degree that legal sources are having a hard time competing with the black market even though dispensaries were considered essential businesses (able to stay open) through the pandemic.
Now California is bailing out the industry to the tune of $100M.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-14/california-struggling-marijuana-industry-cash-grants-budget https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-06-14/californ...
- travisjungroth 5y agoThis is the consequence of the “regulate and tax the hell out of it!” policy that some Americans want to apply to all vices.
- ihsw 5y agoThe wrong lesson will be learned from this, ie: increased law enforcement to stamp out the black market rather than remove barriers in the free market.
- Mountain_Skies 5y agoBut that's what lots of the legalization activists asked for. I heard "just make it legal and you can tax it all you want" for nearly half a century. Well, now they got what they asked for. IIRC, one of the few voices that said "legalize it and don't tax it at all" was Ron Paul. Everyone else was so enthralled with finding a way to get it legal that they really didn't give much thought to how the government could end up making legal weed a lot less desirable than illegal weed.
- travisjungroth 5y agoNot sure why you said “but”. Those are the people I’m talking about. They were wrong.
- djrogers 5y agoTaxing is only half of what GP mentioned - regulations can be even more costly and burdensome than taxes if done poorly (and they often are).
- ashtonkem 5y agoI’ll admit, the rapid turnaround from black market to corporate welfare within such a short timeframe is kind of shocking.