Our friends at High Times (and former NORML director Dr. Jon Gettman) are running an online poll asking for consumers’ choice regarding the preferred marijuana distribution that emerges post-prohibition.
Legal Marijuana: Which Market Do You Prefer?
As we approach the new inevitability of legalized cannabis, three models have been proposed for a national marijuana market.
By Jon Gettman
In the past, the goal of marijuana legalization was simple: to bring about the end of federal prohibition and allow adults to use the plant without threat of prosecution and imprisonment. But now that legalization is getting serious attention, it’s time to examine how a legal marijuana market should operate in the United States.
Below are descriptions of the three kinds of legal markets that have emerged from various discussions on the subject. We would like to know which one you prefer.
First, though, let’s touch on a few characteristics that all of these proposals share. In each one, the market has a minimum age for legal use, likely the same as the current age limits for alcohol and tobacco. In each of these legal markets, there will be penalties for driving while intoxicated, just as with alcohol use. You can also assume that there will be guaranteed legal access to marijuana for medical use by anyone, regardless of age, with a physician’s authorization. The last characteristic shared by all three mar- kets is that there will be no criminal penalties for the adult possession and use of marijuana.
Proposal #1:
Government-Run Monopoly
Under this approach, there would be no commercial marijuana market allowed. Marijuana would be grown and processed for sale under government contracts, supervised and/or managed by a large, government-chartered nonprofit organization. Marijuana would be sold in state-run retail outlets (similar to the state-run stores that have a monopoly on liquor sales in places like Mississippi, Montana and Vermont, among others), where the sales personnel will be trained to provide accurate information about cannabis and its effects. Products like edibles and marijuana-infused liquids with fruity flavors would be banned out of a concern that they can encourage minors to try the drug. There would be no advertising or marketing allowed, and no corporate or business prof- its. Instead, the revenue earned from sales would pay for production costs and the operation of the state control organization; the rest of the profits would go to government-run treatment, prevention, education and enforcement programs. Regulations would be enforced by criminal sanctions and traditional law enforcement (local, state and federal police). No personal marijuana cultivation would be allowed. The price of marijuana would remain at or near current levels in order to discourage underage use.
Proposal #2:
Limited Commercial Market
Under this approach, the cultivation, processing and retail sale of marijuana would be conducted by private companies operating under a limited number of licenses issued by the federal government. Advertising and marketing would be allowed, but they would be regulated similar to the provisions governing alcohol and tobacco promotion. Taxation would be used to keep prices at or near current levels in order to discourage underage use. Corporate profits would be allowed, and tax revenues would be used to fund treatment, prevention, education and enforcement programs. Regulations would be enforced by criminal sanctions and traditional law enforcement (local, state and federal police). No personal marijuana cultivation would be allowed.
Proposal #3:
Regulated Free Market
Under this approach, entrepreneurs would have open access to any part of the marijuana market. Cultivation, processing and retail operations could be legally undertaken by anyone willing to bear the risks of investment and competition. Advertising and marketing would be allowed, but they would be regulated similar to the provisions governing alcohol and tobacco promotion. Prices would be determined by supply and demand, with taxation set at modest levels similar to current taxes on alcohol, tobacco and gambling. (These vary widely from state to state, but assume that under this model, the price of marijuana would be substantially lower than it is in the current market.)
Also, home cultivation would be allowed. Licenses may be required for any sort of cultivation, but these would be for registration purposes only and subject to nominal fees based on the number of plants involved. Individuals and corporations would be allowed to make whatever profits they can through competition. Tax revenues would fund treatment, prevention, education and enforcement programs. Competition and market forces would structure the market rather than licenses or government edicts, and regulatory agencies rather than law enforcement would supervise market activity.
A Different Approach
There are two key issues when it comes to deciding among these proposals. First, should the price of marijuana be kept high through government intervention in order to discourage underage use as well as abuse? Second, does commercialization translate into corporate money being spent to convince teenagers to use marijuana? Many of the proposals for how a legal market should operate are based on assumptions about these two issues, which leads to recommendations that the government must, one way or another, direct and control the marijuana market.
Obviously, the first two proposals outlined above reflect those very concerns. The third takes a different approach, in which marijuana is treated like similar psychoactive commodities, and the public relies on education, prevention and age limits to discourage underage use as well as abuse.
We want to know what type of legal marijuana market you prefer. Please take part in our poll on the HIGH TIMES website.
Since teens are using marijuana now, black market pricing doesn’t seem to have served as much of a deterrent so far. Treat it like alcohol and card people. Don’t try to use price for that function. Doesn’t work now so why would it work later?
I’d like to chime in by the way and add to the message that growing your own pot at home is hard if you want decent pot. You have to become a serious marijuana nerd and the learning cycle never ends. Managing the nutrients, keeping the room ventilated and keeping out light leaks. You can’t go anywhere where there might be spider mites that could hitchhike home on your clothes. Then there’s powdery mildew. And fungus gnats. Don’t plan any vacations. It’s not for people who don’t like to work and learn. Your brain will get tired from all the stuff you need to know.
How about the one where I’m provided reparations for the college education that has been stolen from me by fascist Texans and their police state!
A regulated free market is the way to go. let’s not let the government get their fingers into our tax pie or they will abuse their power like they do with the cigarette taxes.
I am for # 3.
I am for as free a market as possible,with reasonable regulations such as age.I believe it should be legal to grow at home (any amount) and share with others who are of legal age, or sell excess product to local business,or at farmers markets,or on the side of the road for that matter.I think largely it should be treated like a produce commodity for adults. I don’t think it should be taxed anymore than any other business operation is. I don’t think it needs to fund anything, cutting police forces,and the military buildup thereof can pay for more schools,teachers,or more whatever it is folks think is important. I also realize I am asking for a lot of blue sky from the prohibitionist view, but you asked, so there you have it.
I favor a limited version of the Regulated Free Market Approach. The limitation is that publicly owned corporations continue to be prohibited from growing cannabis.
First of all, a years worth of stand up comedy can be extract from #1and #2. As close to unobstructed access to cannabis is the best solution. Our government has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are the most capable of screwing this up in the most efficient way.
Secondly, to add even more control over the destiny of cannabis by the people, it needs to be a fundamental right to possess, grow, and consume it.
I think number 3 is best if i have to choose …but we have a new battle that is slowing this movement down ..i have found an article we should all read /// the anti marijuana lobby is enlisting scientific mercenaries ..because the interests in keeping marijuana ilegal including prison guard unions law enforcement agents prison companys and pain killer industry (big pharma)are loosing money check out the article on yahoo news //this is a bunch of greedy people that are slowing this movement down ..we the people will not let this happen ..i am tired of seeing this happening to our country ..to much gov,and big pharma control of our freedom,s what do you think?????
@Those who insist that it’s so difficult to grow marijuana:
While that may be true for indoor grows, I smile as I look at several plants now growing in my box garden and one big one in the back yard. In the garden they endure the extreme heat in my area much better than the veggies.
In the back yard there’s just one plant, but it’s six feet tall now as it begins to flower.
I have done nothing but put seeds in soil and water them as they grow. It’s not hard work. It’s not rocket science, and it costs virtually nothing for the final harvest of a few to several ounces of a variety of buds, depending on the seeds.
The seeds are free, collected from purchases over decades. They remain viable for a very long time if put in a jar and stored in a closet or fridge.
Anyone who has had this experience will cringe at the thought of paying hundreds of dollars an ounce for commercial pot.
@don b, Patricia and Mark;
Yes, we reserve the right to grow enough cannabis to sustain our families with food, shelter, fuel and medicine.
Yes, marijuana strains potent for specific medicinal use are hard to grow, but regular homegrown and hemp are not. One would think anyone with a fence and some decent soil can grow hemp. The Free Syrian Army is growing hemp to sustain themselves and their efforts even while ISIS is destroying their crops! Have you seen the soil they’re growing in? They don’t have any fences. Look at the dry Colorado soil that “hemp” qualified Charlotte’s web strains or some California growers are growing in; there’s cannabis growing, producing soil virtually in the desert. No fences; just a wall of corn to hide the crop.
The denoumovement of our American Cannabis Tragedy will happen soon around mid-term elections. Obama’s legacy is based on a successful health care strategy
… Without increasing the deficit…
followed by defending American National Security interest…
…without leading us into another war…
NO OTHER SINGLE EXECUTIVE DECISION BY THE PRESIDENT CAN REDUCE THE COST OF HEALTH CARE AND THE DEFICIT WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY PROTECTING AMERICAN SECURITY INTERESTS BOTH FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC THAN THE LEGAL REGULATION, COMMERCIAL TAXATION AND OPEN SOURCED RESEARCH INVESTMENT OF CANNABIS.
And we can take that to the CanniBank. We crossed the threshold of the legalization even before the NYTimes called to end Prohibition; it happened when Wall Street started investing in Cannabis Futures, after the DOJ issued guidelines to leave investment banks alone in states that legalized cannabis, and more recently, after Colorado schools received their first million dollars. It was the perfect recipe for American capitalism; Cannabis pays for public education, but shareholders come first. The genie could never fit back into the bottle again.
I have long advocated here on this blog that if our government truly wanted to end the war in Afghanistan we would have replaced the poppy fields with industrial hemp. Instead, after 14 years of America’s second longest war (second only to America’s tragic 45 year drug war), there is more opium and heroin exporting from Afghanistan today then when the war began. The success of cannabis growing for the Free Syrian Army is testament to this fact.
The destruction of cannabis fields in Syria by the Islamic Exteremists should be a wake up call for the Pentagon and the President; and for us all. The Controlled Substances Act … And the very way we pay our law enforcement, social workers, prosecutors and judges, MUST be reformed in the interest of national security. Kickbacks, campaign donations, asset forfeitures and quotas for too long have bribed our American Democracy into a Plutocracy that can only be remedied by a REWARDS-based system that replaces prohibition with regulation, specifically of cannabis, including taxation for education and innovative scientific research investment, that create the four pillars of American Democracy.
Finally, no adequate research can be conducted into marijuana or hemp until the ONDCP retracts it’s research policy and institutes a rewards based system strategy, or until U.S. Patent 6330507 owned by the Department of Health and Human Services for Cannabinoids as Neuroprotectants is made Open Source for the scientific community and the American people. Until these laws are fundamentally changed, the American people will not know peace, and the Dream of socioeconomic equality will remain a fleeting illusion to be pursued but never attained.
To confirm, I am still firmly in the 2 1/2 category. We can have commercial cannabis taxation continue to create revenue for research and education while permitting domestic production for Self Sustainability. Screw all the Liberal/Conservative politricks; We want SUSTAINABILITY! Hemp Conserves water. Sustainability is better than conservatism. Marijuana legalization liberalizes a saprophytic health care system that wants to expand mental health coverage without legalizing the world’s most effective, non toxic medicine, and without treating the rotten root of our health care system; the inflated cost of our health care, decided by insurance, judges, politicians, drug testing facilities and law enforcement; when the cost of health care can only be fairly governed by doctors and patients. Unless we correct this fundamental flaw determining the cost of health care by ending drug prohibition and letting doctor’s and patients decide our costs, then the recent expansion of mental health coverage will lead to massive drug treatment fraud using ghost lists, tax evasion and fostering perpetual violence as the disinfecting light of ending prohibition never reaches the root of our rotten socioeconomic inequality.
PLEASE READ THIS MY FATHER HAD ALL HIS MARIJUANA CUT BY THE LAW THIS YEAR.hE HAS HAD 6 TOTAL HIP REPLACEMENTS AND IT WAS HIS MEDICINE .wE ARE GOING TO BE DESTROYED THIS WINTER WE MAY EVEN LOSE OUR HOME.PLEASE ANYONE OUT THERE HELP US TELL WILLIE NELSON OR ANYONE WITH POWER ABOUTWHAT YOU READ HERE .My father dug graves by hand for 20 years to survive plus we scraped metal to survive .Now he barely can walk and our medicine was took well more like strongarmed from us .PLEASE I BEG SOMEONE WHO READS THIS TO TELL THIS STORY TO SOMEONE WHO CAN HELP US .WE ARE NOT BUMS WE LOVE TO WORK BUT OUR CROP WAS TAKEN PLEASE ANYONE HELP US POOR HILLBILLYS
One of the options proposed, “regulated free market” is an oxymoron.
A free market is an unregulated market otherwise it is not free.
The best option is the one you didn’t propose….people leave each other alone and the real free market sorts it out.
I vote for 3 keep the government out as much as possible. Looked what happened in the Aquaculture of live Rock in Florida back in the 1990’s. The marine collectors complied and spent millions of their own money to only have the ruling reversed years later. The government found away to put us out of work again!
I like the model that Colorado has in place. we can always tweak it as time goes on but it’s a good start. I think the free market is the way to go. the market will ensure quality and affordability. the government does not know how to grow it, to grow good stuff takes real knowledge and passion. I don’t think that everybody will be rushing to grow their own. Like making wine or beer, it can be done at home but like the earlier poster, takes considerable amount of tending to grow and cure it properly. and I’ve learned from experience that curing can make all the difference. It’s just not the big deal that everybody seems to think it is.
This is a no brainer #3 of coarse!
# 3 makes the most sense. The largest level growers and sellers, should be taxed at a higher rate. Regulate in such a way that small growers/sellers are given easy entry into the market. The more people growing, the more potential for availability of speciality strains and progress of cannabis quality. Small automated home grows of a few plants would be common, and those devices should have a reasonable sales tax capped. The best way to keep cannabis out of the hands of children, is education. Secondary, is witnesses being able to come forward about use by minors, because their own adult cannabis use is no longer illegal!
I would vote for #3, i agree with a previous respondent that like wine and beer, some people produce their own but most just buy it. I have a question. I have watched the newscasts exposing Colorado s experience but no one has come out recently examining the arrest records. Has crime increased, decreased or remained unchanged? Can we back up our argument that use of one does not raise levels of other drugs? Also how does one test for driving under the influence when levels can remain in the system for months? and yes it does, I can personally attest to that. Will people be able to get work? some places in my area will not even hire tobacco users.
I vote for #3. It’s America. The land of opportunity. Let the people have that chance to choose.