Description
Book SynopsisTwo economists take readers on a tour of the economics of legal and illegal weed, showing where cannabis regulation has gone wrong and how it could do better. Cannabis legalization hasn't lived up to the hype. Across North America, investors are reeling, tax collections are below projections, and people are pointing fingers. On the business side, companies have shut down, farms have failed, workers have lost their jobs, and consumers face high prices. Why has legal weed failed to deliver on many of its promises?Can Legal Weed Win? takes on the euphoric claims with straight dope and a full dose of economic reality. This book delivers the unadulterated facts about the new legal segment of one of the world's oldest industries. In witty, accessible prose, economists Robin Goldstein and Daniel Sumner take readers on a whirlwind tour of the economic past, present, and future of legal and illegal weed. Drawing upon reams of data and their own experience working with California cannabis
Trade Review"In this lucid and pragmatic analysis, U.C. Davis economists Goldstein and Summer extinguish overheated predictions about the potential size and profits of the legal marijuana market. . . . Jargon-free and data-rich, this is a clear-eyed analysis of a hazy market." * Publishers Weekly *
“Economists Goldstein and Sumner argue that government bureaucracy has made legal pot expensive to grow and sell, incentivizing illegal operations instead. Legal weed, their punny, breezy book shows, can only win once 'legal' isn’t an anticompetitive word.” * Bloomberg Businessweek *
"An excellent primer on the state of the cannabis industry in America today." * Jacobin *
"Explains how burdensome licensing requirements, regulations, and taxes have frustrated plans to displace the black market." * Reason *
"Written in a fun, witty tone that makes reading about finances more engaging than ever." * CBD Oracle *
Table of ContentsContents
Preface: Fear and Stoning in Las Vegas
Acknowledgments
1 We Call It Weed
2 Legal versus Illegal: A Market Battle
3 Prices Get High
4 We Ask Our Data: Where’s the Cheapest Legal Weed?
5 California Dreamin’
6 Sabrina’s Story
7 Legal Weed in 2050
8 How to Survive Legalization
Conclusion: Five Pipe Dreams about Legal Weed
Bibliography
Index
