Legalising drugs prudently: the importance of incentives and values

Jonathan Caulkins

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Various jurisdictions are legalising not just cannabis possession and use, but also large-scale commercial production, distribution and sale. Potential problems with that form of legalization raise questions about how best to implement a legalisation. This paper analyses the interests of the suppliers and regulators to help lawmakers and voters decide what over-arching architecture for legalisation might be prudent. In particular, it suggests banning for-profit companies and/or vesting regulatory authority in an agency that views its mission as protecting heavy users from suppliers’ excesses, rather than serving the interests of the cannabis industry.

Keywords: cannabis; marijuana; drug policy; legalisation; deciminalisation; policy analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 9 pages
Date: 2019-11-29
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Published in Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 29, November, 2019, 1(3), pp. 279 - 287. ISSN: 2516-7227

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:102970

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