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Legalizing cannabis can benefit all citizens. If these measures are implemented properly, everyone will benefit from reduced crime and stronger law enforcement. Legalizing this drug will help protect young people and may even reduce drug use. It is also a way to increase taxes for the state, instead of turning on the criminal gangs that currently control the illegal market.
The public is becoming increasingly aware of these benefits. In order to get these benefits, how cannabis is prepared and how the drug is paid for once it is legalized is very important. Setting a fair price level and cracking down on illegal activities will work together to achieve the right balance between reducing crime and avoiding the increase in cannabis consumption after legalization. To combat the black market, the price of legal cannabis should be kept low. For example, it can be set around or slightly below the current illegal price. This will turn current drug users away from their current vendors.
But if nothing else is done, it will not be enough to eradicate the black market. Retailers will lower their prices to attract more customers. They are successful because there is now a huge amount of illegal trade. There are different prices for cannabis products sold illegally, but the average price of high-quality cannabis is about $300 an ounce in London, according to the website priceofweed.com. According to data collected from the American market, this price is three times higher than the production cost.
Consumption management
The increased competition that the legal market will bring will lead to a significant increase in consumption – something that many policy makers do not want. Therefore, in addition to creating a legal market, a combination of policies is needed to control consumption, including prohibitions against illegal activities. This would allow the government to set retail prices, while keeping the legal cannabis price too high.
The idea is simple: if the cost of producing or distributing illegal cannabis increases, it is easier to drive criminals away from the sale of legal cannabis. My research shows that the tougher the penalties against illegal cannabis sellers, the more you can set the price of legal cannabis above the dealer price. We call this “displacement cost.” Other tools that the government can use to increase the price of marijuana are to discourage consumers from buying illegal cannabis by imposing fines or warning them about the dangers of consuming legal cannabis. not approved compared to the quality products and high-quality products released in the legal market.
Possible options
It is also important to encourage legal cannabis producers and sellers to direct their work in the legal sector. Therefore, in addition to investing in law enforcement to stop criminal activity, it is important that former cannabis users are offered a good way to work. Otherwise, they may resort to selling drugs or other substitutes. Drug dealers often live in these informal settlements and are forced into a vicious cycle of crime where low demand and job prospects motivate them to engage in illegal activities. That is why it is important to invest in these communities to support and train people who make money from drug trafficking.
The proceeds from the sale and taxation of legal cannabis will be distributed widely for these types of initiatives. In addition, the legalization of cannabis may allow the police to focus their efforts on other crimes, improving their effectiveness against class A drugs and non-drug crimes. This was seen in the Lambeth area of London after penalties were reduced in 2001 for those with small amounts of cannabis.
History also shows that prohibition increases violent crime. Famous criminals like Al Capone in Chicago in the 1920s took advantage of the imbalance between the demand and supply of alcohol by creating organized crime to supply and sell alcohol legally and -not supported by word of mouth.
In illegal markets, violence is often seen as the only way to resolve disputes and secure market power. Our findings are based on recent examples of cannabis legalization in Canada and Uruguay. The stated goal of both countries is to combat drug-related crime. It’s too early to assess the full impact of these policies, but data from Canada shows that illegal black-market transactions have declined as a result of legalization.
We also learned from what didn’t work well there: the lack of law contributed to the persistence of the illegal trade. Therefore, it is important to avoid making the same mistakes and propose more effective policies to move forward