Taxes and Red Tape Keep Colorado’s Marijuana Black Market Profitable: New at Reason

Meddling state officials have managed to make the legal pot market in Colorado uncompetitive.

J.D. Tuccille writes:

You have to give it to Colorado. The state’s voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, transforming the popular stuff from a prohibited vice to a substance that could be produced, bought and sold without the hassle of hiding dealings from the authorities and the fear of arrest for voluntary transactions. Yet the marijuana black market is still going strong over four years later, with many sellers and customers willing to take a chance on legal consequences rather than make a risk-free deal.

Maintaining a profitable black market for a perfectly legal product is quite an accomplishment. But never fear, Colorado lawmakers have a plan—they’re moving to ban marijuana advertisements by unlicensed vendors. That should learn ’em.

Except… Given the history of illegal dealings that have prospered even in the absence of Craigslist postings, that’s probably not going to do the trick. It doesn’t even begin to address the driving force behind the black market, which is taxes so sky high and regulations so burdensome that they make legal pot uncompetitive.

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