Tax revenue has historically been one of the arguments in favour of legalising marijuana. This column uses a change in Washington’s marijuana tax regime to explore how taxation affects industry and consumer behaviour. Gross receipts taxes encourage vertical as a form of tax avoidance and thus reduce expected revenue. The choice of what to tax (revenue versus weight) also has important implications for how the market evolves.
Manolis Galenianos, Nicola Persico, 08 June 2009
Drugs cause many social problems, but so does the drug war. This column suggests a novel solution that emphasises the risk of rip-offs in street sales – reducing the penalties applied to those who sell low-purity drugs. Leveraging moral hazard this way would effectively raise the wholesale price of drugs, undermining the drug market.
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