Thursday, July 19, 2012

Yglesias On Pot: Legal Marijuana Would Be Extremely Cheap

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/07/how_much_would_legal_marijuana_cost_a_new_book_says_it_would_be_nearly_free_.html

Several states will have effective legalization initiatives on the ballot come November, including Oregon.
Yglesias here is actually performing a decent journalistic service---he is providing information and estimates of how much legal marijuana would actually cost---as well as some useful information for other purposes on the price to bring various crops to market.  I'm sure he'll forget all this next time it is his turn to argue that without illegal labor we'll all starve or that the prices of produce will go all go into hyperinflation, but it is a useful piece, regardless of the side of the issue that you happen to be on.

2 comments:

B322 said...

I bet this is true. If so, it worries me. If marijuana is legalized, there may be quite a lot of pressure to keep the tax very low. (If we had my druthers, it would be taxed right at its Laffer maximum.) I really can't stand being around stoned people, and I regard the smell as about as pleasant as cat urine.

Jehu said...

One does wonder what the revenue maximizing tax would be for it. But, given it's name in the vernacular ('weed'), I suspect its pretty damned easy to grow in comparison to most crops (industrial hemp in Canada was cited in that article as being @$500/acre).