{"id":6162,"date":"2021-09-22T20:39:23","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T20:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=6162"},"modified":"2021-09-22T20:39:23","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T20:39:23","slug":"state-governments-are-creating-their-own-drug-cartels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=6162","title":{"rendered":"State Governments Are Creating Their Own Drug Cartels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“some states legalized it, hoping to put an end to the black market. But legalization hasn’t ended the violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because many states impose so many unnecessary rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California is one of the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The illicit market is approximately two to three times the size of the legal market,” says cannabis industry lawyer Tom Howard in my new video<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illegal sales thrive in California because politicians make distribution pointlessly difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howard advises clients who want to open a dispensary, “You have to have a $50,000 safe, a $200,000 security system, and a $100,000 consultant help you make an 800-page application.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single plant must be weighed, tagged, and tracked from seed to sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information is “not being used to benefit anybody,” complains<\/a> grower Jason Downs. “It’s just a waste of everybody’s time, money.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While legal sellers struggle, clueless California Gov. Gavin Newsom complains: “Illegal cannabis grows! They’re getting worse, not better.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His solution: California taxpayers now will spend $100 million to bail them out!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Illinois’ rules are probably the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Only ‘social equity veterans’ in Illinois can get a license,” explains Howard. In other words, new licenses are supposed to go to prior “victims of the drug war.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the bureaucrats’ rules are so complex that a full year after legalization, zero<\/em> new licenses have been issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, politically connected people grabbed every existing license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One billionaire from the Wrigley gum family “paid $155 million for six dispensary licenses,” says Howard. Illinois is “creating a cartel.””<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Other states have bad rules, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Florida and Arizona are millionaires’ clubs,” says Howard. “You have to not only grow it; you have to be able to produce it and process it. You have to own your own dispensary. If you have $40 or $50 million, it’s great.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massachusetts requires all dispensaries to black out windows lest anyone see the marijuana. Stores must also check everyone’s IDs multiple times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legalization doesn’t have to be stupid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon and Colorado have reasonable rules, and in Oklahoma, “anyone can get a cannabis license,” says Howard, “provided you’ve lived in Oklahoma for two years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You get a lot more innovation\u2014more entrepreneurs coming into market. Some go out of business, and some do very well\u2026.It’s free market capitalism.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That works!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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State Governments Are Creating Their Own Drug Cartels<\/a><\/blockquote>