Efforts to legalize adult-use and medical cannabis do not show
sign of slowing up, with nearly 39 states having legalized cannabis
in some capacity (and 21 states and the District of Columbia now
allowing adult-use). Legalization efforts usually rely, at least in
part, on the promise of tax revenue which (in many states) results
in higher prices than what the black (or “gray”) market
provides. The proliferation of that illicit market of unlicensed
operators is also the result of decriminalization of many cannabis
related offenses and, in states like New York, previous
participants in that market are at the front of the line for
social-equity related licenses.
This, unfortunately, sets up legal operators for failure in some
states (as has been amply demonstrated in California, which allowed
the illicit market to proliferate for over a decade).
Understandably, most…
