According to "Altered
State?
Assessing How Marijuana
Legalization in California Could
Influence Marijuana Consumption
and Public Budgets," legalization will likely cause pot prices to
drop to less than 20 percent of today's market cost. The plummeting
price will cause consumption to skyrocket -- as it always has with
prices declines, the report says. But it's impossible to predict the
exact consumption increase because pot prices have never declined by
anything close to 80 percent. Prop. 19's main touted benefit of
increased tax revenues is also hazy, the report claimed, thanks to the
possibility of widespread evasion of the proposition's proposed
marijuana tax.
According to the report:
Although thestate could see large increases in consumption and substantial positive budget effects, it could
also see increases in consumption and low revenues due to tax evasion or a "race to the bottom"
in terms of local tax rates.
Consumption will increase, but it is unclear how much because we know neither the
shape of the demand curve nor the level of tax evasion (which reduces revenues and the prices that consumers face).
and @SFWeekly
