Here are slides from my panel presentation at the Ecole d’économie de Paris (Paris School of Economics) May 24 2019: Paris 24 mai 2019 for the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy, http://www.issdp.org.
They include this song, to the tune of “Dear Abby” by John Prine:
Dear Public Officials who legalize weed:
Don’t miss out on revenue your people need.
A price-based percentage tax won’t be secure
‘Cause prices will tumble as markets mature.
The “liberty movement” wants taxes to fall.
But vanishing “price” taxes undermine y’all.
Price taxes vanish.
To the relief of the audience, I did not sing.
And here’s the wrap-up:
Law enforcement is critical.
Taxing only by price is weak.
Don’t try to tax flower by THC.
Big Business is coming (vs. Social Equity).
Government sales are better than taxes.
The Center for New Revenue 