Cannabis in Canada

It's not so easy for a heavily regulated legal market to compete with an unregulated black market.  The NY Times has the story:

After ‘Green Rush,’ Canada’s Legal Pot Suppliers Are Stumbling. Most marijuana producers in Canada are still reporting staggering losses two and a half years after legalization.  By Ian Austen

"When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government’s legalized marijuana in 2018, a primary goal was to create a more equitable justice system — not a major new business sector.

"Investors, however, thought otherwise, and in the time leading up to legalization, a “green rush” swept the Toronto Stock Exchange. Money poured into companies starting up to service not only the Canadian market, but also eyeing other opportunities, particularly the U.S. market, where more states were embracing legalization.

...

"Even with a slight recovery propelled by the spreading legalization in the United States — New York legalized marijuana last month, and voters in four states backed legalization in November — one marijuana stock index is still down about 70 percent from its peak in 2018.

"Two and a half years after legalization, most marijuana producers in Canada are still reporting staggering losses.

"And a major new competitor is looming: Mexico’s lawmakers legalized recreational pot use last month. So the business climate for Canada’s growers could become even more challenging."

Cross border sales of cannabis between Oregon (legal) and Idaho (illegal)

 It's hard to effectively ban a transaction in one jurisdiction if it is legal just across the border.  The patchwork of marijuana laws in the U.S. makes this clear.

Politico has the story:

Border weed: How the hometown of tater tots became a cannabis capital. Ontario, Ore., has nine dispensaries for 11,000 residents. But most of their customers are coming from Idaho.  By NATALIE FERTIG

"Marijuana remains illegal in Idaho. In fact, it is one of only two states left in the nation that bans all forms of cannabis, including hemp and CBD products. But drive across the border into Oregon, and Idahoans can purchase every conceivable type of cannabis product, from THC infused artisan grape taffy to 1.5 gram pre-rolled joints.

"In the year and a half since Ontario began allowing weed sales, nine dispensaries have opened. It’s estimated that the city will generate $120 to $130 million in annual sales when the cannabis industry is fully up and running — that’s more than 10 percent of Oregon’s sales in 2020.

...

"Ontario is just one of dozens of border communities around the country that have been transformed into marijuana boom towns thanks to the country’s patchwork quilt of cannabis laws. Eighteen states now embrace full legalization, and all of them but California and Alaska share a border with at least one state where cannabis is illegal. Spokane, Wash., Sauget, Ill., Trinidad, Colo., and Great Barrington, Mass., are just a few towns where marijuana entrepreneurs have found fertile ground in these border regions between legal and non-legal states.

...

"People are willing to travel far for legal cannabis, even if illicit products are available in their hometown. Michelle drives four hours from southeastern Idaho every few months to visit Hotbox in Ontario. She said it’s worth the trip for the peace of mind.

“The problem is, you don't know what you're getting [in the illicit market],” said 46-year-old Michelle — who asked that her last name be left out because she planned to take products back across the border into Idaho. There’s less risk in consuming the Oregon products, she added, because you know “it didn't get transported in a gas tank.”

Marijuana bans continue to fall: NY and New Mexico, with more to come

 The Washington Post has the story:

New Mexico set to legalize marijuana as New York ends its pot prohibition   By Katie Shepherd

"Capping off a momentous week for legal cannabis, state legislators in New Mexico on Wednesday voted to allow recreational use of the drug — a vote that came hours after New York’s governor signed a bill legalizing marijuana.

"New Mexico’s Cannabis Regulation Act will eliminate criminal penalties for possession and use of marijuana for adults over 21 years old beginning in 2022 and create a framework for licensing sellers and taxing drug sales at up to 20 percent.

...

"The move sets up New Mexico to join 15 other states that have fully decriminalized the drug and came on the same day that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) asked state legislators to speed up his state’s legalization to allow adults to start using the drug as early as July.

...

"Despite widespread changes on the state level, marijuana remains illegal under federal laws. The discrepancy causes obstacles for the cannabis industry, which has been locked out of traditional banking arrangements and interstate commerce. Even in states where cannabis use is legal, some government employees have been told not to use the drug or face termination."

Kim Krawiec to UVA

 Controversial markets are coming to Virginia:

Here's the announcement from the U. of Virginia:

Kimberly Krawiec, Expert in Controversial Markets, To Join Faculty

"Kimberly D. Krawiec, a leading expert in market regulation, will join the University of Virginia School of Law faculty in the fall.

...

“Kim is a major contemporary voice on misconduct and trade within forbidden or contested markets,” Dean Risa Goluboff said in welcoming Krawiec to the faculty.

...

"Krawiec, who visited at UVA Law in 2004, has taught both large lecture classes and smaller ones, including her recent favorites Taboo Trades and Forbidden Markets, and Advanced Contracts. “Taboo Trades” is also the name of the podcast she launched in August, which so far has covered topics ranging from marijuana legalization to blood and other “repugnant transactions.”

Marijuana in the House (but not yet in the Senate)

 The NY Times has the story:

House Passes Landmark Bill Decriminalizing Marijuana  By Catie Edmondson, Dec. 4, 2020

"The House passed sweeping legislation that would decriminalize marijuana and expunge nonviolent marijuana-related convictions. The measure is all but doomed in the Republican-led Senate.

"The 228-164 vote to approve the measure was bipartisan, and it was the first time either chamber of Congress had ever endorsed the legalization of cannabis. The bill would remove the drug from the Controlled Substances Act and authorize a 5 percent tax on marijuana that would fund community and small business grant programs to help those most impacted by the criminalization of marijuana.

...

"The legislation intends to give states power and incentives to enact their own reforms, and its passage came as states around the county, including some conservative-leaning ones, have become increasingly open to decriminalizing marijuana amid a growing consensus that the war on drugs has been destructive. Fifteen states have legalized recreational cannabis, and voters in five states last month voted on legalization issues, bringing the number of states where medical marijuana is legal to 35."

New Zealand votes to legalise euthanasia but not marijuana

 The Guardian has the story:

New Zealand votes to legalise euthanasia in referendum--Results must be enacted by the new Labour government by November 2021, but second referendum on legalising cannabis fails to find support  by Eleanor Ainge Roy 

"New Zealanders have voted to legalise euthanasia for those with a terminal illness, in a victory for campaigners who say people suffering extreme pain should be given a choice over how and when to bring their life to a close.

"The decision on whether to legalise euthanasia appeared as a referendum question on the 17 October general election ballot paper, alongside a second referendum question on whether to legalise cannabis – which did not succeed, according to preliminary results.

"The results of the euthanasia referendum are binding and will see the act come into effect 12 months from the final results – on 6 November 2021. Assisted dying will be administered by the Ministry of Health.

...

"The vote makes New Zealand only the seventh country in the world to legalise assisted dying."

America's "war on drugs" appears to be winding down after this election

 Vox has the story:

Election Day was a major rejection of the war on drugs--In every state where marijuana legalization or another drug policy reform was on the ballot, it won.  By German Lopez

"In every state where a ballot measure asked Americans to reconsider the drug war, voters sided with reformers. In Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota, voters legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. In Mississippi and South Dakota (separate from the full legalization measure), voters legalized medical marijuana.

"In Oregon, voters decriminalized — but not legalized — all drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Also in Oregon, voters legalized the use of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug found in magic mushrooms, for supervised therapeutic uses.

"In Washington, DC, voters in effect decriminalized psychedelic plants, following the lead of several other cities.

"With its vote, Oregon became the first state in the US to decriminalize all drugs in modern times. And marijuana is now legalized in 15 states and DC, although DC still doesn’t allow sales."

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Update: and here's Kristof in the NYT:

Republicans and Democrats Agree: End the War on Drugs--Voters in red and blue states may be in accord on nothing else, but they passed measures to liberalize drug laws.  By Nicholas Kristof

"In Arizona, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota, voters decisively passed measures liberalizing marijuana laws. Marijuana will now be legal for medical use in about 35 states and for recreational use in 15 states.

...

"Under the new Oregon measure, manufacturing or selling drugs will still be crimes, but possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine would be equivalent to a traffic ticket. The aim is to steer people into treatment so that they can get help with their addictions."

Caught between a block and a high place: legal cannabis firms struggling to compete with the still thriving black market

Blocked from using federal bankruptcy protections, cannabis businesses that are legal under state laws but illegal under federal laws are facing financial difficulties.
Bloomberg has the story:

Pot Firms’ Grim Reality: Cash Crunch, No U.S. Bankruptcy Access

"It was only a year ago that exuberance enveloped the marijuana industry. Legalization was spreading and the growth potential seemed boundless.

"But that bubble has burst as the reality of a difficult regulatory landscape sunk in. Since March, stocks are down by about two-thirds. Capital markets have largely frozen for all but the strongest companies. And now a cash crunch is leaving some on the verge of going bust. Only, thanks to the illegal status of cannabis under U.S. federal laws, firms there are blocked from seeking protection in bankruptcy court."
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And this from the LA Times:
Two years in, California’s legal marijuana industry is stuck. Should voters step in?
 PATRICK MCGREEVY DEC. 24, 2019
" Two years after California began licensing pot shops, the industry remains so outmatched by the black market that a state panel recently joined some legalization supporters in calling for significant change
...
"In its annual draft report, the Cannabis Advisory Committee warned Gov. Gavin Newsom and California legislators that high taxes, overly burdensome regulations and local control issues posed debilitating obstacles to the legal marijuana market.
...
“as much as 80% of the cannabis market in California remains illicit.”
...
"The 22-member advisory panel — made up of industry leaders, civil rights activists, local officials, law enforcement and health experts — noted that California is expected to generate $3.1 billion in licensed pot sales in 2019, making it the largest market for legal cannabis in the world. But nearly three times as much — $8.7 billion — is expected to be spent on unlicensed sales."

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And in Canada (from the NYT):
From Canada’s Legal High, a Business Letdown
Investors poured money into Canada’s marijuana market, but one year after legalization, the euphoria has evaporated.

"...provincial governments in Ontario and Quebec, whose residents account for about two-thirds of Canada’s population, have opened or licensed legal pot shops at a glacial pace — despite a clear demand. Potential customers are still underserved with just 24 legal marijuana shops for Ontario’s 17.5 million residents. So many are still buying on the black market.

"And freed from taxation, the black market is generally cheaper across the country.
...
"Despite the crushing business disappointments, there has been a bright spot: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s experiment in legalizing cannabis has not turned Canada into a stoner nation, as was widely feared.

"Marijuana-impaired motorists are not menacing the nation’s highways, and workers are not getting high on the job. There has not even been much change in marijuana use, except for a small rise among people over 65, according to Statistics Canada, the government census agency.
**********

And, from the Washington Post, internationally:
America’s marijuana growers are the best in the world, but federal laws are keeping them out of global markets
Federal prohibitions are getting in the way of efforts to grow the U.S. marijuana business into a global industry. That’s allowed Canadian cannabis growers to dominate the export market.
Markian Hawryluk, Dec. 27, 2019

"Because marijuana is legal in many states but still illegal federally, marijuana growers are unable to ship their products to other countries or even other American states that have legalized the drug. So while U.S. cannabis firms have driven product innovation and mastered large-scale grow operations, they restlessly wait for the export curtain to lift.
...
"With 11 states plus Washington, D.C., approving recreational use and 33 states legalizing medical marijuana, industry insiders believe marijuana may be legalized nationally in the near future, greatly expanding their market.

"In November, the House Judiciary Committee passed a bill with more than 50 co-sponsors that would effectively make marijuana legal in the U.S. Though unlikely to pass Congress immediately, it is seen as a sign of hope for the future."

The still struggling legal market for cannabis

Here's an indirect update on the state of the American cannabis market, from the WSJ (hemp is a source for cannabidiol, or CBD):

Farmers Rushed Into Hemp. Now They Face a Glut.
Prices for the crops are falling, and some growers are struggling to unload their product

"A rush of farmers seeking to grow hemp, which became legal to cultivate in the U.S. last year, is creating a glut, damping prices and leaving some farmers struggling to unload their product. It is among the growing pains in the nascent industry for hemp-derived products—a potentially lucrative market, but one beset by regulatory uncertainty, financing constraints and other challenges.
...
"Hemp—which is the same plant species as marijuana, but with a minimal amount of the psychoactive compound in pot—was farmed legally in the U.S. until a 1937 federal law began a period of hemp prohibition. It became legal again because of a provision of the 2018 federal farm bill."

Controversial markets, from kidneys to marijuana at the SF Surgical Society

This evening I'll speak at the meeting of the San Francisco Surgical Society:

November Meeting – Controversial Markets: from Kidneys to Marijuana, by Professor Alvin Roth, 2012 Nobel Laureate in Economics.
November 13 @ 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm PST
Family Club
545 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA 94108

Mark Kleiman (1951-2019)

From the NY Times:
Mark Kleiman, Who Fought to Lift Ban on Marijuana, Dies at 68
"Kelly Kleiman, his sister and only immediate survivor, said the cause was lymphoma and complications of a kidney transplant he received from her in April.
...
"Beginning in the mid-1980s, Professor Kleiman was best known for what was then a cry in the wilderness: a thesis that wars on drugs waged on the basis of enforcement had failed; that alcohol does more harm than cannabis; and that the cost of banning marijuana altogether outweighed any of the benefits of prohibition. At the same time, he warned that complete legalization remained a high-risk gamble."

From Reason magazine

RIP Mark Kleiman, Who Brought Rigor, Dispassion, and Candor to a Frequently Overheated Drug Policy Debate
The widely quoted and consulted academic died yesterday at the age of 68.
JACOB SULLUM | 7.22.2019 12:50 PM

"Back in 1989, Mark Kleiman published a book, Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control, that exemplified his calm, methodical, just-the-facts approach to drug policy. Kleiman argued that federal efforts to curtail cannabis consumption were ineffective and diverted resources from programs that had a better public safety payoff. Three years later, in Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results, he came out in favor of legalizing marijuana, arguing that the costs of prohibition outweighed its benefits. At a time when three-quarters of Americans still supported marijuana prohibition, Kleiman's position was striking, especially coming from a widely quoted and consulted academic who had the ear of policy makers."
*********

From The Intercept:
Remembering Mark Kleiman, a Relentlessly Thoughtful Scholar of Drug Policy, by Maia Szalavitz

"As an opponent of drug war dogma, he was willing to explore alternative approaches to punishment, rather than argue for it to be abolished entirely. That’s a sharp departure from much of the left, which has often been content to firmly oppose the moral stain that is mass incarceration without seriously grappling with what alternative policies might look like. At its best, Kleiman’s work and teachings made people on all sides think much more deeply about their positions, regardless of where they ultimately came down.

"Kleiman supported going after drug dealers, but selectively targeting only the most violent and disruptive, to avoid, essentially, creating evolutionary pressure in markets that would favor the most ruthless and cause the most harm."
**********

From the National Review:

Mark Kleiman Was the Nation’s Greatest Thinker on Drug Policy

By GABRIEL ROSSMAN

"As expressed in its most programmatic form in Against Excess, Kleiman applied rigorous economic logic, but with the curious inversion that the markets he studied have severe externalities and ruin the lives of their most devoted consumers. Market failure and high transaction costs are policy successes when the commodity is poison, and so good policy means encouraging bad market design. For instance, Kleiman favored a noncommercial approach to marijuana decriminalization precisely because he expected nonprofit or state-operated dispensaries to be less efficient than for-profit firms, and in particular less likely to grow the user base through advertising and make intense use more convenient. The billboards advertising dispensaries, and even marijuana delivery, that saturate Los Angeles are exactly what Kleiman thought sensible decriminalization should avoid.

"But just as good market design has to be careful, so does deliberately bad market design. A major argument in Against Excess is that if you make selling drugs risky by locking up drug dealers (or encouraging them to shoot each other over territory), you build in a risk premium to the price, which draws in suppliers who don’t mind risk. The better approach is to create a deadweight loss so you don’t encourage more supply. For illegal drugs, make it a time-consuming hassle to score. For legal drugs like tobacco and alcohol, impose stiff excise taxes. In both cases the consumer faces costs that do not benefit, and therefore encourage, sellers. These costs might not discourage addicts in the short run, but long-run demand is relatively “elastic”: Increased costs from hassle or taxes can discourage potential users from starting and encourage existing addicts to quit.

"A curious consequence of Kleiman’s logic is that he consistently preferred an emphasis on retail markets rather than high-level distributors or source-country trafficking. His reasoning was that street prices substantially reflect retail markup. In the United States and most European countries, retail markup is about half of the purity-adjusted street price for cocaine and heroin, and the domestic wholesale price itself is about five to ten times higher than the wholesale price in source countries. Source-country interdiction efforts do increase wholesale prices, but this has little effect on retail prices and destabilizes countries. For instance, if you have read Killing Pablo or seen Narcos, you know about the escalation of the dirty war against the Medellin cartel by American intelligence and the Colombian National Police in the early 1990s, but this bloodbath had only a trivial and short-lived impact on retail cocaine prices in the United States, which is still cheaper than it was in the crack era."

The politics of prostitution in the U.S.

The NY Times has the story:
Could Prostitution Be the Next Vice to Be Decriminalized?  By Jesse McKinley

"Marijuana has gone mainstream, casino gambling is everywhere and sports wagering is spreading. Could prostitution be next?

Lawmakers across the country are beginning to reconsider how to handle prostitution, as calls for decriminalization are slowly gaining momentum.

"Decriminalization bills have been introduced in Maineand Massachusetts; a similar bill is expected to be introduced to the City Council in Washington D.C. in June; and lawmakers in Rhode Island held hearings last month on a proposal to study the impact of decriminalizing prostitution.

"New York may be next: Some Democratic lawmakers are about to propose a comprehensive decriminalization bill that would eliminate penalties for both women and men engaged in prostitution, as well as the johns whom they service.

...

"The debate is unquestionably polarizing in many circles, even among advocates for sex-trafficked and abused women who fear that creating a legal path for prostitution will not eliminate, but rather actually encourage, underground sex trafficking.

...

"Still, the issue has crept into the Democratic Party’s nascent presidential campaign: In late February, Senator Kamala Harris of California became the first candidate to endorse some manner of decriminalization, an idea also floated by another contender, the former Colorado governor, John Hickenlooper.

...

"Supporters of decriminalization see their efforts as part of a larger, decades-long liberalization of American mores, like lifting Sunday bans on selling alcohol and legalizing marijuana. They also frame the issue as an act of harm-reduction for prostitutes and a tacit admission that modern law enforcement and age-old moral indignation has done little to stem the practice.

“We’ve learned this lesson many times with the prohibition of alcohol, or criminalization of abortion, or even the criminalization of marijuana: The black market creates dark circumstances and provides cover for a lot of violence and exploitation,” said Kaytlin Bailey, a comedian and former prostitute who serves as the spokeswoman for Decriminalize Sex Work, which was founded last year."

Legal marijuana in California struggling to compete with the well established black market

Yesterday I posted about the competition the legal market for marijuana in Canada is facing from the pre-existing illegal market. Today we turn to California. It's still to early to draw conclusions, but one market design lesson is that even if the attraction of a legal market is regulation and tax revenue, regulators and tax authorities may have to ease up at least in the beginning if they want the legal market to out-compete the legacy black market.

In the NY Times, Thomas Fuller has been following the market(s):

‘Getting Worse, Not Better’: Illegal Pot Market Booming in California Despite Legalization  By Thomas Fuller

"It’s been a little more than a year since California legalized marijuana — the largest such experiment in the United States — but law enforcement officials say the unlicensed, illegal market is still thriving and in some areas has even expanded.
...
"The struggles of the licensed pot market in California are distinct from the experience of other states that have legalized cannabis in recent years. Sales in Colorado, Oregon and Washington grew well above 50 percent for each of the first three years of legalization, although Oregon now also has a large glut of pot.

"But no other state has an illegal market on the scale of California’s, and those illicit sales are cannibalizing the revenue of licensed businesses and in some cases, experts say, forcing them out of business.
...
"California gives cities wide latitude to regulate cannabis, resulting in a confusing patchwork of regulation. Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego have laws allowing cannabis businesses, but most smaller cities and towns in the state do not — 80 percent of California’s nearly 500 municipalities do not allow retail marijuana businesses. The ballot measure legalizing recreational marijuana passed in 2016 with 57 percent approval, but that relatively broad support has not translated to the local level. Cities like Compton or Laguna Beach decisively rejected allowing pot shops.

"Regulators cite this tepid embrace by California municipalities as one of many reasons for the state’s persistent and pervasive illegal market. Only 620 cannabis shops have been licensed in California so far. Colorado, with a population one-sixth the size of California, has 562 licensed recreational marijuana stores.
...
"And the monetary incentives of trafficking also remain powerful: The price of cannabis products in places like Illinois, New York or Connecticut are typically many times higher than in California."

Competition between legal and illegal cannabis in Canada

Canadian cannabis competition:

Canada's legal weed struggles to light up as smokers stick to black market
Six months after legalisation, licensed producers are unable to keep up with the demand or quality of neighborhood dealers

"Six months after Canada became the first G7 country to legalise marijuana, the bold experiment is still struggling to get off the ground.

"Legal producers were unable to meet the sudden surge in demand, and struggled for weeks to fill orders, leaving marijuana stores with empty shelves.

"As a result, the vast majority of cannabis sales in the country – roughly $5bn – are made on the illegal markets, compared to $2bn in legal sales, according to government figures from January 2019.
...
"The Tobins are also competing against illegal “grey market” stores, which alongside marijuana sell edibles and hashish – items that licensed stores cannot yet offer.
...
"Canadians who purchase their cannabis from illegal sources also save a significant amount of money: the average price for a gram of illegal cannabis is 36% cheaper than its legal counterpart, Statistics Canada has found."
********

Here's a price survey and other stats from Statistics Canada: Cannabis Stats Hub

Headlines that could be dated April 1

Green-haired turtle that breathes through its genitals added to endangered list
With its punky green mohican the striking Mary river turtle joins a new ZSL list of the world’s most vulnerable reptiles

***********

Clipping Study of Male Organ Size
Professor halts study on link between size and self-esteem, saying publicity hurt her effort.

************
Sorry, Dutch Pastafarians, but you still can’t wear a colander on your government ID ... yet

"De Wilde, 32, is a Dutch law student who subscribes to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Pastafarianism. But this week, the Netherlands' Council of State determined that her belief system doesn’t count as religion and thus rejected request to keep the pasta strainer on her head in her government ID photos."
**************

Maine officials say getting lobsters stoned with marijuana before killing them is illegal
**************

Florida gas station owner’s microwave sign: ‘Do not warm urine’
************

Indian airport police told to cut down on smiling
"They will move from a "broad smile system" to a "sufficient smile system", the Indian Express says."
***********

10 stomachs, 32 brains and 18 testicles – a day inside the UK's only leech farm
*************

US troops drink Iceland capital’s entire beer supply in one weekend
*******

Woman ticketed for not holding escalator handrail to be heard by Supreme Court [Canada]
*********

Blind creature that buries head in sand named after Donald Trump
"A newly discovered blind and burrowing amphibian is to be officially named Dermophis donaldtrumpi, in recognition of the US president’s climate change denial."
*****************

Tesla Model 3 driver again dies in crash with trailer, Autopilot not yet ruled out
*************

A Doping Scandal In Bridge? The World's Top Player Fails Drug Test
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French couple barred from calling son Griezmann Mbappe after football heroes
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World’s Most Expensive Perfume Available for US$1.3 Million
"Dubbed SHUMUKH (meaning “deserving the highest” in Arabic), the unisex perfume sits in a bottle adorned with 3,571 diamonds (totaling 38.55 carats) and other pieces of gold, silver, pearls, and topaz, and it can be customized with even further jewels, according to the company.
The perfume is currently on display at The Dubai Mall through March 30."

Repugnance in the runup to elections

Primary elections give political hopefuls a chance to try out their views on many things, including controversial transactions and markets, that some find repugnant.  The many potential Democratic candidates should give us an opportunity to hear about some of those (although none of them are likely to be part of platforms in the general election...)

Here's a CNN headline that cuts to the chase:

Drugs, sex work and gambling embraced by 2020 hopefuls
"A Democrat wants to legalize sex work. A Republican governor is trying to legalize sports betting in his state. The vast majority of Democrats running for President want to legalize marijuana.
...
"The effort led by Sen. Cory Booker to legalize marijuana doesn't really even feel that controversial. Not all of his potential rivals for the Democratic primary have signed on, but most have.
...
"Sen. Kamala Harris supports legalizing sex work, which she discussed with the website The Root, complaining that current law ends up hurting women more than johns and pimps who can benefit from prostitution.
"When you're talking about consenting adults, you know, yes, we should consider that we can't criminalize consensual behavior as long as no one is being harmed," she said."
...

"A 2018 Supreme Court decision cleared the way and among those pushing for sports betting is Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican successful in a blue state and who has publicly teased a primary challenge to Trump.

"The odds are good that we're going to have sports betting," Hogan joked in January."

Marijuana debate in New Hampshire

The NY Times has the story:

Legalize Pot? Amid Opioid Crisis, Some New Hampshire Leaders Say No Way

"MANCHESTER, N.H. — The push to legalize recreational marijuana is sweeping the Northeast: Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine have done it, and the governors of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey say they want their states to do it, too.

"But in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu and some other state leaders are opposed. The problem, they say, is not just about pot. It’s about opioids — drugs that have ripped across this state, devastating thousands of residents and leaving New Hampshire in recent years with one of the highest per capita death rates from opioid-related overdoses. After so many deaths, so much misery and so much state money spent fighting opioids, the opponents say, how could anyone even think about easing access to some other drug?

"There is little consensus about a relationship between marijuana use and opioid addiction, and the debate in New Hampshire, where a key vote on the issue is expected this week, is tapping into a national discussion about whether marijuana is a gateway drug or something else entirely."

Legal and illegal markets for marijuana in Canada

The Canadian newly legal market for marijuana is having trouble competing with the illegal market. It may be a question of design:

Canada legalized pot in October. But its black market is still going strong

"When the government launched Canada’s official recreational-pot market on Oct. 17, it was banking on the idea that many users would prefer to buy legally and that the black market would quickly begin to fade. It says things seem on track, with “early reports of a 65 percent reduction for illegally sourced products,” according to a spokeswoman for the minister in charge of the cannabis file.

But there are also signs things aren’t going as expected.

In a national poll Ipsos conducted for Global News a month after legalization, more than a third of Canadian cannabis users said they were still buying from their regular dealers and hadn’t even tried the legal system.  

...

"The government’s most jolting decision, illegal dealers here said, was to structure the new industry in a way that tended to bar them from it. In 2015, when the government first committed to legalization, many of them planned to apply to open private shops.

“All of us thought, ‘Okay . . . I’m going to be able to come out of the shadows and I’m going to be able to pay taxes,’ ” David said. “As time went on, it became clear that’s not what they were after.”

"In Quebec and several other Canadian provinces, all cannabis stores are government-run, leaving no path to legality for people like David, who has worked in the underground industry for more than a decade, operating his business full time for several years."

Market design at the ASSA on Saturday

I'll attend as many of these as I can today.
A choice of three at 8am:

Advances in Dynamic Mechanism Design

Paper Session

 Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019   8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

 Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International 2

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Vasiliki Skreta, University of Texas-Austin, University College London, and CEPR

Mechanism Design with Limited Commitment

Laura Doval

,

California Institute of Technology

Vasiliki Skreta

, 

University of Texas-Austin, University College London, and CEPR

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 607.72 KB)
•  Download PowerPoint (PDF, 262.74 KB)

Fiscal Rules and Discretion under Limited Enforcement

Marina Halac

,

Yale University

Pierre Yared

,

Columbia University and NBER

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 5.84 MB)

Social Insurance, Information Revelation, and Lack of Commitment

Mikhail Golosov

,

University of Chicago

Luigi Iovino

,

Bocconi University and IGIER

•  View Abstract

Full Surplus Extraction in Mechanism Design with Information Disclosure

Daniel Krahmer

,

University of Bonn

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 247.54 KB)

Discussant(s)

Juan Ortner

,

Boston University

Rahul Deb

,

University of Toronto

Christopher Sleet

,

Carnegie Mellon University

Xianwen Shi

,

University of Toronto

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Practical Considerations in Deploying Matching Mechanisms

Paper Session

 Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019   8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

 Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International 9

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Alex Rees-Jones, University of Pennsylvania

How Well Do Structural Demand Models Work? Counterfactual Predictions in School Choice

Parag Pathak

,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Peng Shi

,

University of Southern California

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 4.21 MB)

Reducing Congestion in Matching Markets Using Informative Signals

Itai Ashlagi

,

Stanford University

Mark Braverman

,

Princeton University

Yash Kanoria

,

Columbia University

Peng Shi

,

University of Southern California

•  View Abstract

Obvious Mistakes in a Strategically Simple College Admissions Environment: Causes and Consequences

Ran Shorrer

, 

Pennsylvania State University

Sandor Sovago

,

Vrije University Amsterdam

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 1.07 MB)

An Experimental Investigation of Preference Misrepresentation in the Residency Match

Alex Rees-Jones

,

University of Pennsylvania

Samuel Skowronek

,

University of Pennsylvania

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 741.80 KB)

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Auctions & Mechanism Design

Paper Session

 Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019   8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

 Atlanta Marriott Marquis, L503

Hosted By: ECONOMETRIC SOCIETY

• Chair: Scott Duke Kominers, Harvard University

Knowing What Matters to Others: Information Selection in Auctions

Nina Bobkova

, 

European University Institute (EUI)

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 807.62 KB)

Crowdsourcing and Optimal Market Design

Bobak Pakzad-Hurson

, 

Brown University

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 526.91 KB)

Mechanism Design with Ambiguous Transfers

Huiyi Guo

, 

Texas A&M University

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 474.84 KB)
•  Download PowerPoint (PDF, 258.92 KB)

Auctions with Entry Versus Entry in Auctions

Jiafeng Chen

, 

Harvard University

Scott Duke Kominers

, 

Harvard University

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Xianwen Shi

, 

University of Toronto

Rahul Deb

, 

University of Toronto

Luciano de Castro

, 

University of Iowa

Benjamin Brooks

, 

University of Chicago

***************

Here's one that combines market design with repugnance:

Sex, Drugs, Kidneys and Migrants: Economic Analyses of Contested Transactions

Paper Session

 Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019   10:15 AM - 12:15 PM

 Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International 5

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Nicola Lacetera, University of Toronto

Testing for Repugnance in Economic Transactions: Evidence from Guest Work in the Gulf

Michael A. Clemens

, 

Center For Global Development

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 933.18 KB)

Paying for Kidneys? A Randomized Survey and Choice Experiment

Mario Macis

, 

Johns Hopkins University

Julio Elias

, 

University of CEMA

Nicola Lacetera

, 

University of Toronto

•  View Abstract

Federalism, Partial Prohibition, and Cross Border Sales: Evidence from Recreational Marijuana

Benjamin Hansen

, 

University of Oregon

Keaton Miller

, 

University of Oregon

Caroline Weber

, 

University of Oregon

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 3.83 MB)

Crimes against Morality: Unintended Consequences of Criminalizing Sex Work

Manisha Shah

, 

University of California-Los Angeles

Lisa Cameron

, 

University of Melbourne

Jennifer Muz

, 

George Washington University

•  View Abstract

Craigslist’s Effect on Violence Against Women

Scott Cunningham

, 

Baylor University

Gregory DeAngelo

, 

West Virginia University

John Tripp

, 

Baylor University

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Matthew Weinzierl

, 

Harvard University

Stefanie Stantcheva

, 

Harvard University

Jennifer Doleac

, 

Texas A&M University

Nicola Lacetera

, 

University of Toronto

***********

New Advances in Matching with Contracts

Paper Session

 Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019   2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

 Atlanta Marriott Marquis, International 10

Hosted By: AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION

• Chair: Larry Samuelson, Yale University

Matching with Complementary Contracts

Marzena Rostek

, 

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Nathan Yoder

, 

University of Georgia

•  View Abstract
 
•  Download Preview (PDF, 443.50 KB)

Chain Stability in Trading Networks

John William Hatfield

, 

University of Texas-Austin

Scott Duke Kominers

, 

Harvard Business School

Alexandru Nichifor

, 

University of Melbourne

Michael Ostrovsky

, 

Stanford University

Alexander Westkamp

, 

University of Cologne

•  View Abstract

Trading Networks with Frictions

Tamás Fleiner

,

Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Eötvös Loránd University

Ravi Jagadeesan

, 

Harvard University

Zsuzsanna Jankó

, 

Corvinus University

Alexander Teytelboym

, 

University of Oxford

•  View Abstract

Carpooling and the Economics of Self-Driving Cars

Michael Ostrovsky

, 

Stanford University

Michael Schwarz

, 

Microsoft

•  View Abstract

Discussant(s)

Scott Duke Kominers

, 

Harvard Business School

Ravi Jagadeesan

, 

Harvard University

Larry Samuelson

, 

Yale University

Edward L. Glaeser

, 

Harvard University

********