ABSTRACT

A handful of states in the US have begun repealing cannabis prohibition. Starting in 2012, citizens of Colorado and Washington voted to regulate the supply, distribution and use of cannabis by adults for any purpose. In less than five years, seven more jurisdictions, comprising a fifth of the total US population, would also loosen their cannabis laws on similar grounds. The emerging regulatory framework and policy goals differ across states; such experimentation provides insight for research. While most states have adopted a commercial regulatory model, much like that for alcohol, allowing private, for-profit companies to produce and distribute cannabis, a few have opted for home-grow schemes that avoid the emergence of a cannabis industry. Regulatory design varies among states when it comes to license allocation, state-wide production caps, taxation, onsite consumption, marketing and products sold. Nonetheless, such policy experimentation in the states remains in conflict with federal law, impeding regulatory harmonization and the emergence of national cannabis firms that engage in interstate trade. This chapter explores the regulatory differences across states, detailing some preliminary impacts in the early years of relaxing cannabis prohibition.