In a new article by Libertarian monthly magzine Reason, author J.D. Tuccille laments the state of Washingtons recent dealings with Marijuana, which was voted to be made recreationally legal in 2012. Tucille writes that despite mostly roaring approval of the move, the government has decided to take action anyway and passed a law last year which forces vendors to become licensed and also puts a strict cap on the number of licensed vendors allowed to operate within the city of Tacoma. When put into effect, there were close to 70 unlicensed vendors in the city, but the new cap puts the number of licensed vendors allowed only at 16. Naturally Tuccille sees the absurdity of this and writes, “So, let me get this straight. A market that sustained 70 businesses will be adequately served by 16 after the rest are closed by government order? That’s the official story, and politicians and bureaucrats are sticking to it.”
The author voices his frustration with the seeming absurdity of these regulations and the vendors of the state and the consumers buying from the vendors have a point. Government officials though have no issue with this and are fine following the recommendations from the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. Tuccille accurately notes that the state is trying to centrally plan how Marijuana is sold instead of letting it be allowed on a truly free market. They even admitted as such, as Tuccille notes, in a interview with consultant Mark Kleinman at UCLA.
“The free market is an excellent system for maximizing consumption. That’s why I don’t want it to apply to this product,” he told an interviewer an interviewer at UCLA where he worked before moving to New York University. “I wouldn’t want that system for alcohol either, but we lost that battle.”
Voters in Washington standing up for their individual liberties of consumption were a shining moment for personal freedom across the country, but its become obvious that the Washington government never really shared that outlook on liberty(when does government ever?) and is trying to make weed consumption hard as possible for consumers. Tuccille claims that the state trying to plan the sale of Marijuana has caused and will continue to cause a huge spike in black market dealers due to the ridiculous restrictions and taxation on legal vendors. Governments seemingly continue to believe that if they make things as hard as possible for consumers to aquire something(cigarettes too for example) then there will be suddenly be less people consuming them. Obviously this plan is hugely flawed and many consumers will turn towards the less restricted black market for their weed now. Something the government was specifically trying to avoid.
Is this an end run around the voters who have legally voiced their collective will?. Arbitrary restrictions and taxations put in place to frustrate the will of the voters is something all citizens may want to be concerned about.
