The University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) released a study analyzing the potential economic benefits of legalizing and taxing marijuana. The researchers, led by BBER Director Dr. Patrick Barkey, project that Montana will generate $236 million in new revenue from marijuana sales by 2026. Click here to read the full report. The study anticipates a significant boost will come from tourists visiting Montana,…

We wanted to share with you a study performed by Professor Fred Cartensen, Director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis (CCEA), and commissioned by MPP with the goal of better understanding the potential economic effects of cannabis legalization in Connecticut. The estimates are conservative and provide insight into the financial possibilities that lie ahead once Connecticut begins to regulate and tax cannabis like other states in the region and throughout the country. The study projects…

Three out of five Rhode Islanders agree that it’s time to legalize marijuana for adult use. The conversation that should be taking place among state policymakers is not if Rhode Island should legalize and regulate marijuana. They should be discussing how it will be done. Yesterday, we published a comprehensive new report addressing the best way for Rhode Island to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana. We are sharing this document with lawmakers in an effort to accelerate the process and move us…

In a recently released report titled “Ending the Drug Wars,” five previous winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics have endorsed the London School of Economics' IDEAS center’s findings. The report looked at “the high costs and unintended consequences of drug prohibitions on public health and safety, national security and law enforcement,” according to the Huffington Post. "The pursuit of a militarized and enforcement-led global ‘war on drugs’ strategy has produced enormous negative outcomes and collateral…

The National Lawyers Guild, a public interest and human rights bar organization, released a report on June 25 highlighting the failures of marijuana prohibition and suggesting strategies for legalization initiatives. The report, “High Crimes: Strategies to Further Marijuana Legalization Initiatives,” recommends both alternative policies for the U.S. government to pursue and strategies for drug-reform advocates to employ. The key recommendations are: reframe drug use as a social and public health…