Amid ongoing cannabis price compression and fierce competition with the illicit market, University of California, Davis economists Daniel Sumner and Robin Goldstein have been analyzing these industry challenges to assist plant-touching and ancillary cannabis businesses, politicians and regulators.
In June 2022, the economists published the book, “Can Legal Weed Win? The Blunt Realities of Cannabis Economics,” in which they dive into legal cannabis’ competition with the legacy market, as well as the legal markets’ high taxes and regulatory burdens that allow illicit markets to provide consumers with lower prices. However, industry challenges aren’t limited to tight margins in the commercial supply chain, they write, but that consumers are dissuaded from the legal market due to early dispensary closing times, restrictions on alcohol in cannabis consumption lounges, and more.
