Economic Reasons for Legalizing Marijuana

Economic Reasons for Legalizing Marijuana The war on drugs- no matter how you feel about it- is undoubtedly expensive. A great deal of resources go into catching those who buy and sell illegal drugs, prosecuting them in court, and housing them in jail. Critics of the war on drugs believe these costs are especially exorbitant when it comes to marijuana, a substance that is widely used and, according to numerous scientists, no more harmful than legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. Theres another cost to the war on drugs, too- the revenue lost by governments that cannot collect taxes on the sale of illegal drugs. In a 2010 study for the Fraser Institute, economist Stephen T. Easton attempted to calculate how much tax revenue the Canadian government could gain by legalizing marijuana. In 2018, for many of the reasons Easton outlined in his study, Canada passed the Cannabis Act, which legalized the adult use of recreational marijuana. Revenue From Marijuana Sales Eastons study estimated that the average price of 0.5 grams (a unit) of marijuana sold for $8.60 on the black market, while its cost of production was only $1.70. In a free market, a $6.90 profit for a unit of marijuana would not last for long. Entrepreneurs noticing the great profits to be made in the marijuana market would start their own grow operations, increasing the supply of marijuana, which would cause the street price of the drug to fall to a level much closer to the cost of production. Of course, this doesnt happen because the product is illegal; the prospect of jail time deters many entrepreneurs and the occasional drug bust ensures that the supply stays relatively low. We can consider much of this $6.90 per unit of marijuana profit a risk-premium for participating in the underground economy. Before Canada legalized cannabis, this risk premium was making a lot of criminals, many of whom had ties to organized crime, very wealthy. Marijuana Taxes Easton argued that if marijuana were legalized, the excess profits produced by the risk-premium could be transferred to the government: If we substitute a tax on marijuana cigarettes equal to the difference between the local production cost and the street price people currently paythat is, transfer the revenue from the current producers and marketers (many of whom work with organized crime) to the government, leaving all other marketing and transportation issues aside we would have revenue of (say) $7 per [unit]. If you could collect on every cigarette and ignore the transportation, marketing, and advertising costs, this comes to over $2 billion on Canadian sales and substantially more from an export tax, and you forego the costs of enforcement and deploy your policing assets elsewhere. Supply and Demand One interesting thing to note from such a scheme is that the street price of marijuana stays exactly the same, so the quantity demanded should remain the same as the price is unchanged. However, its quite likely, in places where cannabis use is currently criminalized, that legalization would change the demand for marijuana. We saw that there was a risk in illegally selling marijuana, but since drug laws often target both the buyer and the seller, there is also a risk (albeit smaller) to the consumer interested in buying marijuana. Legalization would eliminate this risk, causing the demand to rise. From a public policy standpoint, this is a mixed bag: Increased marijuana use can have ill effects on the health of the population, but the increased sales bring in more revenue for the government. By legalizing marijuana, governments can have some control over how much marijuana is consumed by increasing or decreasing taxes on the product. There is a limit to this, however, as setting taxes too high will cause marijuana growers to sell on the black market to avoid excessive taxation. When considering legalizing marijuana, there are many economic, health, and social issues to analyze. Although one economic study should not be the basis for a countrys public policy decisions, Eastons research does conclusively show that there are economic benefits to the legalization of marijuana. With governments scrambling to find new sources of revenue to pay for important social objectives such as health care and education, you can expect to see more leaders exploring the idea of legalization.

Cynodictis - Facts and Figures

Cynodictis - Facts and Figures Name: Cynodictis (Greek for in-between dog); pronounced SIGH-no-DIK-tiss Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Epoch: Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (37-28 million years ago) Size and Weight: About two feet long and 5-10 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Long, narrow muzzle; low-slung body    About Cynodictis As has happened with so many other once-obscure prehistoric animals, Cynodictis owes its current popularity to its cameo appearances on the BBC series Walking with Beasts: in one episode, this early carnivore was shown chasing away a juvenile Indricotherium, and in another, it was a quick snack for a passing Ambulocetus (not a very convincing scenario, since this walking whale wasnt much bigger than its presumed prey!) Until recently, it was widely believed that Cynodictis was the first true canid, and thus lay at the root of 30 million years of dog evolution. Today, though, its relationship to modern dogs is more dubious: Cynodictis seems to have been a close relative of Amphicyon (better known as the Bear Dog), a type of carnivore that succeeded the giant creodonts of the Eocene epoch. Whatever its ultimate classification, Cynodictis certainly behaved like a proto-dog, chasing down small, furry prey on the boundless plains of North America (and possibly digging them out of shallow burrows as well).

Marketing Is Easy to Define Outline Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Is Easy to Define - Outline Example This paper stresses that marketing is considered as a process that would help identify products or services that would entice consumers through employing strategies that utilize business development, sales and communications. In essence, it is a process that entails businesses to establish strong consumer relationships and build value towards the business' consumers. Marketing is a process utilized to determine consumer markets, satisfy them and retain them. In that regard, it is important to identify the concept of customer satisfaction. In retrospect, as a means to achieve organizational goals, a business must be able to identify the needs and wants of the target market and in accordance with this, provide customer satisfaction. Apart from establishing good relationships, creating value towards the customer, this would be beneficial towards the business as well. This paper makes a conclusion that marketing can be defined as a constructive analysis of a business' customers, competitors and a company, which would be integrated into an understanding of what segmented markets are, assessing the profitable groups, effectively positioning products and services, which is then subsequently followed on the delivering what is required in product positioning and promotion. In effectively positioning a product, a marketing strategy must be employed. Through implementing appropriate brand and advertising techniques by means of various communication tools and instruments, marketing measures can be delivered.

Starbucks and Its Difficulties During the Time of Economic Hardship Case Study

Starbucks and Its Difficulties During the Time of Economic Hardship - Case Study Example Branded firms have their unique approaches to improving their market reach, brand image of the product, and maintain the quality standard of the product. Keeping in view the rapid rate of their expansion and growth at multiple locations these companies manipulated their marketing strategy according to the location since different locations offered different marketing environment (Larson. 2008). These companies focused more on its quality standard by critically handling the entire process involved from the purchase of raw materials till it's possession by its end user. These companies took a great care of each and every step to avoid compromising the quality standard of their products. In case of Starbucks Corporation, the firm created a coffee culture and also provided an atmosphere of relaxation for their customers who helped them in bringing the concept of â€Å"third place† where the first and second places were considered to be the home and office respectively (Larson, R. (2008). Many efforts are made by these companies under its strategic approach towards marketing to gain their customers’ trust and offer a value-based service to their customers. The companies also face problems due to variations in their customer group which varies with the location. Under such circumstances, these companies faced challenges which were mainly of following types, what mode should be used by the company to exist in the international market, how they should design their product offering to their customers keeping in mind the variations among the behavior of customer group. Along with it, another major challenge for such companies was to compete with other brands of the same industry serving globally to their customers. The marketing strategies adopted by Starbucks Corporation worked like a magnet which drove their customers to do things as per the company’s expectation (Carroll. 2007). A brand name in watchmaking industry is Maurice Lacroix which is famo us for its luxurious watches adopted strategy to promote their product and also form the alliance with a brand name in movies production house Dream Works for their film named Time Machine.

Contemporary issues in managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Contemporary issues in managment - Essay Example One cannot thus separate a corporation from the community in which it operates and as such, whatever it does should be for the collective good of that communities for happiness to be achieved. A corporation in this case is itself a citizen and has an intrinsic responsibility as a social entity; that is, it should be socially responsible. This is in contradiction to economists such as Milton Friedman who viewed corporations as individual entities whose sole responsibility was to make profits. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was traditionally associated with philanthropy and charity but later came to be associated with stakeholder interests. Carroll and Shabana consider it a post-World War II phenomenon defined as the â€Å"economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic expectations that a society has of organisations at a given point in time† (2010: 89). For McGuire (1963), CSR extends beyond those four expectations such as reputation and company image. Whatever the case, suc cess of CSR depends on commitment from senior management as well as low-level staff and its implementation varies from company to company depending on its context. The aim of this paper is to critically discuss and evaluate an environmental issue that an organisation addresses using the framework presented by Wood (1991). In this case, the orgnisation to be discussed is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. The first section will give a brief background of the organisation. The Second section will be a brief background of CSR. Third section will discuss the business case for CSR followed by analysis of the environmental issue using the corporate social performance model and finally, a brief summary will be given. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc is the world’s number one retailer with 100 million U.S. shoppers a week visiting their stores. It was founded in 1962 with a commitment to make a difference in the lives of its customers. It has 11,000 stores with 71 banners in 27 countries and e-commerce in

Take home exam. 3 cases not to be more then 6 total pages Essay

Take home exam. 3 cases not to be more then 6 total pages - Essay Example 10 (par. 1)2, of the Constitution.3 The Court’s majority opinion (delivered by Chief Justice Taney) found for the defendants (Warren Bridge proprietors). After first citing the relevant language in Court’s prior holding in Satterlee v. Matthewson (27 U.S. 380, 1829)—â€Å"If the State law is said to be retrospective, be it so. But retrospective laws which do not impair the obligation of contracts or partake of the character of ex post facto laws are not condemned or forbidden by any part of the instrument [Constitution of the United States] (Id., at 413)†Ã¢â‚¬â€and admitting quite candidly that the free passage character of the Warren Bridge had rendered the Charles River Bridge franchise of no value, stated that nonetheless the complainants’ saw â€Å"None of the faculties or franchises granted to that corporation †¦ revoked by the Legislature, and its right to take tolls granted by the charter remains unaltered [36 U.S. 430, at 549].† Of greater import than the specifics of the case in question was the thinking of the Court on the implications of a decision in favor of the complainants. Chief Justice Taney addressed these in a series of rhetorical questions and answers. â€Å"And what would be the fruits of this doctrine of implied contracts on the part of the states and of property in a line of travel by a corporation if it were now sanctioned by the Court? To what results would it lead us to? If it is to be found in the charter to this bridge, the same process of reasoning must discover it in the various acts which have been passed within the last forty years for turnpike companies. And what is to be the extent of the privileges of exclusion on the different sides of the road†¦ The millions of property which have been invested in railroads and canals upon lines of travel will be put in jeopardy [Id., at 552].† Justice Story argued in dissent. While he detailed a number of points at

Observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Observation - Essay Example However, there are means and ways put in place to aid in teaching this group of students. This paper is going to address the education of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, physical abilities, health impairments and traumatic brain injury. Moreover; it is going to describe the type of teaching strategies for this group and how to nurture their self esteem and self advocacy skills. Moreover, this paper is going to explain how regular students can be aided into accepting, understanding and respecting their colleagues and how to respond to their needs appropriately. In order to teach special needs student’s teachers need researched, evidence based teaching strategies to be sure of what they are giving to their students. Research and evidence based strategies can be defined as an intervention program that has been researched over and over and has positively yielded consistent results when tested. There are a variety of research evidence based teaching strategies that teachers can use. The first teaching strategy is class wide peer tutoring (Cullinan, 2007). This strategy is meant to teach students who are at different levels with the rest and those who have different needs but are in the same class. Class wide peer tutoring stipulates that after a class lecture by the teacher, the students must then bond together to evaluate and find out if they have all got the information together and in the same manner. Methods here include pairing of students that is regular students are paired with a special needs student, immediate correction of errors; inter class competition and frequent spontaneous tests. This will ensure that the special needs students are at par with the regular students. This method is very effective in math since one method in math is sometimes difficult to understand and group work exposes different methods. The second researched teaching strategy is the Direct Instruction, DI (Cullinan, 2007). This method involves teaching of