Sam Kamin (University of Denver Sturm College of Law) has posted Sports Gambling as a Cautionary Tale for Marijuana Policymakers on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In recent years, both marijuana and sports gambling have moved from the margins of American life into widespread social acceptance, becoming powerful, fast-growing industries. But beyond this superficial similarity, the two are very much not the same. While sports gambling is now fully legal in those states that authorize it, marijuana remains largely prohibited under federal law, even in states that tax and regulate it under their own laws. This continuing federal illegality operates as a significant drag on the marijuana industry with regard to tax policy, access to capital, advertising, and production. This Article argues that this drag should be seen as a feature rather than a bug of federal marijuana prohibition. The sports gambling industry, unfettered by federal prohibition, has grown more rapidly and more rapaciously in recent years, developing ways of betting that harm both the integrity of sports and the well-being of its customers. In this context, federal marijuana prohibition may rightly be seen as a governor that has protected the public from the worst externalities we would expect from a fully legalized, commercial marijuana industry. As the federal government begins undoing its marijuana prohibition, it is time to think clearly about what thoughtful federal marijuana policy might entail. Drawing on behavioral economics and recent attempts, both successful and less so, to regulate vice, this Article argues for sensible federal regulation that will avoid a repeat of the harms currently caused by a fully legalized sports gambling industry.
Recommended!
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