LEGALIZING POT WOULD LOWER PRICES, RAISE USE, STUDY SAYS

Legalizing marijuana could cause the drug's price to plummet while
increasing use by an uncertain amount, according to a new study from a
respected public-policy think tank.

RAND Corp. researchers say known production costs and surveys of
marijuana's current price suggest the untaxed retail price of
high-quality marijuana could drop to as low as $38 per ounce, compared
with about $375 per ounce now.

"There is considerable uncertainty about the impact that legalizing
marijuana in California will have on consumption and public budgets,"
said RAND Drug Policy Research Center co-director Beau Kilmer, the
study's lead author, cautioning against believing anyone who claims to
know precisely how legalization would play out. "No government has
legalized the production and distribution of marijuana for general
use, so there is little evidence on which to base any predictions
about how this might work in California."

Much of the current price of marijuana essentially is compensation to
growers and dealers for the risks of being prosecuted or robbed -
risks that would disappear or be minimized by legalization. Also,
automated cultivation techniques and economies of scale - running
bigger or multiple grows - would reduce labor and supply costs.

Past research indicates marijuana consumption goes up when prices go
down, they say, but the increase in consumption can't be predicted
because nobody has ever studied what would happen