A year into legal recreational marijuana sales in California, the volume of sales is far less than many people, and the state government, expected. The reason for low sales numbers is not that people stopped liking marijuana. The missing expected sales are still being made, but in the black market. Because “California is regulating and taxing the hell out of cannabis” in the legal market, it is hard “for legal suppliers to compete with the state’s longstanding, extensive, and highly developed black market,” writes Jacob Sullum in a Friday Reason article.

Read here Sullum’s informative article exploring why the inclusion of restraints on market freedom has made recreational marijuana legalization a bit of a flop in California.

Reprinted with permission from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.