Cannabis is legal to purchase for over 28 percent of U.S. citizens. A central argument used in public campaigns for cannabis legalization has focused on the tax revenue that legal cannabis markets could generate. Recently, some policy makers and politicians have debated switching from traditional ad valorem taxes to taxes on potency, aiming to reduce the potential externalities associated with highly potent products. In this paper, we construct a theoretical model to predict the implications of a potency-based tax in an environment with market power. We then estimate the demand for cannabis potency based on administrative records of sales and potency from Washington state. We finish by conducting counterfactual analyses comparing revenue and potency outcomes from potency-based taxes versus the traditional price-based taxes.

中文翻译：

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对有罪商品的潜力征税：休闲大麻和白酒市场的证据

大麻合法购买超过28％的美国公民。在公众运动中，大麻合法化的中心论点集中在合法大麻市场可以产生的税收上。最近，一些政策制定者和政界人士在辩论从传统的从价税转变为效力税，目的是减少与高效产品相关的潜在外部性。在本文中，我们构建了一个理论模型来预测具有市场支配力的环境中基于效价税的含义。然后，我们根据华盛顿州的销售和销售管理记录估算大麻的需求量。最后，我们通过进行反事实分析，将基于效能的税收与传统基于价格的税收的收入和效能结果进行比较。