Homeless in Arizona

And of course that's exactly what the phoney baloney MPP or Marijuana Policy Project initiative to legalize marijuana wants to do.

They want to require licensing for anybody that sells recreational marijuana. In theory they want to limit it a maximum of 160 licenses but in reality will probably will be limited to the 85 or so existing medical marijuana dispensaries.

And of course those 160 businesses with a monopoly on selling recreational marijuana will screw us with $300+ an ounce prices.

Source

Letter: Typical licensing - pay more, get nothing

Paul Avelar 4:50 p.m. MST February 29, 2016 Landscape architects

Arizona must reform its occupational licensing laws. HB2613 (“Arizona bill would kill licensing requirements for a host of workers,” Feb. 25) is a good start.

In the 1950s, only 5 percent of workers needed a license. Today, more than 22 percent of Arizonans need a license. Two-thirds of this increase is because more occupations require a license.

Licenses are often created not by public demand but by industry insiders. [They bribe politicians to pass laws requiring licenses to lock out the competition, and grant the existing businesses monopolies. Did I say bribe, I am sorry I meant give them campaign contributions, not bribes.] Licensing has concentrated benefits for licensees and diffuse costs for consumers and would-be competitors.

Thus, licensees have a great interest in licensing and influence policy through professional associations.

Political influence, not the public, often determines whether an occupation is licensed. By making it harder to enter an occupation, licensing lowers employment opportunities and wages for excluded workers while increasing costs for consumers.

Moreover, studies show licensing does not increase the quality of goods and services, suggesting consumers are paying more without getting more.

— Paul Avelar, Tempe