The Issue of Licensing
Probably the most important takeaway from our conversation with Morgan Fox is that the corruption issue “is a direct result of arbitrary license caps, either at the state or local level.”
“Limiting the number of licenses creates competition in the application process instead of in the market where it belongs, and usually ends up either favoring applicants with more financial resources or creating an environment that is ripe for public corruption,” he explained.
The FBI’s announcement that it is probing public corruption in the legal marijuana industry has stirred up strong reactions among cannabis insiders.
While some complain the FBI’s scrutiny is another example of how the legal MJ industry is being unfairly targeted as if it’s a bottomless gold mine, others welcome the feds’ attention to illicit influence on licensing decisions.
Cannabis legal experts also said the issue underscores the need for regulatory regimes that, as much as possible, can cordon off the political backstreets to lucrative business licenses.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is actively seeking tips on public corruption related to the marijuana industry, it announced on Thursday.
Marijuana possession led to nearly 6 percent of all arrests in the United States in 2017, FBI data shows, underscoring the level of policing dedicated to containing behavior that’s legal in 10 states and the nation’s capital.