Study: Consumers Willing to Pay a Premium for Legal Cannabis, Eschew Illegal Markets
Consumers generally believe that cannabis sold in legal markets is superior to that available on the black market, and are willing to pay a premium for it, according todatapublished online ahead of print in the journalAddiction.
Investigators from Canada and the United States assessed adults opinions with regard to the impact of cannabis pricing on their own purchasing habits.
Researchers reported that most consumers perceive legal cannabis to be of greater quality, and that the advent of a legal marijuana markets reduces consumer demand for black market products. Authors also reported that most consumers will pay a premium price for legal cannabis, up to approximately $14 per gram, but warned that excessive pricing can induce consumers to return to the illicit market.
They concluded: [T]his study provides empirical evidence that cannabis users treat legal cannabis as a superior commodity compared to illegal cannabis, and exhibit asymmetric substitutability that supports the use of price policy that results in higher consumer costs for legal cannabis relative to contraband product. These findings suggest that availability of legal cannabis generally does not ...
