The Other Green Jobs: Legal Marijuana and the Promise of Consumption-Driven Economic Development. (March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Doussard, Marc
• Is Part Of: Journal of planning education and research. Volume 39:Number 1(2019:Spring)
• Page Start: 79
• Page End: 92
• Publication Date: 2019-03
• Subjects: marijuana legalization -- economic development -- consumption theory; Regional planning -- Study and teaching -- United States -- Periodicals; City planning -- Study and teaching -- United States -- Periodicals; 307.12
• DOI: 10.1177/0739456X17719498
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0739-456X

Abstract

Legalizing marijuana at the state level establishes via fiat a new industry. In practice, legal marijuana constitutes a large-scale test of consumption-driven economic development policies, which seek to shape industry and job growth via changes in local spending. Drawing on the critical case of Colorado, I assess the economic development outcomes and future potential of legal marijuana, and evaluate the broader applicability of consumption-driven development processes heretofore confined to the arts and isolated local cases. While most states should be able to replicate Colorado's import-substitution gains, the most enduring economic benefits to legalization require place amenities that legalization alone cannot provide.