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How state marijuana legalization became a boon for corruption
In the past decade, 15 states have legalized a regulated marijuana market for adults over 21, and another 17 have legalized medical marijuana. But in their rush to limit the numbers of licensed vendors and give local municipalities control of where to locate dispensaries, they created something else: A market for local corruption.
Almost all the states that legalized pot either require the approval of local officials – as in Massachusetts -- or impose a statewide limit on the number of licenses, chosen by a politically appointed oversight board, or both. These practices effectively put million-dollar decisions in the hands of relatively small-time political figures – the mayors and councilors of small towns and cities, along with the friends and supporters of politicians who appoint them to boards. And these strictures have given rise to the exact type of corruption that got [Jasiel] Correia in trouble with federal prosecutors. They have also created a culture in which would-be cannabis entrepreneurs feel obliged to make large campaign contributions or hire politically connected lobbyists.
For some entrepreneurs, the payments can seem worth the ticket to cannabis riches.
For some politicians, the lure of a bribe or favor can be irresistible.
[...] It's not just local officials. Allegations of corruption have reached the state level in numerous marijuana programs, especially ones in which a small group of commissioners are charged with dispensing limited numbers of licenses. Former Maryland state Del. Cheryl Glenn was sentenced to two years in prison in July for taking bribes in exchange for introducing and voting on legislation to benefit medical marijuana companies. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson's administration is the target of law enforcement and legislative probes into the rollout of its medical marijuana program.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Monday December 28 2020, @12:38PM (4 children)
Must be a nice world you live in, where 200k is the average pay for a software developer. According to Glassdoor, the US average is around 77k. If you're getting $200k, you are either very senior, living somewhere very expensive, or doing very well for yourself. Or some combination of those.
As for members of Congress, they receive $174k, plus expenses, plus free medical care, plus lots of other benefits. You aren't supposed to go into Congress with the goal of massive wealth. The fact that entering Congress virtually guarantees that you will be a millionaire in a few years? That is a sign of deeply embedded corruption.
I'm Swiss, and this is definitely not true. The pay depends a bit on how many days the Parliament meets and how many committees you are on, but on average (including expenses) the salary ranges from CHF 130k to CHF 150k [www.ch.ch]. The typical Swiss form of corruption: most members of parliament just happen to be offered board positions in companies. The interests of those companies - purely coincidentally - happen to align with the positions put forth by the parliamentarians.
Your thesis: pay them more, and this stuff won't happen. Not going to help, because you underestimate human greed. People don't care how much some anonymous person is earning - they compare themselves to the person sitting next to them. This is well-established in psychology. Multiply salaries in Parliament/Congress by a factor of 10, and they will still seek out additional sources of income, to put one up on the person sitting across from them. In fact, you may make the situation worse: snagging an extra $50k on top of a $174k salary is significant, but on top of a $1 million salary it's peanuts - they'll want more.
tl;dr: Politics ought to be public service, not a road to riches. The fact that it is a road to riches, is a serious problem. One that we ought to seriously crack down on.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2020, @12:59PM
Rotationally representative direct democracy is the best solution to corruption IMO. A large number of randomly selected citizens are "gathered" for every step in the legislative process and vote on the proposals. Expert advisors certainly could be corrupted, but this would be much more easily uncovered and punished than corruption by elected officials, as there would be far greater legislative interest in seeing these crimes uncovered. This is still vulnerable to media manipulation though, which may just be an unsolvable issue for social animals. Maybe putting extremely tight anti-trust regulations on media companies?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2020, @03:57PM
Note that he didn't say "average pay". He said FAANG pay. He's not far off the mark.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2020, @05:25PM
How can it not be a road to riches? If you direct $B of public money towards your favorite companies then step into a board-level position making $50k/mo for a 1hr phone chat every now and again.
It's insane to pay politicians so little. We have all but ensured that ONLY millionaires get elected to represent us. The President didn't even need his $400k salary - fuck that. The politicians need to depend on the same dog food they shovels into the swill bowl for the rest of us. Fuck living in gated communities. Fuck private security. Fuck living off your (inherited) capital gains.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 28 2020, @09:10PM
Note the role change the second paragraph: "It's easier to compare numbers with the president."
When comparing pay, be aware that some countries have one leader, while others have two. If the "head of state" is not the same as the "head of government", add them together.
Switzerland's head of state is the President. He gets $507,000.
Switzerland's head of government is the Federal Council. He gets $495,000.
The USA's head of both is the President. He gets $400,000.
I thing that Switzerland isn't paying enough. Just $1,002,000 is not much for a country as wealthy as Switzerland. Of course, leader pay in the United States is absurd. Calling it a "public service" doesn't mean you'll get what you want. Look, the evidence is that things aren't working. The corruption is a problem. We are not paying market rate, and so the result should be unsurprising.