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The legal status of cannabis has changed dramatically over the past 2 decades. Although illegal at the federal level, the approval of Proposition 215 in California in 1996 started a trend that has seen cannabis legalized for medical purposes in 36 states. State medical cannabis laws provide legal protection to the Cannabis market and are associated with greater cannabis consumption (Choi et al., 2019). While most Americans favor legalized medical cannabis (Daniller, 2019), much of the potential public detriment remains under-studied. In this article, we focus on one potential detriment-the effect of increased cannabis access on auto safety. Cannabis is a psychoactive drug that impairs psychomotor skills and negatively affects driving ability. 1 Thus, traffic safety may be adversely affected as more states implement medical cannabis laws.However, the effect of medical cannabis laws on traffic safety is complicated by the relationship of cannabis to other intoxicating substances. For instance, alcohol is the most commonly detected substance in traffic crashes, and the dangers of drunk driving are well documented. If cannabis and alcohol are economic substitutes, as suggested by Chaloupka and Laixuthai (1997) and Anderson et al. (2013), lowering the absolute price of cannabis by reducing legal restrictions could reduce alcohol-related crashes and lead to net improvements in traffic safety. 2 Medical cannabis laws also reduce travel incentives by restricting cannabis consumption to a private residence. Some cannabis dispensaries also offer delivery services, further reducing the incentives for cannabis consumers to travel. Reduced travel limits the exposure to the risk of being involved in a traffic crash. Thus, traffic conditions may improve following medical cannabis legalization due to diminished travel incentives among cannabis consumers (Cook et al., 2020).

Since the advent of the file-sharing program Napster in June of 1999, copyright infringement has plagued the recorded music industry. We review the evidence on piracy and its effect on record industry profits. We then model the behavior of file sharers and music producers under different remuneration and legal regimes using a stage game. We find that under certain conditions, the removal of copyright laws for recorded music is welfare improving. There is also a parameter space where public sector music distribution combined with a tax-payer funded subsidy of music production is welfare dominant.