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- Title
ENTREPRENEURIAL RISK: MARIJUANA, COMPLIANCE, AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF LAW AND MARKETS.
- Authors
OSTAS, DANIEL T.
- Abstract
The schism between federal criminalization and state legalization of the marijuana industry provides a unique opportunity to examine entrepreneurial risk in an emerging market. Marijuana introduces a kaleidoscope of compliance issues including protecting intellectual property, drafting contractual choice-of-forum clauses, engaging in tax planning to garner favorable tax treatment, and arranging financial matters to sidestep federal money-laundering laws. In these and many other scenarios, the marijuana entrepreneur must assess the economic risks associated with an exceedingly dynamic legal environment. These assessments ultimately involve educated guesses, many of which motivate ethical considerations. This Article contributes to the growing field of legal strategy. This literature typically employs the language of compliance and financial risk management. It also typically assumes that the law embodies a singular command that must be obeyed. Ethical and social responsibility issues arise only after legal obligations have been met, as legitimate economic gain can only be made through lawful means. Yet, the sudden birth of a quasi-legal marijuana industry illustrates that both legal obligations and economic opportunities must be socially constructed by the entrepreneur. Neither law nor markets exist in the abstract; each has meaning only in its evolving manifestations. The responsible entrepreneur recognizes this and injects ethical reflection into the social construction of compliance issues. This Article explains this social construction, drawing from legal philosophy, ethical philosophy, neoclassical economics, and strategic management to advance a vision of ethical compliance with evolving law.
- Subjects
INDUSTRIAL laws &; legislation; MARIJUANA industry; MARIJUANA laws; SOCIAL constructionism; MARIJUANA legalization
- Publication
Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, 2020, Vol 30, Issue 1, p69
- ISSN
1077-0704
- Publication type
Article