The High Road. Weed, Money, & Morals with Robin Goldstein

Robin Goldstein, author of “Can Legal Weed Win'' joins the Bart Show to spark up a conversation about what really happens when you legalize marijuana. He walks us through California’s specific trajectory to legalization which started in 1996 with medical weed. In 2016, with Prop 64, recreational weed became legal, forcing vendors—aka ‘bud tenders’---to operate like traditional businesses. This meant dealing with California’s notoriously difficult tax regulations in addition to cannabis-specific taxes. 

 

Further complicating the issue, this law included a loophole that ended up having the opposite effect than “Yes” voters likely intended. Bart compares the issue to the plight of cab drivers in New York City and raises questions about government overreach. 

 

If, like Bart, pot isn’t really your thing, Robin also provides a wealth of knowledge about wine and beer, having earned a PhD in wine economics from University of Bordeaux in France. He has published a series of guides which explore the reason people pay for expensive labels when they can’t tell the difference between the two in blind taste tests. 

 

Learn about the prank he played on Wine Spectator Magazine that got the industry talking and even made the news. Bart explains why these prestigious organizations are easier to fool than one might think. You’ll also learn how college students ruined good beer, why the drink is so much better in Europe versus the U.S., and the incident in Amsterdam that turned Bart into a beer snob which is decidedly different from being a beer geek, as Robin explains. 

 

Join as the two pull the curtain back on the vices that so many people partake of yet remain largely mysterious. 

 

Quotes

• “You know, I’m actually not a big pot fan. But I lived in LA long enough, I realize it’s lots of peoples’ thing. People like it…I'm all for other people having what they want.” (1:13 | Bart)
• “Oh, it was so easy. By the end, you could go on Skype or Zoom and in five minutes, get a medical card from a doctor. One time I went to a medical appointment. As I was sitting there waiting, I noticed the doctor was seeing all the patients who were waiting in the front of this big room. That's how much of a joke it was. Like an MLM meeting with pot. Come here. Sign up. Tell your friends, and you're high.” (2:32 | Robin and Bart)
• “I got interested in the question of why people can't tell the difference between cheap wine and expensive wine in blind tastings. That's what got me interested in economics because why are people willing to pay all this extra money for nothing but a label when they can't tell the difference?” (8:08 | Robin) 
• “I wrote a song called ‘It Was Beer’ that's basically complaining that in California, it's no longer possible to get normal beer. All you can get is craft beer.” (15:15 | Robin)

 

Links

Connect with Robin Goldstein:

Instagram @hipsterpatrol

Twitter @robingoldstein

Learn more and subscribe to the Bart Show Fan Newsletter at https://thebartshow.com 

 

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm