[cortesoft]

I think costing more and making the government more money are intended features of this system, not side-effects.

'vice' dispensaries are not meant to provide the best service to their customers. They are meant to fill a need well enough to prevent black market competitors, while at the same time making the vice inconvenient enough to discourage its use as much as possible. At the same time, they want to maximize revenue for the government.

Whether this is good or bad is up for debate, but it isn't something they are accidentally doing. When it comes to vices like alcohol or drugs, 'advocating for the people' is not a simple 'provide people what they want' equation - people are wanting something that is bad for them, so do we give it to them as cheaply as possible, satisfying their want, or do we make it more difficult, to satisfy what society wants as a whole?

[saenns]

is taxation not a simpler and more direct way to achieve higher prices without granting practically irreversible monopoly rights?

[jpetso]

Simpler in terms of not handling retail operations directly. More complicated as now you have to employ an army of regulators to make sure the regulations aren't being skirted in favor of higher sales numbers.