Support marijuana legalization

According to a study by Boston University professor of economics Jeffrey Miron, enforcement of marijuana prohibition costs state and local governments $7.7 billion annually. Furthermore, $6.2 billion would be collected if marijuana were taxed like alcohol and tobacco.

With the huge budget deficit we have (no thanks to the big-spending Republicans), we can certainly use an extra $13.9 billion per year.

Furthermore, I believe that there are a lot of hidden costs to marijuana prohibition that can’t be measured. Such as the cost when a kid in the ghetto thinks that becoming a drug dealer is a better occupational choice than doing something legal. Or when some college kid is convicted of marijuana possession, and he loses his financial aid, and has to drop out of college.

There is a movement, based on the study (follow the link above), to urge Congress to legalize marijuana. If you’re an economist, then I urge you to sign the letter they want to send to Congress. According to Robert Murphy, famous economist Milton Friedman is actively supporting this. (If you click the Robert Murphy link, you will note that he takes an extreme position that demonstrates how hardcore libertarians lack common sense.)

Comments

[Michael A. Clem]

Perhaps it's dangerous of me to do so, but I assume that Robert P. Murphy is one (count 'em, one) person, and he didn't seem to have a lot of support for his position. And what about Milton Friedman? He considers himself a libertarian.
As laudable a goal as marijuana legalization is, Murphy's concerns are at least worth considering, to make sure that any trade-offs or downsides aren't too great. The government is unlikely to take the "extra" money to pay down the deficit, but would probably spend it on additional government programs and policies.