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Milton Friedman: Legalize It!
FORBES.COM WEEKLY NEWSLETTER , JUNE 06, 2005 ^ | 06.02.05, 12:01 AM ET | Quentin Hardy

Posted on 06/06/2005 8:42:41 AM PDT by Che Chihuahua

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - A founding father of the Reagan Revolution has put his John Hancock on a pro-pot report.

Milton Friedman leads a list of more than 500 economists from around the U.S. who today will publicly endorse a Harvard University economist's report on the costs of marijuana prohibition and the potential revenue gains from the U.S. government instead legalizing it and taxing its sale. Ending prohibition enforcement would save $7.7 billion in combined state and federal spending, the report says, while taxation would yield up to $6.2 billion a year.

The report, "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition," (available at www.prohibitioncosts.org) was written by Jeffrey A. Miron, a professor at Harvard , and largely paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a Washington, D.C., group advocating the review and liberalization of marijuana laws.

At times the report uses some debatable assumptions: For instance, Miron assumes a single figure for every type of arrest, for example, but the average pot bust is likely cheaper than bringing in a murder or kidnapping suspect. Friedman and other economists, however, say the overall work is some of the best yet done on the costs of the war on marijuana.

At 92, Friedman is revered as one of the great champions of free-market capitalism during the years of U.S. rivalry with Communism. He is also passionate about the need to legalize marijuana, among other drugs, for both financial and moral reasons.

(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: agriculture; drugs; freemarket; marijuana; miltonfriedman; wod; wodlist
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To: The Ghost of FReepers Past

Are you on hallucinogens? Where did I say that?


41 posted on 06/06/2005 10:27:12 AM PDT by BrooklynGOP (www.logicandsanity.com)
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To: The Ghost of FReepers Past

You are an example of a totalitarian statist mascarading as a republican.


42 posted on 06/06/2005 10:37:09 AM PDT by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: the gillman@blacklagoon.com

"But the JBT's do get to confiscate a lot of money and stuff without due process and they get to keep it all."

Civil asset forfeiture alone is an excellent reason to oppose this purported "war on drugs." All you folks in favor of this kind of unconstitutional property seizure without due process should take a drive out I-10 in a high-dollar vehicle with FL or NY tags, and see what happens, particularly in Louisiana.


43 posted on 06/06/2005 10:43:59 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry (Esse Quam Videre)
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To: Che Chihuahua
But I do stand by my statement regarding the social and economic costs of legal drugs like alcohol.

I wouldn't stand by that, either. You're not weighing all the costs and benefits of the WOD if you think it "costs" more to keep drugs illegal. In terms of money alone you've got to factor in all the expenditures of drug enforcement at the state, local and federal level. You've got to factor in the costs of building and maintaining prisons. You've also got to factor intangible costs such as the lost production for those who are incarcerated. The costs to legalize are far smaller than the costs to maintain the war on drugs.

44 posted on 06/06/2005 10:54:14 AM PDT by SittinYonder (Tancredo and I wanna know what you believe)
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To: BrooklynGOP

I didn't say you said it. It was a question. Obviously if I were a drug user, I would want them legalized.


45 posted on 06/06/2005 11:05:27 AM PDT by The Ghost of FReepers Past (Legislatures are so outdated. If you want real political victory, take your issue to court.)
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To: Phantom Lord
You are an example of a totalitarian statist mascarading as a republican.

ROTFL! Are you saying that Bush is a totalitarian statist? Was Reagan?

46 posted on 06/06/2005 11:06:44 AM PDT by The Ghost of FReepers Past (Legislatures are so outdated. If you want real political victory, take your issue to court.)
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To: The Ghost of FReepers Past
I didn't say you said it. It was a question.

So, are you saying that you are a child molester? Just a question. Are you? That's what you are saying?

47 posted on 06/06/2005 11:09:48 AM PDT by BrooklynGOP (www.logicandsanity.com)
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To: BrooklynGOP

"That's what you are saying?"

Some people just want to register their disapproval of certain activities in any way possible, regardless of the consequences. It's a sort of simplistic mindset, that says "I'm agin' it, and if you ain't, I'm agin' you too."


48 posted on 06/06/2005 11:30:53 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry (Esse Quam Videre)
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To: EagleUSA

Boston Tea Party? That was a different America. There will never be another revolution in this country. Three genrations have fallen for the shiznits. The masses are unknowingly part of it.


49 posted on 06/06/2005 12:04:29 PM PDT by Thomas Jefferson II
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To: muawiyah
It's part of the general sense of megalomania that most narcotics import.

Marijuana is not a narcotic.

Nicotine could be classified as such, however, as some of the alkaloids bind weakly to Mu reptors in the brain (the pre-requisite for a drug to be classified pharmacologically as a "narcotic").

50 posted on 06/06/2005 12:09:25 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: muawiyah
It's part of the general sense of megalomania that most narcotics import.

Marijuana is not a narcotic.

Nicotine could be classified as such, however, as some of the alkaloids bind weakly to Mu reptors in the brain (the pre-requisite for a drug to be classified pharmacologically as a "narcotic").

51 posted on 06/06/2005 12:09:34 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: Brilliant
Marijuana is no worse than alcohol.

Marijuana is far less dangerous drug then alcohol. You can't OD on it, there's no dangerous withdrawl symptoms, there are far less health problems with chronic use, users do not tend to behave in violent or destructive manner.
52 posted on 06/06/2005 12:11:02 PM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
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To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

53 posted on 06/06/2005 12:16:25 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

54 posted on 06/06/2005 12:16:30 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

55 posted on 06/06/2005 12:16:35 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

56 posted on 06/06/2005 12:16:41 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

57 posted on 06/06/2005 12:16:46 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

58 posted on 06/06/2005 12:16:53 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

59 posted on 06/06/2005 12:17:01 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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To: Brilliant
I agree with Friedman. Marijuana is no worse than alcohol. The drug war should focus on hard drugs.

Alcohol is aruably the 'hardest' drug known to man. It does more physical damage to the body, and produces more profound intoxication and uncoordination than most other drugs.

There is no such thing as a "hard" drug. The hardness or softness of a drug depends on the user.

My pot smoking collegues can easily wait to get home to adminster their drug, while my tobacco smoking collegues start obsessing and craving well before lunch.

60 posted on 06/06/2005 12:17:05 PM PDT by Stu Cohen (Press '1' for English)
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