Milton Friedman: Legalize It! (The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition)

Forbes.Com ^ | June 2, 2005

[muawiyah]

BTW, they've detected interstellar alcohol, but no interstellar MJ.

Should tell us something, and I can think of several things.

[muawiyah]

You know very well our laws against pedophilia are definitely designed to interfere with someone else's pleasure.

The fact that a law interferes in personal pleasure is not, in and of itself (id est per se), any reason at all to oppose that law.

[Ken H]

Since when have politicians ever had to approve any recombinant DNA project?

A research project is different from making a decision to implement such a policy.

[muawiyah]

And ARSENIC based paint too~ Actually FUR SHUR.

[muawiyah]

It is? My, my ~ and which politicians approved the anthrax attack?

I think you imagine that the world is full of levels of control and interlocking directorates such that no bad deed occurs except that it is officially approved.

Sorry, I've done stuff without permission myself ~ and gotten away with it too. Many other Freepers recall such events in their lives as well.

Why do you not recall such things?

[bigsigh]

It may be my pleasure to kill you, but that would be so wrong. Of course I think you should vote on whether or not I get drunk or high. We have to take care of each other now don't we.

The next time you read a comment perhaps you could take it in context and apply it to the isue at hand or you can continue to parse all the words here, then have at it.

[Ken H]

Experience suggests that just about everyone making an argument in support of unregulating drug use is an abuser.

Economics suggests that just about everyone making an argument in support of the WOD has a vested interest in continuing it.

[Dinsdale]

doing is using recombinant DNA technology to spread a de-cannibization gene throughout all MJ

How would that be different then it is today?

There is already THC less hemp growing and spreading pollen all around the nation. Does'nt seam to affect the growers. They just keep breeding stronger pot year after year.

[Ken H]

My, my ~ and which politicians approved the anthrax attack?

So you were speaking of a rogue operation, rather than an approved policy? I'm sure we'd all like to hear more...

Sorry, I've done stuff without permission myself ~ and gotten away with it too. Many other Freepers recall such events in their lives as well. Why do you not recall such things?

I don't recall anyone here knocking out a multi-billion dollar industry and affecting the national economy. Can you provide a link?

[muawiyah]

Yes, peace and quiet and fewer junkies laying on the sidewalk out front of my house ~ a vested interest FUR SHUR.

[muawiyah]

The theory of "stronger pot" is just a theory. You guys sure talk a lot about it, but it's the same old stuff.

My own theory is that with the advent of domestic sources, your memories of Mexican "$hit", called that for it's extraneous content, mislead you into thinking the domestic stuff is "stronger". Actually, it's just more concentrated due to the absence of filler~!

[muawiyah]

A multi-million dollar industry? ~ Bill Clinton and his running dog lackeys pretty well wiped out Global Crossing, Enron, Arthur Anderson, etc. with lax enforcement of SEC laws prior to "W"'s election.

How many more multi-million dollar industries do I have to name?

Then there was the MINT INDUSTRY. It got wiped out totally a couple of decades ago with a blight. It destroyed 100% of all the mint cultivar. Clever plant breeders managed to breed a new type out of "spearmint", but it's not exactly the same as the old stuff.

MJ could go the same way.

[Proud_texan]

While I can see the "logic" and have great admiration for the man I doubt if he has ever had to live in a crack neighborhood. I address his comments about legalizing all drugs.

"The harm done and the corruption created by these laws...the costs are one of the lesser evils."

There are families there that aren't on welfare and want the best for their kids. They work hard to try and improve their conditions. Think about how it would be to try and raise your kids in a situation like that. I don't see how legalization is going to help that situation.

This isn't bleeding heart stuff, I venture to say that none of us here would tolerate what a lot of people are struggling with every day. Do we owe them less that what we would expect in our neighborhoods?

Do Church outreach in those neighborhoods or do a drive along if your local PD allows it. It might be that all of a sudden drug use and prostitution doesn't look so victimless.

Obviously the current WoD isn't working and I don't have an answer, but is throwing up our hands, saying it's all okay and dooming a segment of our fellow American's a viable solution?

[mugs99]

The reason many violent offenders are caught with pot is because it is illegal & sold on the black market. High profit motives bring unsavory people into the business - forcing the poor, peaceful pothead to have to deal with society's worst to get their harmless buzz.

You only have to look at Holland to see the real world proof of that. Drug abuse in Holland was epidemic. They had more hard drug addicts than America and Europe. They had a War On Drugs that was a total failure. They stopped their War On Drugs. Addiction and crime plummeted. Teen use of Marijuana went down, not up!
...

[Ken H]

Yes, peace and quiet and fewer junkies laying on the sidewalk out front of my house ~ a vested interest FUR SHUR.

That assumes the WOD leads to fewer junkies lying around, an assumption not supported by the government's own numbers.

[muawiyah]

Believe me, there are fewer junkies out in front of my house now than there were where I lived 30 years ago!

Something is working.

[mugs99]

Well, I just can't wait till the school bus driver negotiates our steep hills and curves while on pot

Is he negotiating those steep hills on alcohol? You prefer he use alcohol over pot?
...

[mugs99]

This isn't bleeding heart stuff, I venture to say that none of us here would tolerate what a lot of people are struggling with every day. Do we owe them less that what we would expect in our neighborhoods?

Yes it is. It is a proven fact that drug prohibition increases drug use and crime in exactly the same way that alcohol prohibition did. If you were trully concerned about the welfare of kids you would want to get rid of the cause of the problem...Holland is real world proof that stopping the drug war will decrease drug addiction and violent crime. Teen use of Marijuana will go down, not up. Their War On Drugs was a total failure...Just like ours. They stopped their drug war over twenty years ago. Don't believe me, just surf the Dutch sites and look at the stats.
...

[Ken H]

There appears to be a positive correlation between harshness of drug laws and higher rates of addiction.

"According to the Straits Times [1995], Singapore is treating 7,700 addicts (up from 5,700 in 1990). Assuming improbably, that these are the only ones, Singapore still has an addiction rate 12% higher than the U.S."

--http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/50/098.html

[Malaysia]"The National Drug Agency (ADK) has, through its efforts, registered more than 300,000 addicts in its drug fight. However, just like the iceberg, the numbers are only what is seen above the surface. Some local studies have suggested there are an estimated three to four addicts who are not registered with the ADK for every one that is." 

--thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2005/4/17/health/10678978&sec=health

"Iran has executed more than 10,000 narcotics traffickers in the last decade;"

--www.payvand.com/news/04/mar/1012.htm

"Iran has the highest proportion of heroin addicts in the world and a growing Aids problem."

--news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/3791889.stm

[streetpreacher]

Legalize it and then let the trial lawyers sue the pot industry for the even greater rates of lung cancer that marijuana causes compared to cigarettes.