On another note, I've heard the best argument yet against Kentucky legalizing marijuana. This is from a forum in response to an article in the Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Law.
Anonymous - What would happen if diamonds were suddenly as available as coal? The economic system of Eastern Kentucky is dependent on the money from both fighting the weed and the money its high price brings to the economy. Make it legal and you destroy the economics of scarcity. We should attempt to measure the economic input and output of the region to determine the value illegal activity adds to the economy.
He makes a valid point. I know that the extra state troopers and the drug money do have an economic impact. They're both out there spending money at local businesses. You take away the legal status, and suddenly marijuana is just another factory crop grown on multi-million dollar farms, and more poor people are out of a job. On the other hand, if we legalized possession but not production, people could still benefit by not being harassed by law enforcement for their private stash, but the growers could still make a living, probably even a better one.
Anonymous - What would happen if diamonds were suddenly as available as coal? The economic system of Eastern Kentucky is dependent on the money from both fighting the weed and the money its high price brings to the economy. Make it legal and you destroy the economics of scarcity. We should attempt to measure the economic input and output of the region to determine the value illegal activity adds to the economy.
He makes a valid point. I know that the extra state troopers and the drug money do have an economic impact. They're both out there spending money at local businesses. You take away the legal status, and suddenly marijuana is just another factory crop grown on multi-million dollar farms, and more poor people are out of a job. On the other hand, if we legalized possession but not production, people could still benefit by not being harassed by law enforcement for their private stash, but the growers could still make a living, probably even a better one.
posted by Brinton
3 Comments:
What about adding to the comparison the benefits of the marijuana tax that would inevitably be placed? And then you'd also have to compare the cost of those taxes to the user.
There are certainly many facets to this issue. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. I support de-criminalization at the very least. I'm undecided about complete legalization. I do believe there are certain negative sociological consequences to legalization, whether those are outweighed by the interests of freedom comes down to a debate regarding whether criminal law should be used for social engineering. Obviously a libertarian would say no, but being somewhere between a libertarian and a true liberal, I'm having a hard time picking which side of the issue to support. The liberal in me says keep marijuana against the law. Maybe it's my time in public health.
i wasn't arguing for or against it. I was just adding to your cost-benefit analysis.
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