Escalation of the drug war by sending U.S. troops to the border with Mexico is the wrong answer, says a Harvard professor of economics. The only way to stop the violence is to legalize drugs in this country, he says.
Professor Jeffrey Miron, in a commentary written for CNN, says drug "prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground. This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead."
President Obama has come under criticism from some on the left for his recent claim that he would oppose legalizing marijuana.
But the reality of the situation in Mexico should put legalization on the agenda, critics like Miron say.
Prohibition of drugs corrupts politicians and law enforcement by putting police, prosecutors, judges and politicians in the position to threaten the profits of an illicit trade. This is why bribery, threats and kidnapping are common for prohibited industries but rare otherwise. Mexico's recent history illustrates this dramatically.
Miron says drug eradication programs in Colombia and Afghanistan are bad policy as well. Prohibition only enriches those who use drug sales to finance purchases of guns and terrorist activity.
It also has a broad effect on our culture that promotes lawlessness, Miron writes:
Prohibitions breed disrespect for the law because despite draconian penalties and extensive enforcement, huge numbers of people still violate prohibition. This means those who break the law, and those who do not, learn that obeying laws is for suckers.
And it's not just for marijuana, but all drugs. Marijuana is increasingly grown domestically. Harder drugs like cocaine and meth that come from south of the border should be legalized, too.
Finally, Miron says, "It is impossible to reconcile respect for individual liberty with drug prohibition."
Legalization is not just a crackpot idea promoted by unserious potheads. This is a serious policy debate that should not be taken off the table.
Comments
Article is on target except only the left wing is criticizing Obama on his reversal on Marijuana. There are plenty of right wingers who want it legalized too.
John Zorabedian and Professor Jeffrey Miron are right on.
One of the most despicable things about the new prohibition is it disregards science and punishes families of citizens, confiscating their property for making a safer health choice in a social or medicinal drug; that is policy bordering on insanity.
The tobacco, alcohol and prescription drug gangs cause more death annually than all illicit drugs.
The violence triggered in Mexico is obscene but across America paramilitary drug raids
trigger violence rather than lessen the risk.
Check out the cato.org/raidmap/
All the unnecessary deaths triggered by our drug policies are democide (death by government).
how much drug violence is from marijuana and how much from cocaine? Marijuana could conceivably be legalized, how much would it help?
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