N1029676's List: Legalizing Marijuana

• The study estimates that the average price of 0.5 grams (a unit) of marijuana sold for $8.60 on the street, while its cost of production was only $1.70. In a free market, a $6.90 profit for a unit of marijuana would not last for long.
• Unfortunately, this risk premium is making a lot of criminals, many of whom have ties to organized crime, very wealthy.
• One interesting thing to note from such a scheme is that the street price of marijuana stays exactly the same, so the quantity demanded should remain the same as the price is unchanged.
• Easton's research does conclusively show that there are economic benefits in the legalization of marijuana.

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• Illegal Drug dealers will sell to anyone, including children. Merchants who legally sell alcohol and tobacco are not allowed to sell to children. Many high school students report that it is easier to obtain illegal drugs than alcohol and tobacco.

• To Secure the Blessings of Liberty
• To Promote the General Welfare
• To Insure Domestic Tranquility

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• To Form a More Perfect Union
• To Establish Justice
• To Provide for the Common Defense

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• Dennis M. Yates
• Another problem with the current marijuana laws is prison overcrowding. According to the Federal Bureau of Justice statistics, 59,000 inmates were added to the already overcrowded prisons in 1992 to a record 833,600 inmates nationwide. This is a greater than 160 percent increase since 1982 and is mostly attributed to drug violators.

• According to the CASA study, 23 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds said they could buy marijuana in an hour or less and 42 percent reported they could do so in a day or less, jumps of 35 percent and 14 percent from 2007, respectively, after two years of decreases.

• Limiting the use of the drug intrudes on personal freedom
• Legalization would mean a lower price; thus, related crimes (like theft) would be reduced
• Drug dealers (including some terrorists) would lose most or all of their business
• The FDA or others could regulate the quality and safety of drugs

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• December 1989: the United States invades Panama. Gen. Manuel Noriega surrenders to the DEA on Jan. 3, 1990
• August 2000: President Bill Clinton gives $1.3 billion in aid to Plan Colombia, an effort to decrease the amount of cocaine produced in that nation.
• 2004: Along with the State Department and the Department of Defense, the DEA announces its involvement in the U.S. Embassy Kabul Counternarcotics Implementation Plan.

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• Aerial Surveillance
• Criminal & Intel Analysts

• Jeffrey A. Miron
    Visiting Professor of Economics
    Harvard University
• The report estimates that legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition.
• The report also estimates that marijuana legalization would yield tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco.

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