Just Say "Yes!" Legalizing ***** Is Good for Society ... and the Economy, Harvard Prof. Says
Posted Oct 06, 2010 10:06am EDT by Henry Blodget
California residents will vote in November on whether or not to legalize *********. If they do vote "yes," says Harvard economics professor Jeffrey Miron, that should only be the beginning.
All ***** should be legalized nationwide, Miron says. Pot, *******, LSD, crystal-meth --- you name it.
"Legalizing ***** would save roughly $41.3 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. Of these savings, $25.7 billion would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government," Miron claims in a recent Cato Institute report he co-authored.
According to their website, "The report also estimates that **** legalization would yield tax revenue of $46.7 billion annually, assuming legal ***** were taxed at rates comparable to those on ******* and tobacco. Approximately $8.7 billion of this revenue would result from legalization of ********* and $38.0 billion from legalization of other *****."
But won't we become a nation of **** addicts?
No, says Miron. Walk down any city street and you can already buy legal ***** in multiple establishments: Caffeine at Starbucks, nicotine at the supermarket, ******* at bars and restaurants. And we're not ALL addicted to all of these *****.
Our current **** policy doesn't work, Miron observes. Despite ~$40 billion spent on enforcement and prosecution, **** use is still widespread. Meanwhile, because the products are *******, they're dangerous, low-quality, and unregulated, and they generate zero tax revenue.
Legalizing ***** would solve those problems, Miron says. It would help close the budget deficit. And it would eliminate a bizarre double standard, in which Americans are encouraged to ***** and smoke themselves to death -- while guzzling addictive coffee and tea -- but become criminals if they dare to get stoned.
By the way, here are 10 ways to invest in the ****-legalization trend >
