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  • FRIDAY JUNE 10 2005 9:00 AM

Economists Unite For Weed

Submitted by TheFuckOffKid

Edited by dem_z

Milton Friedman, the famous Nobel Laureate in Economics, is the keynote signatory on a petition attached to an open letter from economists advocating legalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana.

The impetus for the petition is a report by Jeffrey Miron, entitled "The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition". As the title suggests, Miron's emphasis is on the very pragmatic issue of what a legal marijuana market could mean for government finances.

"According to the calculations here, legalization would reduce government expenditure by $5.3 billion at the state and local level and by $2.4 billion at the federal level. In addition, marijuana legalization would generate 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."

...Those impacts are considerable, according to officials of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. For example, $14 billion in annual combined annual savings and revenues would cover the securing of all "loose nukes" in the former Soviet Union (estimated by former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb at $30 billion) in less than three years. Just one year's savings would cover the full cost of anti-terrorism port security measures required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002. The Coast Guard has estimated these costs, covering 3,150 port facilities and 9,200 vessels, at $7.3 billion total.


The full list of signatories (all professional economists, only some of whom are likely to be stoners too) is available here.

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Comments
WaTed

WaTed

United Kingdom
September 2002

JUN 10, 2005 09:30 AM

If they legalised it, what would happen if everyone just grew it instead of buying it from the government? ooo aaa

Ravnos

ravnos

Edmonton, AB
OLD SKOOL

JUN 10, 2005 09:38 AM

WaTed said:
If they legalised it, what would happen if everyone just grew it instead of buying it from the government? ooo aaa



That would never happen. People can brew their own beer right now, and yet only a small fraction of beer drinkers do so. A friend of mine was even going to grow his own tobacco (I'm not sure why he decided against it). For most people, the assurance of a certain level of quality and convenience in buying will far outweigh the benefits of producing it themselves.

WaTed

WaTed

United Kingdom
September 2002

JUN 10, 2005 09:42 AM

Ravnos said:

WaTed said:
If they legalised it, what would happen if everyone just grew it instead of buying it from the government? ooo aaa



That would never happen. People can brew their own beer right now, and yet only a small fraction of beer drinkers do so. A friend of mine was even going to grow his own tobacco (I'm not sure why he decided against it). For most people, the assurance of a certain level of quality and convenience in buying will far outweigh the benefits of producing it themselves.



But to produce the amount of beer needed to support a fairly standard habit would be unfeasible at home due to space and cost restraints (it's also likely to be piss poor.)

Not so for plants that you can harvest every couple of months which you can grow in fairly limited space and produce enough to support a habit until the next crop.

Surely?

MadScience_7

MadScience_7

Golden, CO
June 2004

JUN 10, 2005 09:50 AM

WaTed said:

Ravnos said:

WaTed said:
If they legalised it, what would happen if everyone just grew it instead of buying it from the government? ooo aaa



That would never happen. People can brew their own beer right now, and yet only a small fraction of beer drinkers do so. A friend of mine was even going to grow his own tobacco (I'm not sure why he decided against it). For most people, the assurance of a certain level of quality and convenience in buying will far outweigh the benefits of producing it themselves.



But to produce the amount of beer needed to support a fairly standard habit would be unfeasible at home due to space and cost restraints (it's also likely to be piss poor.)

Not so for plants that you can harvest every couple of months which you can grow in fairly limited space and produce enough to support a habit until the next crop.

Surely?



Potheads are lazy.

WaTed

WaTed

United Kingdom
September 2002

JUN 10, 2005 09:55 AM

MadScience_7 said:
Potheads are lazy.



Yet inventive and industrious when the need arises. Therein lies the paradox.

PointBlank

PointBlank

New York, NY
November 2004

JUN 10, 2005 09:55 AM

Milton's Fried, Man.


He's so high right now.

alpha_hazard

alpha_hazard

Fort Collins, CO
April 2004

JUN 10, 2005 10:03 AM

as long as the government is getting more money and support from the corporations who own pharmaceuticals, pot will be illegal...

Bettie1950

Bettie1950

Valencia, CA
January 2005

JUN 10, 2005 10:07 AM

No matter how hard I try, I can not grow a darn thing. And I'm sure a lot of other people have the same problem. So I would still be buying it.

transcendental

transcendental

Burlington, NC
September 2004

JUN 10, 2005 10:24 AM

as long as the moral majority and christian right groups hold power in this country, it will never happen...... you know, zealous religiousity is a sure sign of psychosis - they should all smoke out and calm down a bit.

[Edited on Jun 10, 2005 10:27AM]

akl

akl

Sacramento, CA
February 2004

JUN 10, 2005 11:27 AM

I think the fraction growing it out of the larger market wouldn't really make up a huge percentage; certainly not enough to offset the economic gain of open sale.

I mean - spend a few weeks growing it, or go buy it at some ridiculously low price at walmart?

Doghouse_Reilly

doghouse_reilly

I'm lost
February 2004

JUN 10, 2005 11:34 AM

At this point, Jesus Christ himself could endorse legalization, and our politicians would still find a way to block the measure from ballots or somehow obstruct the legislation needed to end prohibition.

transcendental

transcendental

Burlington, NC
September 2004

JUN 10, 2005 12:18 PM

Doghouse_Reilly said:
At this point, Jesus Christ himself could endorse legalization, and our politicians would still find a way to block the measure from ballots or somehow obstruct the legislation needed to end prohibition.



amen

dem_z

dem_z

United Kingdom
June 2004

JUN 10, 2005 12:34 PM

cannabis farms use quite a lot of energy, and because you have crooks growing cannabis at the moment they're happy to steal the electricity sometimes.

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