Found this to be very interesting...

[craigzter 10+ year member]

Ya ya, another thread about legalizing marijuana. But the latest from the MSN homepage. Found this a little interesting though.

Every year, about 2 million people in the U.S. are arrested for drug offenses, including using or selling marijuana, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine. About a third of the country's prisoners are held on drug charges or for crimes attributed to drug abuse.
But what if we legalized all street drugs?

More kids would decide to try drugs "just once," and more would get hooked. Some lives would be ruined. But other lives would be saved. Gang murders would fall sharply. Thousands of people now in jail would be free to find work and feed their families. We'd save billions on the war on drugs, and a new drug industry would create jobs and loads of taxable revenue.

Of course, it may sound like madness. And the gut feeling among many people is that it would be disastrous.

Don Semesky, the former chief of financial operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C., asks: "Have you ever seen a meth addict, with all those sores and rotten teeth? And what they do to their kids? Do you want the government to be responsible for that?"

Yet some economists, including American Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, have supported the idea of legalizing drugs. Friedman believed America's war on drugs was at the root of police corruption and caused thousands of unnecessary deaths, with few gains for ordinary citizens.

So just how would legalized drugs affect the economy and your standard of life?

Running some numbers

Let's look at two scenarios: if marijuana alone were legalized and if all street drugs were legalized. Either way, we assume there'd be strict regulation similar to that for alcohol and cigarettes, including age limits, licensing, quality control, high taxes and limits on advertising.

At first glance, on a "strictly numbers" basis, the effect on the country's pocketbook looks promising. We'd see:

Savings on drug-related law enforcement -- FBI, police, courts and prisons -- of $2 billion to $10 billion a year if marijuana were legalized, based on various estimates, or up to $40 billion a year if all drugs were legalized, based on enforcement costs from the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy. That's before the cost of overseeing the new drug regulations.

Increased productivity as fewer people were murdered, drug offenders were freed to find work and those stripped of their criminal record found it easier to get jobs (including running drug boutiques). However, how many of those now in prison would turn away from crime is unknown.

Tax gains. Drug prices would have to fall sharply in order to squeeze out the black market. Still, Jeffrey Miron, a senior lecturer in economics for Harvard University, calculates the $10 billion-plus U.S. marijuana market could reap $6 billion in annual taxes. The $65 billion market for all illicit drugs, he estimates, might bring in $10 billion to $15 billion in taxes.

A new legal drug industry would create jobs, farm crops, retail outlets and a tiny notch up in gross domestic product as the black market money turned clean. A 1994 study by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, D.C., suggested 100,000 jobs and 60,000 retailers could emerge from a legal marijuana industry.

So, seemingly we'd get a shower of money for the government coffers -- perhaps an initial $50 billion under the "all drugs" scenario -- and gains for business and the community. But at what cost?

continued..

Click to read more...

 

[Slammed 5,000+ posts]

Yet some economists, including American Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, have supported the idea of legalizing drugs. Friedman believed America's war on drugs was at the root of police corruption and caused thousands of unnecessary deaths, with few gains for ordinary citizens.

interesting

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I don't think it should be legalized....

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

I don't think it should be legalized....

moar input?

imo...in a way it should, and in a way it shouldnt. Not everyone reacts the same when under the influence of a drug. So ya...but I do agree in the way that..you let everyone smoke pot...they wont go no where, sit at home stare at the tv and stuff their faces...

obesity(or however ya spell it) rates would go up for sure.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

legalization would hurt the profits of street pharmacist //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

legalization would hurt the profits of street pharmacist //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

true..

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

It must remain illegal to complete the police state. The goal is more cops and more prisons. Eventually everyone will either be in a police uniform or in prison. Then the police state will be complete and everyone has to follow orders.

 

[BoxdGM 10+ year member]

you think it would bring in more income than what they collect in drug money and seizures (cars,houses) in raids?

 

[_DjScrew_ 5,000+ posts]

I don't think it should be legalized....

You think America should continue fighting a "war" it can't win? We spend twice as much on the "war on drugs" as we do on education.. wheres the logic in that?

 

[_DjScrew_ 5,000+ posts]

It must remain illegal to complete the police state. The goal is more cops and more prisons. Eventually everyone will either be in a police uniform or in prison. Then the police state will be complete and everyone has to follow orders.

Yep, prison is big business.

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

hmm...this could get interesting, fast.

 

[chunky cumz 10+ year member]

i want weed to be legalized, maybe LSD too. Meth not so much, but if it came down to either legallizing all or nothing, Fuk i would say legalize it all.

These items will never be legalized simply because america is just like speedbump. (***** whipped panzy nation with a bunch of *****ing mofo's with nothing better to do)

Plus think about all the jobs that would be lost if they were legalized.

policemen would be needed less

Pawn shops for guns would go down

prison guards needed less.

Not to mention all my nigaz on da street not makin dat dough.

 

[newusername 10+ year member]

The reality is that it is not the government's job to tell people what they can and can't do to themselves. The DEA is one of the most useless organizations in the US. In the article, they cite a meth addict taking care of their child as a reason drugs should be illegal. His logic doesn't stand, mind you, because their are non-meth addicts who routinely abuse their children due to any number of factors and the government doesn't make any of those factors (like stress from a job) illegal.

If someone abuses their child, then a social worker and the state can be involved. Preventing freedom of choice is not a solution.

From an economic standpoint, I'm not sure that I completely agree on the likelihood of new jobs being created. Essentially it would be replacing one industry with another. However, the financial load that a heavily authoritative police state requires would be eliminated, replaced by a revenue generating taxation opportunity.

 

[craigzter 10+ year member]

The reality is that it is not the government's job to tell people what they can and can't do to themselves. The DEA is one of the most useless organizations in the US. In the article, they cite a meth addict taking care of their child as a reason drugs should be illegal. His logic doesn't stand, mind you, because their are non-meth addicts who routinely abuse their children due to any number of factors and the government doesn't make any of those factors (like stress from a job) illegal.
If someone abuses their child, then a social worker and the state can be involved. Preventing freedom of choice is not a solution.

From an economic standpoint, I'm not sure that I completely agree on the likelihood of new jobs being created. Essentially it would be replacing one industry with another. However, the financial load that a heavily authoritative police state requires would be eliminated, replaced by a revenue generating taxation opportunity.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif

 

[PepsiFiend69 10+ year member]

moar input?

imo...in a way it should, and in a way it shouldnt. Not everyone reacts the same when under the influence of a drug. So ya...but I do agree in the way that..you let everyone smoke pot...they wont go no where, sit at home stare at the tv and stuff their faces...

obesity(or however ya spell it) rates would go up for sure.

wow that was the most stereotypical thing i have ever heard.

not everyone that smokes weed sits around and eats. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

just like not everyone that smokes weed is stupid. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

it's the small percentage of people, that are to blame for this stereotype.

i am strongly for marijuana legalization. I believe it is completely harmless. how many alcohol related deaths do you hear of compared to marijuana related? it's non habit forming, proven to be non addictive, as well as proven to have no long term effects.

i believe alcohol is way more dangerous.

it baffles me that most people that are against weed, talk about all the time how they go out and get drunk, then drive home, or do whatever.

way more people smoke weed than you think, guaranteed, everyday you come in contact with 5 or 6 people that smoke weed on a daily basis and you don't even realize it

as far as marijuana legalization goes, sure initially the amount of users will go up, but really the only people that will continue are the people that ALREADY do it everyday.

man. touchy subject. you had to get me on this while at work huh