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I think this is correct. Opponents believe, with some reason, that legalization ("decriminalization") implies or leads to normalization, as it did with alcohol and tobacco use. This is not a small issue, even if consider only from the perspective of public health. The cost of tobacco use and alcohol abuse is astronomical in actually medical costs and it comes with devastating social costs as well, affecting not on the individuals involved. Now, the issue with regard to tobacco use and alcohol abuse is trying to put the cat back in the bag. It's not a simple matter. And Prohibition showed that criminalization is also ineffective. Education and tax policy has been effective to some degree, but not to the satisfaction of the medical community and public health officials that
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Mike Norman considers the following as important:
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I think this is correct. Opponents believe, with some reason, that legalization ("decriminalization") implies or leads to normalization, as it did with alcohol and tobacco use. This is not a small issue, even if consider only from the perspective of public health. The cost of tobacco use and alcohol abuse is astronomical in actually medical costs and it comes with devastating social costs as well, affecting not on the individuals involved. Now, the issue with regard to tobacco use and alcohol abuse is trying to put the cat back in the bag. It's not a simple matter. And Prohibition showed that criminalization is also ineffective. Education and tax policy has been effective to some degree, but not to the satisfaction of the medical community and public health officials that
Topics:
Mike Norman considers the following as important:
This could be interesting, too:
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Opponents believe, with some reason, that legalization ("decriminalization") implies or leads to normalization, as it did with alcohol and tobacco use.
This is not a small issue, even if consider only from the perspective of public health. The cost of tobacco use and alcohol abuse is astronomical in actually medical costs and it comes with devastating social costs as well, affecting not on the individuals involved.
Now, the issue with regard to tobacco use and alcohol abuse is trying to put the cat back in the bag. It's not a simple matter. And Prohibition showed that criminalization is also ineffective.
Education and tax policy has been effective to some degree, but not to the satisfaction of the medical community and public health officials that study outcomes.
Now that the issue of legalizing cannabis looms large, there's a chance to address this before the cat gets out of the bag. And addressing it in advance could lead to a more optimal approach to tobacco use and alcohol abuse, too.
Th other objection to legalizing cannabis is that it will then lead to legalization of other substance likely to be abused that even more dangerous.
I favor total legalization with sufficient precautions to avoid normalization, which would be a great mistake for reasons learns from tobacco and alcohol policy.
There is ample evidence that prohibit doesn't work, is expensive, can be used to disseminate, and other issues as well. It's unreasonable to continue a failed policy or to try to "fix" it, e.g. by imposing stricter penalties.
We need to think this through and there should be many inputs on it, with due deliberation before formulating policy. The Tyler Cowan piece doesn't deal with this is the degree of detail required, which would be impossible within the limited scope of a column.
There is a huge amount of money on the table now over potential legalization. Let's not get distracted by interests but rather look at the issue in term of the larger interests involved.
Bloomberg View
Legalize Pot, But Don’t Normalize It
Tyler Cowen | Holbert C. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and serves as chairman and general director of the Mercatus Center