“Time For Marijuana Legalization?”
The title of this post is the question being asked here by CBS News analyst Andrew Cohen. Cohen picks up on the latest discussion of the costs of the death penalty to take the idea of criminal justice reform in tough times one step further. Here are snippets:
After generations of defending capital punishment and marijuana possession laws on moral, ethical and religious grounds, after years of declaring that the death penalty acted as a deterrent against violent crime and that pot smokers were more dangerous to society than, say, alcohol consumers, all of a sudden thanks to our economic crisis more and more mainstream powerbrokers are considering dramatic changes to our criminal justice system….
These declarations, from the political and legal arena, are not just isolated voices shouting into the wilderness. Consider the late, great Milton Friedman, the Nobel Laureate, former Reagan advisor, and esteemed scholar associated with the very conservative Hoover Institution. He was among hundreds of important economists who argue that pot should be legalized and taxed – and that the income from such taxation could generate billions in new revenues and billions more in enforcement savings. If you live in California, what would you rather have? Pot smokers whose cases are tying up the legal system? Or better health care and roads thanks to a marijuana tax. I’m just asking the question— and others are too.
Friedman and his colleagues first made these arguments years ago — before the economy tanked. Is it time to take his view more seriously with states facing huge budget shortfalls that threaten to curtail vital projects and policies? It is such a great leap from releasing prisoners from prison early to save money and not sending them there at all to save more? I would suspect a survey of police officials and prosecutors, and a survey of state budget officials, would indicate that the matter is being taken more seriously today than it ever has been.
Some recent related posts:
- States considering laying off the death penalty during tough economic times
- More discussion of cost concerns in debates over the death penalty
- Should we end a failed expensive war (the war or drugs) during these hard economic times?
- Terrific commentary and assessment of the war on drugs
- The state of cost problems in the states of prison nation