September, 2008

Against the Ban on Cannabis Smoking; for the Ban on Cannabis Commerce

by Mark Kleiman
The Conversation
September 22nd, 2008

To be justified, a law needs to be beneficial in its results — net of the costs of enforcement — and a reasonable restriction on liberty. Compared to a law that allowed individuals to grow their own cannabis for personal consumption or gratis distribution, the current cannabis laws probably have quite modest impacts on [...]

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25 Million Wrongs Don’t Make a Right

by Jonathan Caulkins
The Conversation
September 22nd, 2008

Jacob argues that the fact that so many people have violated a drug law “ought to change the legal approach to marijuana at least.” I’ve never understood that logic. The household survey estimates that 25 million Americans used marijuana in the last year, but the same survey estimates that 30 million drove a vehicle while [...]

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Pot Smokers for Prohibition

by Jacob Sullum
The Conversation
September 19th, 2008

Jonathan is right that, according to the government’s survey data, “current” (i.e., past-month) use of illegal drugs is relatively rare. Still, something done by one in 12 Americans (about 20 million people)—or one in seven (36 million), if we look at past-year use—is a significant phenomenon that involves many otherwise law-abiding people. (We should also [...]

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Be Realistic about How Much Information Alone Changes Behavior

by Jonathan Caulkins
The Conversation
September 19th, 2008

I am happy to agree with the Erowids that accurate information about drugs is generally preferable, but we should be realistic about how much accurate information alone will accomplish. I’ll elaborate in a moment about some history of information-only campaigns in drug prevention, but I do not think the limitations are unique to drug [...]

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