Pubdate: Wed, 05 Oct 2005
Source: Arizona Daily Wildcat (AZ Edu)
Copyright: 2005 Arizona Daily Wildcat
Contact:  http://wildcat.arizona.edu/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/725
Author: Julio Canon Barriga
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1571/a03.html

MARIJUANA DEBATE SHOULD CONSIDER BLACK MARKET FORCES

I celebrate the courageous effort of columnists David Schultz and
Scott Patterson in facing the discussion about drug legalization in
their recent column "The burning question: legalize marijuana?" I just
want to mention some flaws in their arguments in hope of promoting a
more focused discussion on the topic.

The first flaw deals with the last statement made by Mr. Schultz,
encouraging an open "war" against the "enemies down south" instead of
continuing the "futile war" against the drug consumers. There is an
unfortunate use of the terms "war" and "enemies" instead of "law
enforcement" and "criminals," which would be more proper of issues
concerning black markets and such illegal drugs. It is important to
consider that black markets involve both sides of the cyclic economic
spectrum of supply-demand, and that both sides of the process share
responsibilities.

Taking into account the whole dimension of this illegal market, we may
observe that high demands will make the business even more lucrative,
encouraging new criminal groups to participate to ensure the supply.
That means that a "law enforcement against suppliers" would be in fact
more futile that the "law enforcement against consumers," if both
sides could really be treated apart of each other.

The second comment is more about a misleading statement rather than a
flaw in the last paragraph of Mr. Patterson's column. In an eventual
international legalization process, producers should not be considered
"illegal," not here nor abroad, and the black market would eventually
be substituted be a legal open market of such products. Therefore the
international production of marijuana should not be a threat for the
domestic markets but instead a favorable condition for a legal,
internationally recognized market.

Julio Canon Barriga

hydrology and water resources graduate student 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake