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With the death of Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman, America has lost one of its strongest voices for sane, sensible marijuana policies, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) in Washington, D.C., said today.
"Dr. Friedman was a lifetime dues-paying member of MPP and a strong advocate for ending marijuana prohibition,” Rob Kampia, MPP executive director, said. “He understood that the government's war on marijuana users is an assault on basic conservative values of freedom and small government. We will miss him greatly."
Friedman was one of 500 economists to endorse the landmark MPP-commissioned report by Harvard’s Jeffrey R. Miron, “The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition,” which estimated ending prohibition would save taxpayers $7.7 billion a year while generating $6.2 billion in tax revenue, and to call for a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcoholic beverages. Miron's report and the letter signed by Dr. Friedman are available at Costs of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis.
"There is no logical basis for the prohibition of marijuana," Friedman said, referring to the study. “Our failure to successfully enforce these laws is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Colombia. I haven't even included the harm to young people. It's absolutely disgraceful to think of picking up a 22-year-old for smoking pot. More disgraceful is the denial of marijuana for medical purposes."
Before his death, Friedman taped video footage for MPP in which he discussed drug policy reform and the need for a different approach to marijuana. MPP is now working to make this footage available. For details, contact Dan Bernath, MPP assistant director of communications, at 202-462-5747 ex. 115 or dbernath@mpp.org.
With more than 21,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana — both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: Marijuana Policy Project
Pubdate: 17 November 2006
Copyright: 2006 Marijuana Policy Project
Contact: Marijuana Policy Project - Home
Website: Article Here
"Dr. Friedman was a lifetime dues-paying member of MPP and a strong advocate for ending marijuana prohibition,” Rob Kampia, MPP executive director, said. “He understood that the government's war on marijuana users is an assault on basic conservative values of freedom and small government. We will miss him greatly."
Friedman was one of 500 economists to endorse the landmark MPP-commissioned report by Harvard’s Jeffrey R. Miron, “The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition,” which estimated ending prohibition would save taxpayers $7.7 billion a year while generating $6.2 billion in tax revenue, and to call for a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcoholic beverages. Miron's report and the letter signed by Dr. Friedman are available at Costs of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis.
"There is no logical basis for the prohibition of marijuana," Friedman said, referring to the study. “Our failure to successfully enforce these laws is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Colombia. I haven't even included the harm to young people. It's absolutely disgraceful to think of picking up a 22-year-old for smoking pot. More disgraceful is the denial of marijuana for medical purposes."
Before his death, Friedman taped video footage for MPP in which he discussed drug policy reform and the need for a different approach to marijuana. MPP is now working to make this footage available. For details, contact Dan Bernath, MPP assistant director of communications, at 202-462-5747 ex. 115 or dbernath@mpp.org.
With more than 21,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana — both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment.
Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: Marijuana Policy Project
Pubdate: 17 November 2006
Copyright: 2006 Marijuana Policy Project
Contact: Marijuana Policy Project - Home
Website: Article Here
