Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Obligatory SOTU post "Did you know that the State of the Union Address and Dark Side of the Moon synch up perfectly?" - Jon Stewart What a buzz kill that would be. 9:18:09 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Economics and the Drug War An interesting post from last week over at Marginal Revolution about a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Political Economy on how elasticity affects the market for illegal goods. In an important new study, world-renowned economists--including a Nobel Prize winner and a MacArthur "genius"--argue that when demand for a good is inelastic, the cost of making consumption illegal exceeds the gain. [...] The authors demonstrate how the elasticity of demand is crucial to understanding the effects of punishment on suppliers. [...] "This analysis...helps us understand why the War on Drugs has been so difficult to win...why efforts to reduce the supply of drugs leads to violence and greater power to street gangs and drug cartels," conclude the authors. "The answer lies in the basic theory of enforcement developed in this paper." A good discussion in comments at Marginal Revolution, with most of the best comments coming from daksya. Update: Apparently, the year recently became 2007, so this January 2006 post is actually a year old, not a week. Still, the points are valid, just more aged and wise... 8:42:10 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

One last push for the laptop I've been working on the new laptop fund for awhile, and I'd like to thank all the wonderful folks who have chipped in. I've raised a significant amount toward the cost from some incredibly generous donations from readers. I'm getting an educational discount and I'm taking advantage of a promotion that ends January 30 that will save me a few bucks, so I'll be buying it next week. And so, I'm putting out one last push for donations. I can cover the remainder from my savings, and I certainly don't want donations from anyone who can't afford it, but if you missed out on donating already, and would like to be part of the laptop, here's your chance. 9:36:53 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Small steps This shouldn't be a very remarkable bill, but it is in a way. The Utah House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee voted 7-1 to reduce drug-free zones from 1,000 feet to 500 feet and to remove places such as parking plazas. Ideally, the revised zones will restore the focus on protecting the children in the places they most frequently congregate, said the sponsor of HB231, Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan. Since the drug-free zones were created in the 1980s, they have been "diluted" by expanded definitions that have made entire cities drug-free zones, Harper said. In fact, drug free zones have been nothing more than an extra charge for prosecutors to pile on in the cities and have had nothing to do with protecting children. Now I think drug zones are a pretty stupid idea, and a 500 foot radius still ends up covering more than four Manhattan-sized city blocks, but at least this is a small step in reversing the lemming-like trend of politicians mindlessly and incoherently increasing every drug-related penalty or prohibition they can find. 8:45:40 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []