Ending the War on Drugs Should Be Part of Conservative Strategy to Avoid Deficits

[Ganjarden]

Jacob Hunter with eNDProhibition, the anti-prohibition wing of the New Democratic Party, thinks ending the war on drugs could save the federal government billions in program and enforcement spending, and generate another $10 billion in taxes from $40 billion in economic activity from the now-illegal drug trade.

Here are his assumptions:

-- $10 billion in forgone taxes in the drug trade from $30 billion in market activity in BC, Quebec and Ontario, with the rest of Canada offering another $10 billion. (With is corporate tax rate at 38%, this number makes sense.)

-- $3 billion in taxes are spent annually on the drug war by federal, provincial and municipal governments. (The only federal figure I’ve seen for drug war spending is $500 million, but I believe this figure excludes enforcement activity.)

-- $7 billion in opportunity costs. (I don’t know what this figure represents.)

In an email sent today to eNDProhibition members, Hunter wrote:

Last week the Conservative Party announced that they will be posting $34 and $30 billion dollar deficits for the next two years. Jack Layton and the NDP announced that they will oppose the budget but failed to mention that ending prohibition would add more than $10 billion per year to government coffers while adding $30 billion in market activity to the economy.

Instead of listening to the majority of Canadians and legalizing marijuana, our government is instead burdening future generations with $64 billion in additional debt.

Harper is increasing taxes on future generations to the tune of $64 billion, and using that money to cut taxes today. Raising taxes tomorrow in order to save today from the same fate. Lowering taxes while increasing spending is the very same failed ideology that led to this economic crisis in the first place.

There is a lot of wisdom in Hunter’s statement. The war on drugs has been a costly failure, and ending prohibition could eliminate billions of dollars of wasteful spending and create economic activity. Also, cutting taxes while running a deficit is a criminal practice that shifts the burden of taxes from one generation of the next. It’s taxation without representation or compensation.

The problem with NDP thinking is that while they often oppose deficit spending, they also oppose reducing the size of government. What they seem to want is big government and high taxes, a recipe for economic ruin.

Given NDP Leader Jack Layton’s demonstrated willingness in the recent federal election to abandon NDP candidates who advocate drug policy reform, including eNDProhibition founder Dana Larsen, Hunter and the other activists with eNDProhibition would likely do more good working with the Libertarian Party, or even lobbying from within the ranks of the Conservative Party membership, which still harbours grassroots libertarians and anti-prohibition MPs like Scott Reid.


News Hawk- Ganjarden http://www.420Magazine.com
Source: Western Standard
Author: Matthew Johnston
Contact: Western Standard
Copyright: 2009 Western Standard
Website: Ending the War on Drugs Should Be Part of Conservative Strategy to Avoid Deficits: eNDProhibition

[Soniq420]

I think that the financial reasons for legalization are the most compelling.

Money is the way to a politicians heart

[michaelkaer]

Harper is an ass. He wants to put minimum sentances(6months) out there for a single plant even when that flies in the face of reason and common sense. What happens if you rent some land or a residence to a person and that person grows a few plants, you the owner could be charged on the same to plants. It is draconian and wrong, but that is what his ideology demands of him. He is not a stupid person, but he has proposed some very stupid things. He is also been proven wrong. He is an economist and he still did not see this reccession coming. Let me strike that, he may have known it was coming and had no solution so he ignored the situation, which makes good poilitical sense. Either way he is grossly negligent and many in his own party want him gone. He is much too much a micro-manager. I hope the others will beat him down and take away his power. It is up to Iggy now. I don't hold out any hope for him as well, but he is a little bit better than Steven and he would have to have the NDP and the Bloc on his side to mellow him out a bit. Good luck Canada.

[michaelkaer]

As a side note, it looks like Iggy will soon come to power and Harper's days are numbered. Harper's own people would have bent over backward for him if he got a majority, but facing even a weak liberal opposition, he did not get it and he would be a fool to even try for another majority. It is not going to happen. I see the tide changing once again and the economy is going to be Harper's killer. We have some real solutions here and the people who could put them to good use are doing the exact opposite.