Law & Politics
Source" http://www.centives.net/S/2012/prostitutes-drug-dealers-and-underground-gamblers-what-will-they-do-in-a-world-without-cash/

Black Markets are unregulated cash businesses where anything goes.

One of the most prevalent scare tactics from prohibitionists is how a sensible taxation and regulation policy for marijuana will turn our children into 24/7 couch-locked stoners since they’ll be able to purchase it much easier. This is pure reefer madness in violation of Economics 101.  When a particular good or service, whether marijuana or prostitution, is forced to exist in the black market, it makes it significantly easier for children to purchase and be involved in the production/sale of the good or the sale of the service.

The infographic below has tons of great facts and statistics, but the bottom third that talks about the impact our children is what caught my eye. A 2009 study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse:

Teens between the ages of 12 and 17 say it’s easier to get marijuana than buy cigarettes, beer or prescription drugs.

You don’t need a degree in economics to understand how black markets cause this, just a dose of common sense.  Lets compare the purchasing of marijuana vs. beer.  Your local bodega or bar is rationally not going to risk selling to minors given severe penalties for getting caught.  The risks simply don’t justify the rewards, which is exactly the way it should be. Illegal street dealers of marijuana are already operating outside of the law. These dealers risk prison time and loss of income regardless of who they’re selling to.  So their risk to reward ratio is extremely skewed towards taking that additional risk over the regulated corner store selling beer.  Illegal dealers don’t have to ask for ID, just cash will do.

The statistics in the infographic support how regulated markets do a better job of protecting our children. Eight out of ten, or 80%, of the states that legalized medical marijuana  saw a decrease in teen marijuana use between 1999 to 2006.

Here’s more proof from the latest study covering an even wider period of time on kids and marijuana usage in states with medical marijuana:

“Researchers looked at marijuana use among youth between 1993 and 2009, a time when 13 states legalized the drug for medical use. They found no correlation between legalization of the drug and increased use among teens in a given state. In fact, slight drops in teen use were seen in some states where marijuana was legalized.”

Don’t allow reefer madness propaganda to go unchallenged as we continue to force the topic of ending prohibition onto the national stage!

Source: http://www.onlineparalegalprograms.com

Infographic Created by: OnlineParalegalPrograms.com