The economics of marijuana

Excerpts from an essay at Cato Unbound:

The root purpose of marijuana Prohibition is to eliminate the marijuana market in order to decrease use... Such interdiction methods have become increasingly expensive since marijuana Prohibition began in 1937, and every taxpayer is footing the bill, year after year. The results have been abysmal. The United States currently spends approximately $8 billion a year on marijuana Prohibition enforcement...

Yet use has not decreased and is actually near record levels. This is a clear indication that despite the government’s attempts to eliminate this market, it is thriving...

The potential of the industry as a whole is frequently overlooked. Marijuana is by most estimates a more valuable commodity than corn and wheat combined, with experts estimating its annual value to be between $10 and $120 billion.

More at the link, via The Dish.