I haven't used it as a case against legalising it, I was using it to retort against the people saying it's a good thing due to taxation. I wasn't using a strong financial sector as an argument for anything, it's the fact that is the ONLY thing we are good at, hence why the vast majority of our goods are imported, I fail to see why we're going to change just for weed. And, I'm not blindly following an economic model. Comparative advantage is measured in terms of opportunity cost. To privatise and liberalise the whole market for weed means giving up land we already, or could use for say potatoes. We are far better at growing potatoes than Jamaica are, and they are far better at growing Marijuana. Voila, comparative advantage. Growing potatoes is in fact one of the few things we do produce well, so we therefore have a comparative advantage in there over potatoes, so again, I believe weed will most likely be imported.
You're not listening to my arguments. What 'land' will be used for weed? Weed is grown INDOORS. Anyone can grow amazing weed indoors, you don't even need a greenhouse for it. That's why they wouldn't import weed from Holland. It would be too expensive to bring it over by boat when you could just grow it in your own basement or buy it from the guy down the street. You might "believe" weed will be imported, but can you name me another country that has legalized weed that imports it? Canada for example, which is compeletely dependent on the US economy, grows its own weed. It's absolutely freezing most of the year, and they grow it indoors (although a lot of people grow it outdoors, too).
Again, in order to show that your comparative advantage model works here you have to prove that Jamaica or Holland has a comparative advantage in weed. Even Riccardo would tell you that. Except that they don't. Jamaica is way too far away so you wouldn't import your weed from them (for the same reason that Canada doesn't), and their weed isn't nearly as good as Holland's (it's plentiful in Jamaica because everyone grows it, but it's not nearly as high quality as what you get in Holland, where they grow it indoors with the most advanced techniques). Again, Holland has no comparative advantage in weed...there is not a major climate difference between the two countries, and even if there was, that wouldn't matter. Weed is grown indoors for Christ's sake. You think that because Britain has a comparative advantage in one thing (finances), that that means that other countries have a comparative advantage in everything else. It's true that Britain does import a lot of goods (that other countries have a comparative advantage in), but weed has little to do with these goods...it is not labor or land intensive. It can easily be grown in your basement.
And I'm really, really sick of you insulting my economic credentials, when you're the one acting like some renegade economist going against the traditional theories. Also, you're acting like I'm repeating something I learnt in a class, I have in no way shape or form studied the market for marijuana in economics, and again, if you knew something about economics you would know that there is no right or wrong, you put forth your points based on economic theories and form your own personal conclusions based from them. For instance, our monetary policy committee has often disagreed on interest rates, yet they're all extremely talented and intelligent within the subject. You discrediting me for "learning it in a class" is ridiculous of you, and being so aggressive over it only goes to discredit your arguments. I could criticise you for being so aggressive against economic theories that have been proven in the real world countless times, but you clearly have - some sort - of capacity to debate the effects, it's a shame you ruin it for yourself.
Sigh. When did I 'insult' your 'economic credentials?' And what credentials do you have, by the way? Aren't you 18? I'm assuming neither of us have any economic credentials. More importantly, you were the one that started the post with "first of all, you clearly don't understand international trade" and then proceeded to lecture me on comparative advantage (without explaining at all how it applied to weed). As for me being a "renegade economist," well, praise the lord but a lot of people these days would agree in general with what I had to say, and that includes people within the discipline of economics. The crisis has caused people to re-think a lot of things, especially how we think about the discipline.
As for saying you parrotted stuff in class on marijuana, I wasn't accusing you of that, it's clear that you haven't studied the economics of marijuana, I was accusing you of doing what most economists do. Start with a model that may or may not be relevant to the particular commodity or economy we are discussing, and then fail to explain how that model even applies. You gave me the whole basic summary of the theory of comparative advantage, and then didn't even mention once how it applied to weed (other than your explanation that 'Britain has a strong financial sector, so that means they'll import it,' which as explained before, is incorrect, even within your model of comparative advantage).
As for your claim that "if I knew anything about economics, I would know that there is no right or wrong answer," here you clearly show that either you didn't read my arguments or that you didn't understand them. I was accusing YOU of making that claim. You were the one that started off the debate by saying "well it's clear that you don't understand international trade" and then proceeded to show the model of comparative advantage, and by implication, that free trade always leads to both economies becoming more profitable, etc. The very fact that you assume these free trade theories are "proven" shows how objective you think this is, which is what I was criticizing you far. Of course you have most of the mainstream economists of the past 20 years on your side, but many scholars have been calling these people into question over the years, and thankfully people are listening to them now.
And as for having "learned it in class," maybe you did learn it in class, maybe you didn't. That wasn't the criticism. All I was saying is that the way you formulated your argument was very typical of the standard, run-of-the-mill economist, and I was simply criticizing you for how you did it (trying to use models without explaining how they actually applied to the commodity in question). Even if a professional economist made the same exact argument, I would respond in exactly the same way.
As for being aggressive against "proven theories," well, as you said before, this isn't a hard science, and very little is actually "proven." What is "proven" and seems to work out in models in abstract space often times is much more complex in reality with many unseen factors. Most importantly, every economy and every commodity is unique. Weed is a very unique one. It can be grown anywhere and it's not labor intensive.
But the fact that you simply label me as a nutcase for disagreeing with the notion that free trade is always the answer shows how close-minded you are and how objective you think the discipline is. You have some more reading to do.
And don't twist beliefs over the free market, you must see how retarded that argument looks? You're saying that the free market should be left to allocate all resources, so then, should we allow the free market to under-allocate public goods? I heavily doubt you believe that, so why shouldn't the government step into the market for demerit goods too? Foolish argument.
Sigh. Where did I say we should allow the free market to allocate everything? You're definitely reading very much into what I believe, which you don't know about (these are issues I haven't discussed). I am certainly not a libertarian, and I don't think the market should allocate everything. I was merely framing the argument in economic terms because it seems you like that. Anyways, the reason the government, in economic terms, shouldn't ban this good is because it is profitable. I already stated this. There already is a market for weed, but it exists within the black market. The question is, do we want to legalize this, put it on the free market, and tax and regulate it? By moving it into the free market, you lower the price, which helps the British consumer, and you can tax it, which helps the fiscal deficit. As I stated before, if consumption increases, well that increases economic activity. If not, than at least you're saving British consumers money that could be better spent elsewhere, and you're reducing the size of the black market and crime.
Again, as for banning demerit goods, what other demerit goods are banned? Now I'm sure you'll proceed to list off certain poisons and other materials that are illegal in the production of a product (previously used because they were cheaper than healthier or safer materials), for example, asbestos (used to be used in construction). But there is a difference between consumer protection and banning something that people know about. Asbestos was banned because it was clearly dangerous and had no positive effects, and most importantly, to protect the consumer. The consumer might not have time to thoroughly research everything he or she buys and all of the materials involved in it, so this person might not know that a)asbestos is bad, and b)that what he or she is buying even contains asbestos. This is different from weed. When someone buys weed, they know what they are getting. Now they may not know all of the negative effects, just as someone buying the Big Mac might not know how it's going to clog their arteries, but we educate people about both of these things in health class and we assume that the consumer makes the right choice.
The government normally doesn't ban "demerit" goods, because we live in a liberal society that values the individual choice of the consumer. Drugs, however, have been criminalized, and it depends on the society, but it usually has something to do with a misplaced notion of morality (though in the US it often times stemmed from race). There are always the self-righteous few who want to regulate the behaviors of other people.
As I said before, your argument dealing with weed being too socially destructive for us to legalize it is by far your best one, so stick to it.
---------- Post added at 08:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:54 AM ----------
Oh, and if you're so convinced of the superiority of the theory of comparative advantage and free trade, might want to check this out (originally published as an article, later included as chapter 4 in his book
Imperialism).
Harry Magdoff, "Economic myths and imperalism,"
Imperialism: From the Colonial Age to the Present, 1978
---------- Post added at 08:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 AM ----------
Couldn't figure out how to get to the article, but from its description and abstract it did not find anything involving the same type of dependency on THC that you see with tobacco and heroin, which are chemically addictive. The conclusion merely stated that the withdrawal symptoms didn't vary across demographics. All of the withdrawal symptoms involved the side effects of weed: the withdrawal effects they listed were stomach problems, anxiety, increased *** drive, and cravings. As for stomach problems, weed speeds up your digestive system, so if you're used to doing this every day, and then you stop, yeah, it'll cause you stomach problems. As for anxiety, yeah, weed relaxes you, so if you're used to that and then you stop, well, you'll have anxiety. Increased *** drive: weed decreases your *** drive, so if you're used to that and then you'll quit, you'll see an increase in your *** drive. Cravings: these are psychological. If you're used to doing something, and then stop, you get cravings for it. The same thing happens with FM.
I agree with the "social good" part.
As for cannabis being a miracle herb, if it was easier to do research on it, we could find out considerably more about the active ingredients, which could be used to make far better medicine than just smoking weed. Then we could have legalised weed and have better drugs!
Smoking it is enough evidence for me!