In A Study For The Cato Institute
In a study for the Cato Institute, Jeffrey A. Miron, senior lecturer on economics at Harvard University and a senior fellow at Cato, and Katherine Waldock, professor of economics at New York University, estimate that legalizing drugs would save the government approximately $41.3 billion annually on expenditures related to the enforcement of prohibition.
Of those savings, $25.7 billion would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government.
Miron and Waldock estimate that of that $41.3 billion in savings, about $8.7 billion would result from the legalization of marijuana alone and $32.6 billion from the legalization of other drugs, like cocaine and heroin.
Just as important, drug legalization would translate into higher tax revenues generated by the sale of these newly-legalized products in the open commercial marketplace.
Of those savings, $25.7 billion would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government.
Miron and Waldock estimate that of that $41.3 billion in savings, about $8.7 billion would result from the legalization of marijuana alone and $32.6 billion from the legalization of other drugs, like cocaine and heroin.
Just as important, drug legalization would translate into higher tax revenues generated by the sale of these newly-legalized products in the open commercial marketplace.