Today’s quote comes from esteemed economist and Nobel Prize-winner Milton Friedman. In an interview in the early 90s (back before the widespread horrors perpetrated by the cartels on civilians throughout Mexico and Central and South America became as widespread and known as today), Friedman spoke out on the moral and economic aspects of the war on drugs, saying, “See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That’s literally true.”
Whoa.
And yet, he’s right. So long as there is drug prohibition, there will be a black market. And so long as there is a black market, local, state, and federal governments will be expending enormous resources prosecuting drug crimes.
And the cycle continues.
