Marijuana

[Guest]

[quote name='rkwright' timestamp='1296164278' post='2205261']
I understand the state is making it "worth it" - but the user is funding it.

Perhaps the "state" is at fault (although not sure how any moral culpabilty can be assiged to an entity), but I can't see how the user, especially given the news coverage and general knowledge of where their money is going, is not in some way responsible.
[/quote]
I'm glad you make this point and I agree with you. You should either get a medical card or don't smoke.

[rkwright]

[quote name='Sternhauser' timestamp='1296164419' post='2205263']
And if they arbitrarily outlawed the manufacture and distribution of chickens, leading to chicken cartel wars, would you feel the same way?

~Sternhauser
[/quote]

Yes.

I understand the state is creating the circumstances for the violence, but again the user is the one funding it. Thats where I place a portion of the blame.

Flip the tables - if the user stopped buying, prices would decrease as well. How can we say the user is not in some way making the drive bys "worth it". Economics works on both the supply and demand side.

[Guest]

[quote name='rkwright' timestamp='1296164766' post='2205267']
Yes.

I understand the state is creating the circumstances for the violence, but again the user is the one funding it. Thats where I place a portion of the blame.

Flip the tables - if the user stopped buying, prices would decrease as well. How can we say the user is not in some way making the drive bys "worth it". Economics works on both the supply and demand side.
[/quote]
But that is not even logical. The user will never stop smoking pot. There to many users.

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='rkwright' timestamp='1296164766' post='2205267']
Yes.

I understand the state is creating the circumstances for the violence, but again the user is the one funding it. Thats where I place a portion of the blame.

Flip the tables - if the user stopped buying, prices would decrease as well. How can we say the user is not in some way making the drive bys "worth it". Economics works on both the supply and demand side.
[/quote]

Hmmm. It would be remote material cooperation, at worst. But it would formal cooperation on the part of those who support the State, as Nihil Obstat pointed out.

"Certified violence-free drugs." I see a market opportunity for hippies.

~Sternhauser

[MIKolbe]

[quote name='rkwright' timestamp='1296164766' post='2205267']
Flip the tables - if the user stopped buying, prices would decrease as well. How can we say the user is not in some way making the drive bys "worth it". Economics works on both the supply and demand side.
[/quote]

you are assuming regular price elasticity...which is a mistake for items such as these.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Sternhauser' timestamp='1296165019' post='2205269']
Hmmm. It would be remote material cooperation, at worst. But it would formal cooperation on the part of those who support the State, as Nihil Obstat pointed out.

"Certified violence-free drugs." I see a market opportunity for hippies.

~Sternhauser
[/quote]
Notwithstanding the fact that De Beers is a State backed cartel and is behind the violence themselves, there was a lot of demand for "conflict-free diamonds" when people started to catch onto the violence in the diamond mining industry. That's why Canadian "Polar Bear" diamonds are sold at a premium.

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1296165097' post='2205270']
you are assuming regular price elasticity...which is a mistake for items such as these.
[/quote]
You don't think the price of marijuana is elastic?

[MIKolbe]

i don not think it is AS elastic as the statement infers. (in current market conditions)

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1296165231' post='2205273']
i don not think it is AS elastic as the statement infers. (in current market conditions)
[/quote]
Why not? Just curious.

[MIKolbe]

Plus, it implies one 'sku' of marijuana. which is also incorrect.

[dominicansoul]

you guys just took a fun thread on marijuana and made it boring.... *inhales*

[size="1"](just joshin')[/size]

[Sternhauser]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1296165181' post='2205271']
Notwithstanding the fact that De Beers is a State backed cartel and is behind the violence themselves, there was a lot of demand for "conflict-free diamonds" when people started to catch onto the violence in the diamond mining industry. That's why Canadian "Polar Bear" diamonds are sold at a premium.
[/quote]

Rubies, sapphires and emeralds should be the new diamond. Diamonds are a ridiculously common stone. DeBeers has warehouses of cut diamonds held back from the market. A blemish-free natural ruby with a good color, on the other hand, is freakishly rare. $220,000 per carat on a nearly flawless ruby, at real market prices. They're prettier, too.

~Sternhauser

Edited January 27, 2011 by Sternhauser

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1296165455' post='2205276']
you guys just took a fun thread on marijuana and made it boring.... *inhales*

[size="1"](just joshin')[/size]
[/quote]
Duuuuuude, you just have to open your mind to, like, the magic of economics. It'll, like, blow your mind wiiiiiiiiide open.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Sternhauser' timestamp='1296165519' post='2205277']
Rubies, sapphires and emeralds should be the new diamond. Diamonds are a ridiculously common stone. DeBeers has warehouses of cut diamonds held back from the market. A blemish-free natural ruby with a good color, on the other hand, is freakishly rare.

~Sternhauser
[/quote]
I agree 100%. Blue amber is another example. Now *that* is a unique object.

[AudreyGrace]

[quote name='Sternhauser' timestamp='1296164419' post='2205263']
And if they arbitrarily outlawed the manufacture and distribution of chickens, leading to chicken cartel wars, would you feel the same way?

~Sternhauser
[/quote]

how do you know there's not an underground chicken cartel?

bawk bawk bawk.

*free the chickens!!*

[rkwright]

[quote name='Sternhauser' timestamp='1296165019' post='2205269']
Hmmm. It would be remote material cooperation, at worst. But it would formal cooperation on the part of those who support the State, as Nihil Obstat pointed out.

"Certified violence-free drugs." I see a market opportunity for hippies.

~Sternhauser
[/quote]

Well given the recent press I would agrue that it may be a "higher" degree of cooperation.

I haven't thought this through - but I wonder how responsible one is in "supporting" the state when its laws in some way create a black market that creates more crime. Anything the state makes illegal creates some sort of black market which usually involves some sort of violence, potentially innocent people being killed. For example; prostitiution is illegal, so that creates a "black market" for prostitution, which in turn makes it unsafe for prostitutes and others. Are those that wish prostitution illegal formally cooperating in the death of the prostitute?