Legalizing
via via Metafilter, an editorial of a Nashville newspaper on legalizing drugs. Although naively pointed out, it is true that any activity that has demand will flourish, whether in the open or in a black market. The benefits of having it legalized are clear: control, accountability, and a social check on those activities. Abnormalities appear whenever any of trades is driven underground: a business with a ROI of 5000%, a demand unparalleled in history, and incredible economic power that soon becomes unstoppable. At the same rate, any business that has to content with market forces, and accept accountability and attention to customers will be soon dealing with commodities, that is, being only one of the many suppliers. And its power would be limited, with clear policies to defang the suppliers (policies, not bombs) and to eliminate the power of groups working beyond the law.