The Economics of Prohibition, and the Unintended Consequences
Prohibition created an opportunity for profits with black market alcohol in the 1920s, and the violent cartels and gangsters like Al Capone took advantage, and used violence to protect their interests. When alcohol prohibition ended, it became business as usual, with violence declining sharply. This natural tendency for prohibited markets to enable violence is not unique to alcohol, yet politicians understand very little about how this affects society. Prohibition of drugs today enables the violent narco-cartels of Mexico and Central and South America. Ending prohibition takes away high profit margins, effectively ends the violence attached to these black market trades, and also tends to see use and abuse decline as well. Prohibition is little more than well-intentioned policy created by politicians who have little understanding how policy affects society. Professor Mark Thornton is one of the leading researchers in this area. He has written many articles and a few books on the ...
