Recent Changes Make the Debate Relevant to Students

The death of an influential economist who advocated decriminalizing drugs has prompted the need to revisit the United State's War on Drugs.

The recent death of famed economist Milton Friedman has prompted an avalanche of essays about his influential monetary writings. Friedman was indeed a driving force behind many of today's fundamental economic policies, and his ideas deserve the laudatory nature of these tributes. But in the rush to sanctify Friedman's fiscal faculty, another aspect of his impressive career, of special import to students, may be overlooked. Friedman was a vocal advocate for the decriminalization of drugs, and his passing reminds us that the time to re-evaluate the War on Drugs is long overdue.

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