Jeffrey Miron
At the risk of repeating myself:
Set aside the legal issues raised by the US removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (but see here and here for perspectives that make sense to me);
And assume, as asserted by the Trump administration, that Maduro has been involved or complicit in the illegal drug trade, with adverse consequences for the United States, such as violence, corruption, and overdoses.
Under these—the best case—conditions, is removing Maduro a good policy?
Not even close.
Removing Maduro might shift underground drug markets from Venezuela to other countries, temporarily, but even that is unlikely. And any disruption of the Venezuelan black market will likely exacerbate the adverse impacts of underground markets.
The right policy is for the US to legalize all currently prohibited drugs. This will eliminate underground drug markets, which are the real reason for most adverse consequences typically attributed to drugs.
Cross-posted from Substack.
