Two ideas to aid the economy [View All]

1) Legalise cannabis. Put it under the exact same rules as alcohol (age restricted, licensed and taxed for sale, no driving under the influence). If you want to grow your own, same way some people brew their own beer, the state never needs to get involved at all.

2) Legalise gambling. In most of the western world, gambling is licensed, regulated and legal. Here in Britain, you can find a bookie in any town and the amount of people with gambling "problems" (not as narrowly defined as addiction but on the same lines) is 0.6% of the population. In the US, nearly any adult can own a firearm but the state doesn't trust you to gamble outside of a few cities. Does this make sense to anyone? Legalise gambling (age-restricted, naturally), impose a small tax on either the stake or the winnings (say 5% and the better chooses which to pay tax on when he makes his bet), take it away from hoodlums and put it in properly regulated establishments. Also removes a revenue stream from organised crime.