RS3- Marijuana and Economics

RS3: Reaction to Maastricht, Marijuana, and the European Dream

            This podcast was quite an interesting one to say the least.  Every time they called these marijuana selling stores “coffee shops”, I could not help but think of FRIENDS and what it would be like if Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey were sitting in Central Perk getting high instead of drinking coffee.

            Maastricht, a city in the Netherlands, had shops that they called coffee shops, which sold legalized marijuana.  The mayor of Maastricht created a law, The Maastricht Treaty, which eventually led to the euro.  Being on the border, Maastricht was easily accessible to other Europeans who just wanted to get stoned as well.  Stoners from Belgium were frequently coming into Maastricht to enjoy the perks of the marijuana selling coffee shops.  At first this started off great, it was a boost in the economy and a boost in the percentage of tourists.  However every action has a secondary effect, something that the mayor of Maastricht would have learned if he was in our Microeconomics class. 

            Of the eight guideposts, this podcast definitely resembles the guidepost that says that economic actions have secondary effects along with their immediate effects.  In the beginning the mayor of Maastricht thought that it was a good idea to pursue the “European Dream” and unify all of Europe with the euro.  Because his city offered something that no other country did, his city became a massive tourist attraction.  Although that is a plus because it brings money, it is also a negative.  In this case the secondary effect was that the increase in tourists was leading to littering, illegal parking, and even more marijuana smokers.  When his intention was to draw people to the beautiful attractions of the city, he got the opposite.

            Another instance that secondary effects plays a role in this podcast is when the mayor creates the new law that says that tourists may enter Maastricht but may not purchase marijuana from the coffee shops.  At first this seems to solve the problem because littering and illegal parking decreases.  However, the coffee shops really begin to suffer because 93 percent of their customers were tourists.  This then forces many coffee shops to close, which affects the Maastricht economy because the government is no longer collecting taxes from the coffee shops.  In addition, it also increases the number of drug dealers on the street, which can also increase the amount of crime.  By the mayor making this law to ban tourists from purchasing marijuana from the coffee shops, he was just creating more problems for the city.

            No matter what, every action has a secondary effect.  This podcast was the perfect example to explain the economic guidepost that says every economic action has a secondary effect along with its initial effect.  No matter what decision the mayor made, each one came with positive and negative effects.