In a recent City Journal article headlined "No, Seriously, Decriminalizing Drugs Kills People," the Manhattan Institute's Charles Fain Lehman claimed a recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) paper provided conclusive evidence that "should lay to rest the debate over legalization." I published a rebuttal in Reason, arguing that the study did not close the debate. That provoked a response from Lehman on X.
I will respond to each of Lehman's substantive points and delve more deeply into the research. I communicated with the NBER study's co-authors, including University of Oregon economist Benjamin Hansen, who told me that the researchers "do not end any debate" with their report. I was also in touch with the co-author of a study on crime that Lehman cited on X. He offered a much more sober interpretation of his own research than the one Lehman presented in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
