Kudos to Maryland for Decriminalizing Marijuana

Let's give credit to the people calling themselves "State of Maryland".  Thankfully, they plan to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.  Mr. Martin O'Malley said in a statement:

 I now think that decriminalizing possession of marijuana is an acknowledgement of the low priority that our courts, our prosecutors, our police, and the vast majority of citizens already attach to this transgression of public order and public health.

This is a classic example of the politicians taking forever to catch up to the people.

It was 42 years ago that Milton Friedman wrote a column for Newsweek titled "Prohibition and Drugs".  In it Friedman said:

Whatever happens to the number of addicts, the individual addict would clearly be far better off if drugs were legal. Today, drugs are both incredibly expensive and highly uncertain in quality. Addicts are driven to associate with criminals to get the drugs, become criminals themselves to finance the habit, and risk constant danger of death and disease.

The same logic that Friedman applied here should be extended to the argument for the decriminalization of sex.  Individuals involved in the exchange for sex (like drugs) will be far safer and healthier if the act of simply doing business wasn't a crime.