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Punishing bank robbing doesn’t make people want to rob banks any less. It just changes the incentive structure such that it’s not worth it to most would-be robbers with normal risk tolerance.

Bank robbing is an activity where punishment actually moves the needle on the risk of doing it. When you try punishing marijuana use you find out that the risk of getting caught is so low that even extremely steep punishments don’t affect people’s willingness to do it. Same with jaywalking.




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