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Casual Users, Substance Abusers, and Public Policy

Casual Users, Substance Abusers, and Public Policy. The War On Drugs. Questions. Should public policy towards marijuana be any different than public policy towards alcohol consumption and cigarette consumption? Why?. Drugs and Crime: The Perception of the Victim.

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Casual Users, Substance Abusers, and Public Policy

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  1. Casual Users, Substance Abusers, and Public Policy The War On Drugs

  2. Questions • Should public policy towards marijuana be any different than public policy towards alcohol consumption and cigarette consumption? • Why?

  3. Drugs and Crime: The Perception of the Victim Source: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

  4. Arrests: The War on Drugs

  5. State Prisoners Federal Prisons: In 1996, Drug Offenders accounted for 60% of Federal Prisoners Federal Spending on Drug Control 1981 $1.5 Billion 1989 $6.7 “ 1990 $9.8 “ 1995 $13.0 “ 2000 $17.9 “ 2001 $18.1”

  6. Federal Drug Budget By Function • Total $17,940.3 $18,053.1 • Drug treatment $2,915.2 $3,168.3 • Drug prevention 2,338.6 2,515.7 • Criminal justice system 8,429.0 9,357.7 • International 1,892.9 609.7 • Interdiction 1,965.9 1,950.4 • Research 89.6 106.1 • Intelligence 309.1 345.2 • International (U.S. Support • for Plan Colombia 954.4

  7. Drug Use by High School Seniors ER Incidents

  8. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/graphics.htm

  9. Death Rates from HIV

  10. Questions About Crime • What are the Social Policy Options Towards Victimless Crimes? • education problem • prevention • health problem • cure for addicts and abusers • fiscal problem • control use through taxes • law enforcement problem • focus on demand? • users • focus on supply? • distributors

  11. Education • Let an informed public make a choice • An individual would weigh the benefits against the costs • If the benefit/cost ratio exceeds one • smoke • drink • Could impose costs on others • driving under the influence • second hand smoke • Protection of Minors • blandishments of advertising • influence of peers

  12. Health • Treat substance abuse • Need to identify the abusers • many citizens are not covered under health plans • Difficult to cure addicts

  13. Fiscal Policy • Use excise taxes, a tax per unit, to control demand • tax per pack of cigarettes • tax per bottle of gin • Policy moderates rather than eliminates use • lacks the moral suasion of a law prohibiting use

  14. Law Enforcement • Control demand? • hard to keep tabs on numerous users • loss of respect for the law • people like to party • Control supply? • at home • search and destroy policies have a low success rate • abroad • interdiction of supply has low success rate • we export our enforcement problem to: • producing countries, e.g. Bolivia • transhipment countries, e.g. Mexico

  15. What are the Tradeoffs Among Policy Options?

  16. Some Consequences from Criminalizing Substance Use • barrier to law-abiding suppliers • enriches crooks • prohibition financed the Mafia in the US • drug profits have created a new Mafia in Colombia • high prices drive some users to crime to support their habit • easy money corrupts some law enforcement officials

  17. “Scale, nature, and perception of the drug problem are very different in ...” • United States • Canada • Western Europe Source: Peter Reuter et. al., Comparing Western Europe and North American Drug Policies, Rand

  18. The Western Nations Drug Problem

  19. Behavior Social Problem ( violence: US with guns, 50 million hanguns in private hands = 100 times the per capita rate in Europe) crime drug use AIDS (free needles for addicts: Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Great Britain)

  20. Country Number of Heroin Addicts Epidemic Decades US 600,000 - 800,000 60’s & 70’s Great Britain 60’s Germany 60’s Netherlands 60’s Spain 80’s Canada None Country Number of Cocaine Addicts Epidemic Decades US 1,800,000-2,000,000* 80’s Canada None * 12,000,000 users of at least once per year

  21. The Western Nations Drug Problem

  22. Market Analysis • Compare and contrast • free market • enforcement • fiscal policy • excise tax as a control device

  23. Market Analysis • concepts • market supply • marginal cost of production: the additional cost of one more unit • cost of production equals the sum of marginal costs • revenue = price * quantity sold • market demand • price some consumers are willing to pay • expenditure = price * quantity bought • consumer surplus: a measure of welfare for those consumers willing to pay above the market price

  24. Market Analysis • Concepts • supply and demand • determines the market price • the marginal cost of production = the marginal value of consumers • the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied • profit = revenue - cost of production • profit, or producer’s surplus, is a welfare measure • total welfare benefit = consumer’s surplus + producer’s surplus

  25. Market Supply

  26. Market Demand

  27. Market Supply and Demand

  28. Enforcement Policy: Search, Confiscate, Resale

  29. Enforcement Policy: Search, Confiscate, Resale

  30. Enforcement Policy: Search, Confiscate, Burn

  31. Enforcement Policy: Search, Confiscate, Burn

  32. Fiscal Policy: 50% Excise Tax, Government Keeps the Revenue

  33. Fiscal Policy: 50% Excise Tax, Government Keeps Revenue

  34. Fiscal Policy: 50% ExciseTax, Use Revenue to Buy Marijuana

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