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From: tan@ihlpg.UUCP (Bill Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,net.med
Subject: Re: Drug Abuse - True Problem or Media Hype?
Message-ID: <2562@ihlpg.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 12-Oct-86 02:21:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihlpg.2562
Posted: Sun Oct 12 02:21:07 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 13-Oct-86 19:15:49 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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Xref: ucbvax talk.politics.misc:687 net.med:799

> [Chris Lewis]
> It would really be interesting to see a comparison between:
> 	1) the dollar cost of treating drug addiction/drug use illness versus
> 	   enforcement costs, addiction-originated property theft, and
> 	   other because-it's-illegal costs (eg: digging bullets out of
> 	   pushers).
> 	2) the number of deaths due to the use of drugs versus the number
> 	   of deaths due to the drug *trade*.
> 	3) the number of people injured due to the use of drugs versus
> 	   injuries due to the drug *trade*.
---------------------------
Such comparisons may be interesting and informative, but they are the
wrong comparisons to make if the issue to be decided is the legal status
of a drug.  The correct comparisons are:
	1) the dollar cost of treating illegal drug addiction/drug use illness
	   PLUS enforcement costs, addiction-originated property theft, and
 	   other because-it's-illegal costs (eg: digging bullets out of
 	   pushers) VERSUS the dollar cost of treating (presumably more
	   widespread) drug addiction/drug use illness if the same drugs were
	   legal.
 	2) the number of casualties due to the use of illegal drugs
	   PLUS the number of casualties due to the drug *trade* VERSUS
	   the number of casualties due to the (presumably more widespread)
	   use of the same drugs if made legal.

In short, even if the "drug *trade* problem" is more costly than the
"drug problem", it is by no means obvious that legalization would lower the
total cost.  One only has to observe that the most costly drugs to society
are the legal ones.
	How much would the usage of heroin, cocaine, etc. increase if they
were legal and cheap?  Without an answer to this question, we are nowhere.
-- 
Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL  ihnp4!ihlpg!tan