- 12 Feb 2014 07:52
#14363584
Marijuana criminalisation is very topical these days. It is easy to find many references to the cost of the "war on Marijuana" (or War on Drugs more generally).
Most opponents of the War on Drugs focus on outright costs of law enforcement, and the cost to society associated with imprisoning countless people for non-violent offences (or offences which only become violent due to criminalisation itself).
More thoughtful and comprehensive accounts elaborate additional areas of cost. For example, Count the Costs lists several types of costs, including:
But even that list, comprehensive as it is, misses the primary cost of the War on Drugs.
The primary cost is the loss of enjoyment from drug consumption by people who are either fully or partially deterred from consuming drugs because of their illegal status. The technical economic term is "consumer surplus" - the amount by which the value placed on a product by a consumer exceeds the actual cost of the product. When a product is banned, that consumer surplus often remains hidden.
The potential consumer surplus associated with the consumption of recreational drugs is the primary, hidden and rarely-discussed cost of the War on Drugs.
Most opponents of the War on Drugs focus on outright costs of law enforcement, and the cost to society associated with imprisoning countless people for non-violent offences (or offences which only become violent due to criminalisation itself).
More thoughtful and comprehensive accounts elaborate additional areas of cost. For example, Count the Costs lists several types of costs, including:
- Development & Security
Public Health
Human Rights
Discrimination
Crime
Environment
Economics
But even that list, comprehensive as it is, misses the primary cost of the War on Drugs.
The primary cost is the loss of enjoyment from drug consumption by people who are either fully or partially deterred from consuming drugs because of their illegal status. The technical economic term is "consumer surplus" - the amount by which the value placed on a product by a consumer exceeds the actual cost of the product. When a product is banned, that consumer surplus often remains hidden.
The potential consumer surplus associated with the consumption of recreational drugs is the primary, hidden and rarely-discussed cost of the War on Drugs.
Free men are not equal and equal men are not free.
Government is not the solution. Government is the problem.
Government is not the solution. Government is the problem.