War On Drugs

We have all heard of the costly "War on Drugs," the combination of foreign military and monetary aid to prohibit the production, transport, and sale of various drugs. This effort to stop the supply of drugs was doomed to begin with. Any economist can tell you that if you want to stop the sale of something you flood the market with the item in question to drive down demand, and thus price. Once the price has been driven down it will no longer be profitable for the supplier to continue producing the item in question, and they will move on to a better product. The way this country should be handling its drug problem is to simultaneously legalize all drugs and more effectively educate the citizenry. People are more likely to do drugs if they have nothing to lose which means the best way to reduce drug abuse is to have a proper working economy with a low unemployment rate and high disposable income.

The war on drugs has not done any of the things which it set out to do. The destruction of poppy fields, coca forests, and cannabis crops has severely constricted the supply of drugs over the last century. This restricted supply, coupled with the increase in demand, has led to higher profits on drugs than ever before. These high profits have given drug producers much more incentive to get into the drug business. Cutting off a head of the drug market hydra means that two more will take it's place.

These high profits also mean that competition for market share is violent. Loosing one neighborhood of drug sales to a rival gang or dealer means a giant loss of revenue. The original dealer wants the territory back any way they can get it. This is simple business competition, and the key to ending drug violence is to remove the competition, which means removing the incentive to compete. Legalizing drug use will not altogether stop drug use, but it will remove much of the violence that has always gone hand in hand with the drug market.

The legalization of drug production and use will also save, as well as generate, money. As of June 25th, 2011 the total expenditure on the drug war is $19.8 billion. This money should have gone towards improving our educational system. An improvement in education means better educated people. Better educated people lead more productive and fulfilling lives. The quality of an educated person's life means that they are generally happier than a less educated person, which means that they have little incentive to abuse drugs. It doesn't take a good education to know that people respond to incentives.

Since the House controls the purse strings, it is up to them to deny military operations with the intent of reducing the production of drugs. Our federal leaders also need to pass laws amending current drug laws to make them legal, or at least gives the decision a drugs legality up to the States themselves. So if you really don't like drugs, and support any effort to decrease the use of them in the US, write to your representatives and tell them that the War On Drugs needs to stop, and the Fight For Education needs to start.