Document Type

Article

Publication Title

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Abstract

Skeptics wonder whether drug prohibition is worth its costs. But legalization is a complex and risky proposition, with political acceptability verging on zero. Thus, we redouble our commitment to vigorous enforcement of drug laws. Each year, the President's Office of National Drug Control Policy calls for another round of increases in expenditure for investigation, prosecution, and imprisonment of drug dealers. Yet success on this front is elusive and partly self-defeating. The billions we invest seldom bring tangible results, and dramatic drug seizures, when they occur, are rapidly offset by new shipments and alternate sources of supply. Worst of all, the genuine victories, which disrupt distribution, curtail availability, and raise street prices, only set off new waves of turf war violence and fuel predatory crime to finance the drug needs of habitual users. A straightforward and workable means to break this vicious cycle exists, but to achieve it, we need a radical reversal of priorities. We need to discard our preoccupation with the international cartels and our obsession with tracking down "Mr. Big." We should instead emphasize both public health approaches such as education and treatment (traditionally favored by liberals) and vigorous street-level enforcement (traditionally disdained by liberals and conservatives alike). To see why, we must think clearly about the distinct harms caused by dangerous drugs and about some basic lessons in the economics of supply and demand.

First Page

207

Volume

1994

Publication Date

1994

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