Legalization Of Narcotic Drugs???

Question

Some people in the U.S. advocate the legalization of narcotic drugs. Some parts of Europe have also experimented on legalizing drugs. How would you describe a market for narcotic drugs? What would be the economic impact of legalization?

Answer 1

Couldnt agree more with That Guy, + think about all the extra income that governments would generate if narcotics were taxed. Leaving the economic impact on the side, it would definately bring impacts on other aspects that could only speculate about.

Answer 2

I think decriminalization is a good idea, not outright legalization.  We should see drug addiction as a health problem, not a legal one.  

Our strategy in the US has been to fight illegal drugs at every level, from interdiction at the border to vigorous prosecution of sellers at every level and even users.  This has filled prisons faster than we can build them, but the problem continues to grow.  If we are successful in reducing the supply of drugs, all we achieve is to raise the street price, which encourages more smuggling and manufacturing.

I think it's clear that the 'War on Drugs' is not working and we should consider a new strategy.  But any politician who suggests this is immediately jumped on by his competition (either party) as 'soft on drugs', so they have to try to outdo each other in being 'tough on drugs'.

The economic impact of decriminalization is that we would save tens of billions, maybe hundreds of billions, in the cost of incarcerating people who are not really dangerous to society.  And the drug manufacturers might make a little more money.