In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Agency was created to consolidate all the drug operations going on in the United States by various law enforcement groups. The so-called “War on Drugs” was born. A noble and lofty goal by the Nixon administration, the War on Drugs has been a token footnote in every presidency since.
But drug use continues to be a big problem. We’ve also pushed to drug trade into Mexico, which has caused border problems and political upheaval, in addition to corruption and murder. Pot, X, E, Meth, Coke, Crack, Sizzurp, Shrooms, Oxycontin and more. You name it, someone’s tried to smoke it, snort it, inject it, eat it, bake it or shove it up their rear for recreational or transportational purposes. As soon as one drug goes out of style, another comes in to replace it. The DEA and local police forces spend billions of dollars enforcing dated drug laws and put their lives at risk to stop people from consuming these drugs. It doesn’t work, it’s never worked, and it never will.
Drug enforcement simply doesn’t work.
Now before I explain why, I’m want to talk about legalization. This post is not about legalizing any drug, though I am on the record of legalizing pot. This post is also not an insult to the hard-working law enforcement officers that risk their lives to enforce drug laws. They keep streets safe (in the short run) and I am forever thankful for their hard work.
But drug enforcement doesn’t work.
Do you know why? It’s economics. Like many posts, I became inspired by reading too many economics blogs and watching too much TV. In this case it’s COPS. I love COPS. But the cops featured on the show sometimes run out of things to do, so they do a drug sting. They pretend to buy or sell drugs to get somebody. Maybe that somebody can lead to a local drug ring that could lead to a regional distributor that could take them all the way to the source or something. They find the source and remove “$400 million worth of drugs from the street” or something like that. Here’s the problem with drug enforcement, all it’s doing is disrupting the supply side of economics.
The simplest rule of economics is supply and demand. When supply = demand, the market is happy (and stoned). Prices are stable, and the market is calm. When a drug bust goes down you remove supply from the market. Demand remains the same. The result is an increase in prices. Like it or not, the drug market is ruled be economics as well. When prices increase in such a market, so do profits. High profits are not sustainable, especially in a market for commodity like products such as drugs. This is because the high profits will draw in new market participants. We all think like economists here, but someone that doesn’t would explain this as something like “you plug one hole an another one opens up”. Same difference.
You can’t win this war by fighting supply. You have to treat demand. I know there are other programs that focus on this side of the market, but things like rehab are treating one person at a time and prevention programs only go so far. I’m not sure what can fix the entire systemic issue of drugs, but that’s a mental exercise for another day anyway.
So am I saying that the DEA should be dissolved and the local PDs stop their stings? Of course not. Fear of criminal prosecution is a serious barrier to entry in the drug game. But the barrier needs to be raised. Just about anyone with enough motivation to get out of bed in the morning can get their hands on just about any drug they want in a 24 hour time-frame. The barrier can be raised by increasing the level of punishment for a conviction. Busted for crack possession? 30 years in prison. But there’s a problem there. For one it’s cruel and unusual punishment and our prison system can’t support such high levels of incarceration. One hole creates another…
The issue is complicated and confusing. But one this is for sure, fighting supply simply won’t work. It doesn’t matter how many governments work together to crack down. There are enough officials, foreign and domestic, that will be paid off to allow the supply to return. It’s unacceptable to lose any law enforcement official to the drug game, because they’re fighting a war that cannot be won. Any issue that is tackled by attacking supply, will always lose to demand.
Photo: Blatant News
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
