Winning the drug war?


Not by a long shot. Here is a naive claim.
Now this one is shaping up into a nice bit. The replies are fascinating.

People who claim we are losing the war on drugs (libertarians primarily) are trying to confuse you. They point to the high costs of drugs and say "See! The Drug Lords are getting rich because of the drug war." What they DON'T want you to see is what we can tell by the high price of drugs.

First of all, high drug prices are the result of the high cost of being IN the drug trade to begin with. The Drug business has the highest amount of inventory loss in the world. It is also the most dangerous with both competitors and governments trying to kill you. Any gains in cost from high prices is more than offset by this. The same people who say we are losing the war on drugs will tell you that government interference in ANY business will distort the market decreasing overall profits.

Second of all, high drug prices mean FEWER drugs are being used. This is basic supply and demand. The same people who tell you we are losing the war on drugs will happily tell you that raising prices (say in a minimum wage) will cause decreases in purchases (e.g. in marginal hiring). And every time someone chooses NOT to use a drug, we win!

Yes, I answered her.

Hat tip to Drug War Rant.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - January 20, 2006 at 04:28 AM  Tag


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