KOW 4- should drugs be legalized.

Rishab Mehta
THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
KOW 4



13 April, 2009 11:20

The Economics of Legalizing and Regulating Drugs
13 April, 2009 11:20
George Hatjoullis

The drug reform charity Transform (www.tdpf.org.uk) has produced a cost-benefit analysis comparing the continuation of the present drug prohibition strategy with legalization and regulation of now prohibited drugs. The authors conclude that a great deal of money could be saved through legalization and regulation. The economic logic for legalisation and regulation is quite compelling.

A large amount of drug related crime is eliminated overnight, saving costs in the judicial system. Drugs can now be taxed! Legalisation also regularizes the inconsistent treatment of cigarettes and alcohol. Drug production standards can also be raised and maintained. Research into the effects of drugs, and dissemination of this research, is made much easier. So why have successive governments not taken this very obvious route?

One drawback lies in the consequences of unilateral action in a world of drug prohibition. The UK would become a haven for drug tourists from all over the world. Of course, this would bring in more money and have great benefits for the Balance of Payments! However, it does not take too much imagination to conjure up the social problems it might bring in its wake. Imagine the London equivalent of Sun, Sea and Sangria (Sex, Drugs and Rock?). Amsterdam has experimented with a limited version without disastrous consequences, I believe. However, the Transform report seems to have something more ambitious in mind.

The most serious drawback is that drug use would clearly increase. Once again that is good for tax revenue but is this desirable? My reservation comes from my own recent postgraduate studies in psychology. The predisposition to use drugs does not seem to be simply related to the predisposition to addiction once drug use is initiated. There is a risk that increased drug use will bring in its wake a disproportionate increase in addiction. Once again, good for tax revenue but is this desirable? I suggest economic arguments, however compelling, are given less weight until the relation between use and addiction is better understood.




This article is based upon the recent report suggesting that the sale of drugs be legalized in Britain. This would lead to massive economic benefits, says the report. I, as a knower, will try and critically analyze this article by using the various ways of knowing and the areas of knowledge.
The author of the article perceives that legalizing drug trade would only increase overall drug consumption. He comes to this conclusion after a series of psychological observations. Thus we can say that his perception is product of reason and not merely an emotional bias against the use of drugs. But my perception in this case differs completely. This too, is not because of my emotional bias towards promoting drug consumption! A majority of drug takers today are teens. Recent studies have proved that teens usually consume drugs because of the thrill involved in doing so. There is a sort of peer pressure and teens that consume drugs perceive themselves to be the “stylish” ones. But if the government were to legalize drug consumption, the entire ‘thrill’ factor is eliminated. Thus we can reason logically that increased drug consumption as a consequence of legalizing drug trade isn’t really a foregone conclusion. Legalizing drug trade would enable the government to tax the consumption of drugs. This would amount to billions of dollars of revenue every quarter!! In times of recession, such a stimulus would truly be a major boost to the economy. Also, every year, millions of dollars are spent to curb drug trade on the police and the Special Forces. Legalizing drug trade would solve all these problems for the law and order. More importantly, whilst not banning it, the government can still actively discourage drug consumption by spending money on large-scale public education about the harmful effects of drugs.
History too tells us that in the past, developed countries have successfully implemented this idea. Tobacco is even more addictive than certain type of drugs. These countries legalized tobacco usage, but initiated a large scale public health education program about the harmful effects of tobacco. This process was extremely successful and tobacco consumption in these countries is minimal today. Thus we can reason out that legalizing drug trade isn’t as naïve as it seems.
But many knowers will argue about the ethicality of such an audacious piece of legislation. Legalizing drug trade would enable the government. At first, the conservatives (of whom there is no shortage, especially in our country) will probably never accept such an act, even if it is the most obvious course of action. Also, experts may argue, just like George did in the article, that such a step, although may sound feasible in theory, would lead to utter chaos when implemented in practice. Also, if we were to implement this act in isolation, our country would become a major tourist destination, well, of the wrong kind though. The sight of drug dwellers roaming all around the streets of Bombay, doing what they like the most, is enough to tell us about the ethical, and moral feasibility of such an act. I, am of the perception that legalizing drug trade isn’t as crazy as it seems, our country, and for that matter the world, is not prepared for such a drastic step yet! Thus in this paper, I have tried and analyzed both perspectives and sides of the argument and arrived at reasonable and logical conclusion.