DRUGS, CRIME & ECONOMICS

A bit less trivial this time and possibly a bit more controversial.

Lets jump right in............why don’t Governments legalise drugs ? I refer of course to those ones not currently controlled, except for being illegal that is, thus Cannabis, Heroin, Cocaine, LSD and all their variants.

Now I am not the first to suggest it but it came to mind recently after sitting in Court where most of the cases are related to drugs, through including in that alcohol, which is of course legal.

The crimes divide into two main camps, acquisitive eg theft, shoplifting, burglary, mugging, pickpocketing and violence eg public disorder, affray, assault, threatening behaviours, affray.......the distinction however brings in the third word in the heading ........ economics...........

Most human endeavors are subject to the rules of demand and supply, so forgive my readers who are well versed in this area for a basic.... and I mean very basic guide.

The price that a commodity attracts is where demand and supply meet. As a consumer I would like things to be as cheap as possible and when its cheaper I am more likely to buy and even buy more of it. As a supplier I want maximum returns for lowest costs, so want to have a price that fits that model, though this might be, sell a few at a very high price, Rolls Royces, or a lot at a small price, newspapers. When equilibrium is attained then the price stabilises and buyers and sellers are happy, at least in theory.

Drugs however include further variables and bring in the idea of elasticity of demand and supply. Drug takers are less price sensitive ie they will pay whatever the price is within reason, because being a drug addict means you stop acting as a rationale economic being which the theory requires. You just need the next fix. The suppliers know this and manipulate supply and price to suit their profit maximisation goals, they are rational economic beings. Hence tactics like free or low cost samples until the user is hooked and then the price hike.

For illegal and addictive drugs this explains why many addicts unless they are rich and don’t depend on a job or business for income, are unemployed and become thieves, they have to keep finding some money to feed their addiction and stealing is the most common. Shops and businesses suffer, so do individuals, often family, friends or neighbours whose property is misappropriated and sold on, creating another set of crimes in handling, fencing etc

Alcohol is different, it is legal, well look at what happened in the USA when they tried to prohibit it, organised crime just moved in and took over the market, it didn’t stop drinking, its just made it profitable.

Despite government trying to use economics by raising the price through taxes, it is still affordable and easily available at every corner shop, pub, club, supermarket, indeed some great deals, and if you really object to paying the Government more tax, how about a quick trip to France and stock up there, although exchange rates have made this less attractive.

So acquisitive crime is less prevalent in alcohol, excepting the chronic, destitute, probably homeless alcoholic, whose situation is the same as the illegal drug takers and it seems many of those do both ! (There is a project for some economist or sociologist to explain that)

Most of the alcohol based crime is violence as referred to above. Not that this isn’t equally reprehensible. Governments are at a loss to deal with this and no one thinks of prohibiting it, so makes policies and decisions at the margins and tries to prevent the worst effects on others but time and time again fails.

What in my humble opinion differs is that with alcohol we do need to keep trying to prevent damage to other, innocent people, leaving aside that many assaults are against friends also equally drunk, ............... with drugs the aim is not the same, most drug takers are not violent perhaps some, in the commission of the theft, but when ‘high’ are mostly harmless to others.

So  why not legalise drugs and let Boots and other pharmacies sell them, maybe its too early to let Tesco and Asda stock them, though the idea of premium brand drugs "Tesco Finest" , "Asda Choosen by You" etc, is intriguing....... the price would be ‘fair’, the quality would be assured, so less health issues, and accidental overdoses, the drug dealers would be out of business (new charity to retrain ex drug dealers ?) and the acquisitive crime would surely reduce.

Of course, being cynical, this means knock on effects on police....... courts.........social workers...... health service........ and could result in reduced demand for those functions, hence reduced employment .........so vested interests there then. But Government could put a tax on or at least charge VAT so they would get a new revenue stream and in these financially challenged times that might be attractive.

Mr Cameron, you heard it here and I am available to be a Government Advisor at economical rates !