by Naomi Blackman

Created on: May 11, 2008

The Effective Alternative: Why Drugs Should be Legalized
In hopes of reducing society's drug use, western governments have put immense effort towards the war on drugs'. Unfortunately, this immense effort has shown discouraging results. Even Jane Crist of the White House Office of National Drug Policy admits, "there has been no direct effect on either the price or the availability of [illegal drugs]" (Boaz). There must be an alternative to the failing and costly prohibition. That alternative is the legalization of drugs. Drug legalization would benefit Britain by boosting the economy; regulating drug culture by increasing safety and decreasing violence; and by alleviating the moral restraints imposed by the government, therefore upholding liberal rights of British citizens.

Britain's economy would benefit from taking control of the drug market through legalization. Currently, governments are spending billions to stop drug use (Becker). This attempt is futile, as we are simply seeing more arrests instead of less drug activity. In 1996, 59.6% of federal prisoners in the United States were imprisoned on drug related charges (Boaz). These prisoners are costing massive sums for less than massive crimes. Should drugs be legalized, billions could be saved annually, solely because governments would no longer be spending useless dollars to keep drug offenders in jail.
Legalization would not only save money, but would also boost the economy through taxation. The war on drugs' has created more risk in drug dealing, which makes drug prices swell (Becker). The government assumes that these price increases will generate a decrease in consumption. Unfortunately, addicted users find drugs to be a necessity, not a luxury, and economically, all necessities will be consumed despite any increase in price. In casual users, a 10% increase in drug prices has shown a 5% decrease in drug consumption. However, because of inflation, drug spending actually increases 5% for every 10% price raise (Becker). So although drug consumption is lessening ever so slightly, more money is being spent. Analyzing the aforementioned statistic shows that drug prices would have to be inflated by 200% to significantly reduce drug consumption, which would mean a huge increase in money spent on drugs. Alternatively, if drugs were legalized, a 200% tax on drugs would give the same decrease in consumption and the same increase in spending; however, governments would finally be making billions from the drug market,

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