The Economic Impact of Illicit Drug Use on American Society
Snippet from the article:
Bloomberg News (5/26, Blum) reported that the use of illegal drugs “in the US is estimated to have cost the economy more than $193 billion in 2007, according to a government study†released yesterday by the Department of Justice’s National Drug Intelligence Center. According to the study, “the cost of illegal drug use is comparable with diabetes, which a 2008 government study said cost more than $174 billion each year.â€
Read the rest — Study: Illegal Drug Use Cost US Economy More Than $193 Billion In 2007
Although this is not about hair, this is a very important study that shows us what almost every American knows. I have posted it here because I have a large audience and this is clearly an important subject to all of us. We should care about the thousands of victims American policy seems to be enabling. By posting it here, maybe I will catch the attention of some important politician.
We have lost the war on drugs and spending more money on it makes no sense. In Mexico alone, 40,000 people have died this year as a result of our national policy on drugs. What is the value of those lives? The amount of money that is quoted here does not reflect the real costs of drugs in lives lost, lives ruined, or the results in direct and indirect crime.
I feel that this should become a political issue in our future political campaigns and we should have the opportunity to fix the problem by making many of these drugs legal and taxing them, just as we do for alcohol and cigarettes. The drug cartels can not compete with legalized drugs that are taxed and the money we generate can be invested in our failing economy. It’s about time that the US Government stopped enabling the criminal elements in our society.
Thank you doctor
To be honest, after I started reading I sensed some sort of knee jerk response about how drugs are evil and we should keep them away from the streets, but now I have more respect for you
I am a young man affected by baldness in Mexico.
I live in one of the many northern states where life has changed dramatically in the last 5 years.
There is not a single hour where you don’t hear about a shooting, robbery, or anything like that.
Life for most people has been put on hiatus, nightlife is over. You go from work to home, expecting to not get caught in a shooting, or someone stealing your car so they can block a big avenue in order to stop the militia from getting them.
I’m losing my hair and my best days of my life. I can’t even try to live my life in the fullest, because socialization is almost over
We know that legalization is the only way to stop this nightmare. They can get guns anywhere, they are kidnapping Central American immigrants to join their ranks, as long as money keeps flowing, this is never going to stop.
Any little sound at night wakes me up thinking those bastards are anywhere near
I seriously don’t care what drugs people use. But they have the moral duty to ask their government to legalize it.
For every joint you smoke or any line you snort and only get a traffic ticket there, we are suffering the repercussions of your lack of action
The argument for legalizing drugs goes beyond that.
If you want to take hardcore drugs and kill yourself, go ahead. Be an idiot. Kill yourself.
But you have NO RIGHT to take others down with you, all the police and the military and the citizens caught in the crossfire. Who for the last decades have kept drugs illegal to help PROTECT YOU FROM YOURSELF.
Screw that. If you want to destroy yourself that’s your choice. But you have no right to take down others.
We are tired of protecting you from yourself junkies. Indulge in your poisons and suffer your own consequences. But leave us alone.
Legalize drugs.
Bravo
Dr. – Your post was beautiful.
In the spirit of full-disclosure, I would describe myself as a neo-liberal who has leaned Democrat with some libertarian sympathies. But I feel that this issue is one of the most clear cut issues out there. The point is not that anyone is in favor of drugs or drug abuse (or alcohol abuse, for that matter). The point is that we need to choose the least bad solution. We cannot keep doing what we’re doing. We spend so much money incarcerating people who are slaves to their own brain’s frontal cortex who can often (though not always) be treated at a much smaller cost. And then there’s the revenue point. And then there’s the “weaken the cartels” point.
I am very dismayed that both parties seem to be passing the buck on this issue. Hardcore liberals and hardcore libertarians seem to be the only ones who get it (and I’m not sure I’d describe myself as either of those two things).
great post!
This topic has been on my mind lately. Ron Paul suggested it in a debate a while back and i honestly thought he was crazy. But the more i think about it, the more it makes sense. What we are currently doing does not work at all. All it does is empower druglords and waste tax dollars. I really don’t think we should keep beating a dead horse.
I don’t exactly know what the answer is, but what we are doing now really isn’t working at all.
Massive penalties for DRUG USERS who violate the rights of others (stealing, violence, driving while under the influence). But not for the sale / distribution.
This will eliminate the profit motive and address the real culprit – the USER who violates the rights of others.