Tougher Law Enforcement Will Mean Bigger Profits for Drug Dealers, Not Decreased Use

James Flanigan is to be congratulated for the courage and good sense shown in his Sept. 3 column (“Drive Down the Profits in This Business”). Unfortunately, no one is listening. As a professional economist, I liken the illegal drug trade to a business.

There is not one shred of evidence that the current drug policy is working or that more of the same will work. The obvious evidence is what has happened to the street price of drugs. Prices, particularly for cocaine, have dropped. Hardly the result expected if our efforts had actually restricted the supply of illegal drugs.

Perhaps the best way to see the problem is to assume for a minute that our efforts actually do reduce the supply of illegal drugs. What are the most likely effects? First, the street price would go up. This means that addicts will feel compelled to steal more from the rest of us to maintain their habits. Second, the profits of those with drugs to sell will increase. Potential drug dealers are nothing if not sensitive to the profit motive. Accordingly, the increased price ought to attract new sellers.

No one ever shut down a market by making it more profitable, yet that is exactly what is being proposed!

Complete legalization is not the answer. This is as simplistic and as silly as the current policy of complete prohibition. All drugs are not the same. We can probably live with the problems caused by the widespread use of marijuana. PCP and other such drugs are quite another matter. Selective decriminalization and differential taxation, however, may be part of a viable effective drug policy.

We do have experience with legalization. Before the first decade of this century, most drugs, including opiates, were legal and cheap. We apparently did have a significant proportion of the population addicted. This was a tragedy for the addict and his family but not for society. Criminals did not usually fight over and get rich on the drug trade. Many addicts were able to live productive lives in spite of their addiction. We should be so lucky today.

JOHN A. TOMASKE

Baldwin Park