NCJ Number
138968
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Efforts to reduce cocaine production and exports from the Andean region continue to be an important component of U.S. drug control efforts, and this article presents an economic analysis of the effects of major source country control programs (eradication, crop substitution, and refinery destruction).
Abstract
The analysis uses an approach based on risks and prices and assumes that supply side programs focusing on parts of the distribution system distant from the consumer can only affect the price paid by the consumer. Such programs cannot restrict the physical availability of cocaine in the United States, since there are simply too many farmers, refiners, exporters, and smugglers for enforcement to directly limit the amount available for U.S. consumption. The question is how international programs affect the risks and other costs of drug suppliers and thus retail prices in the United States. When consideration is given to the structure of prices in the cocaine industry and the ability of farmers and refiners to make behavioral adaptations, none of these programs has much prospect for affecting the flow of cocaine to the United States. Nonetheless, the programs continue to generate political support for three reasons: (1) there is a need to appear to be doing something about every aspect of the drug problem; (2) foreign initiatives have a peculiar attraction for U.S. presidents; and (3) the possibility of success cannot be absolutely ruled out.