NCJ Number
178168
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: 1999 Pages: 49-67
Date Published
1999
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper argues that a harms-reduction approach to drug policy is more cost-effective than a law-enforcement-oriented "war on drugs."
Abstract
The harms-reduction approach can be understood as a pragmatic policy of "cost-effective drug control" that, based on careful program evaluations, reduces enforcement when alternatives such as treatment, needle exchanges, maintenance programs, and benign neglect generate more benefit per dollar spent than the enforcement alternative. Economics is the study of choice among alternatives under conditions of scarcity. Drug policy is manifestly an "economic" problem in the sense that these policies are developed under conditions of scarcity; i.e., there are not enough police, treatment facilities, and social services to solve the drug problem, however it is defined. This paper argues that a harms-reduction approach to drug policy can be characterized as pragmatic, cost-effective drug control that aims to achieve efficient drug policy. An economic analysis of drug law enforcement shows that these policies do not necessarily reduce drug problems and can generate unintended consequences. Enforcement remains the dominant drug policy in the United States despite evidence that it is overused, in part because both Federal and State asset forfeiture laws and budget processes offer police agencies incentives to focus on enforcement rather than other policy alternatives. An efficiency-based harms- reduction approach may be one way to advocate a rational approach to drug issues in the often strident and ideological drug policy debates. 8 notes and 45 references