Legalizing Drugs

According to the “World Drug Report of 2011,” commissioned by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime last year, 210 million people worldwide consumed some type of illicit substance and 4.8 percent of the world’s 15- to 64-year-olds consumed some type of drug.

Despite an increase in consumption of synthetic drugs in the recent years, cannabis is still the most demanded drug. Between 2.8 and 4.5 percent of the world’s population consumes this type of drug. In respect to cocaine, the United States is still the biggest market. In 2009 there were around 157 tons of cocaine consumed there, 36 percent of the world’s market. Western and Central Europe follow in volume, with 123 tons. If one gram of cocaine is able to be sold in the streets of New York at $40, the 157 tons that are sold each year in the United States represent astronomical revenue for the cartels and criminal networks.

The drug itself is very cheap. Its price is determined by the cost of distribution and by the mere fact of carrying a product that is in itself illegal. Depending on the drug, 90 percent or more of the final price corresponds to the premium generated by the prohibition. In light of the failure that up until this moment has been the heated battle against drugs in various countries, such as the U.S., one of the alternatives that are now being proposed is the legalization of drugs.

This has been one of the subjects that has been emphasized at the recent Summit of the Americas, in Cartagena, attended by many of the presidents of the region. However, if drugs are legalized the consumption of drugs will not necessarily drop because the level of profitability decreases and it will not be a lucrative business for the cartels. The demand curve is inelastic. If you are an addict, whether it costs you a little more or less, surely you will continue to consume.

The problem is not only economical but juridical and primarily of the public health. Legalization or prohibition has failed. Each time there are more drugs and more consumers, just as there are a greater number of people who have been imprisoned for possession or consumption. In the U.S., not only has the population imprisoned due to drug crimes increased but the cost to the public spent on jails has surpassed what is dedicated to high school education. Nonetheless, there is a subject that worries me: public health. What is going on with the people that have entered the dynamics of consumption if they are not able to get out and are finished forever?