Term Paper on "Economic Effect of Legalizing"

Term Paper 5 pages (2438 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The report puts that as the foremost health problem in the nation; substance abuse puts a huge load on the health care system of the country and plays a part in the increased expenses of health care. Indeed, substance abuse -- the challenging consumption of alcohol, illegal drugs and tobacco puts huge burden on the American people in totality. The assertion that making the drugs legal gives a chance to charge tax on new products is deceptive. For instance, the net revenue from taxes garnered from the disposal of alcohol is $13.1 billion annually; however alcohol takes up $100 billion annually in social expenses like health care and wasted efficiencies. There is not any single proof available to show that imposing taxes on cocaine, heroin, and marijuana would increase earnings compared to alcohol and tobacco, nor will the income from this imposition of taxes counterbalance the social and medical costs these illegal drugs would put. (Legalization of Drugs: The Myths and the Facts)

The cartel in favor of the drugs reasons that making it legal will put aside enforcement expenses. However, the abolition of drug enforcement will give meager allocation for other usage. The government currently uses up 3.3% of its budget on the criminal justice system and 50% of that is spent for enforcement. Not as much of 12% of the law enforcement funding is spent on legal enforcement. Joseph Califano, Ex-Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare warns that in a regime where there is legalization, the advertisement guys of Madison Avenue will render it as appealing to make the few lines of cocaine similar to gulp small amount of beers. Due to this the coffers of the legitimate drug manufacturers would be filled up; however it will evidently impair the taxpayer of America and families of America. (Legalization of Drugs: The Myths and the Facts)

Despite its criticisms there has been a considerable growth in the citizen's favor for liberalization. Beginning during the later part of 1990s, there has even been a considerable and fruitful campaign to make legal "medical marijuana" in which case the doctors can legitimately recommend the consumption of marijuana for various ailments. Daivid Rasmussen and Bruce Benson focused their evaluation on the period from 1984 to 1989, when drug seizure rates leapfrogged and the government purportedly attained its largest triumphs in the battle on drugs. They examined in the beginning the valid basis of ban: that consumption of drugs amounts to offense. Libertarians and left-liberals, reacting to the formal stature, usually claim that criminalization makes costs of drug to go up, which causes the consumer to commit property offenses to make funding of their costly lifestyle. Ramussen and Benson declare that the two opinions are erroneous. (The Economic Anatomy of a Drug War: Criminal Justice in the Commons)

A majority of the consumers of illicit drugs are not fully addicted, they have jobs, do not commit property offenses, and in fact have increased chances of experiencing acts of crime perpetrated on them. Criminals settle in the direction of the profits of doing business in drugs more frequently compared to drug consumption setting-off offense. The writers even exhibit that law enforcement does not unavoidably cause in prevention, that the reaction to advanced stages of enforcement is not restricted to lowering unlawful actions, and moreover, that the real reactions make the battle less, not more useful.

Even though certain careless consumers may be prevented or instigated to shift to valid drugs, the substantiation displays that increasing enforcement has been the cause for usage of increasingly stronger and more hazardous drugs. Increased drug seizure rates which was responsible for overpopulation in the prison and premature discharge of inmates as also increasing request haggling also lowered captive time and hence the anticipated expenses of penalty. Apart from that, suppliers turned to juvenile street peddlers, who experience less serious penalties, hence the total impact of augmenting the enforcement during the 1980s was to augment the gang of drug dealers, particularly among the children. (The Economic Anatomy of a Drug War: Criminal Justice in the Commons)

To conclude, in order to make it legal, it has to encounter with the supply-side. The final way out to any drug menace is not to restrict supply, but to restrict demand. To make it legal backed with directives is a better supply-side option instead of criminalization. Moreover, making it legal would not just safeguard the fundamental lack of restrictions and cause advantages by way of free trade, but it will even present huge advantages to the society in total.

References

Cussen, Meaghan; Block, Walter. Legalize Drugs Now! The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. July, 2000. Retrieved from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0254/is_3_59/ai_65348069 Accessed on 15 December, 2004

Maginnis, Robert L. Legalization of Drugs: The Myths and the Facts. Family Research Council. Retrieved from http://www.sarnia.com/groups/antidrug/argument/myths.html Accessed on 15 December, 2004

News and Views from the Dismal Science. Dr. Econ's commentary on local, regional, national, and global economic affairs. Augusta Business Chronicle. September 2001. Retrieved from http://www.aug.edu/~sbajmb/abc065.htm Accessed on 15 December, 2004

Thornton, Mark. Prohibition vs. Legalization: Do Economists Reach a Conclusion on Drug Policy? Paper presented at the Southern Economic Association Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana. November 2002. Retrieved from http://www.mises.org/journals/scholar/thornton3.pdf Accessed on 15 December, 2004

Thornton, Mark. The Economic Anatomy of a Drug War: Criminal Justice in the Commons. The Independent Review. Volume: 1; No: 2; Fall, 1006. Retrieved from http://www.independent.org/publications/TIR/article.asp?issueID=36& articleID=483 Accessed on 15 December, 2004

Wink, Walter. Biting the Bullet: The Case for Legalizing Drugs. Retrieved from http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=781 Accessed on 15 December, 2004 READ MORE

How to Reference "Economic Effect of Legalizing" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Labor Economics the Last Time the U.S Thesis

Labor Economics

The last time the U.S. enacted an amnesty act was in 1986, with nearly 2.7 million undocumented immigrants being granted amnesty. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)… read more

Thesis 7 pages (2135 words) Sources: 6 Topic: Economics / Finance / Banking

---

Legalizing Marijuana Would Have on Prison Population Research Proposal

Legalizing Marijuana would have on Prison Population

The recent war on drugs campaigns have had limited to no efficiency, as one can actually claim that society has experienced great problems… read more

Research Proposal 7 pages (1879 words) Sources: 7 Topic: Drugs / Alcohol / Tobacco

---

Should the US Government Legalize Marijuana? Research Proposal

U.S. government legalize marijuana?

The Legalization of Marijuana: Cost-Effective?

Marijuana use has been rampant in the United States for quite a while, and was just recently brought back into the… read more

Research Proposal 15 pages (4538 words) Sources: 12 Style: MLA Topic: Drugs / Alcohol / Tobacco

---

Do Casinos Help Turn Around Local Economies? Term Paper

Casinos Help Turn Around Local Economies

Casinos have become increasingly popular in the past few years as a tool to boost the growth of local economies. This is quite different… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2542 words) Sources: 6 Style: APA Topic: Economics / Finance / Banking

---

Let the Author Choose Term Paper

Smuggling be Legal in Migration but not Business Products?

Smuggling represents the practice or action by businesspersons to import or export commodities or products while evading the tariffs or taxation… read more

Term Paper 12 pages (4122 words) Sources: 12 Topic: Economics / Finance / Banking

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>