Drug Legalization: Increased Taxes v Health Issues Essay

Introduction

Legalisation of drugs has been one of the most debatable issues that are still far from being solved. Many countries implement various policies to address the problem. These policies are often shaped by the complexity of the situation as well as cultural, economic and political peculiarities (Küçükuysal 2011). Such countries as the Netherlands or the United States completely or partially legalised drugs, while the majority of nations still continue their own wars on drugs. Although numerous negative health effects have been acknowledged, analysts started paying more attention to detrimental effects on countries’ economies that lose millions of dollars. A brief analysis of the problem shows that legalisation of drugs is an efficient and even necessary measure to address the problem.

The war on drugs

One of the most vivid benefits can be the end of the war on drugs. Evans (2013) states that decriminalisation of drugs will result in $7 to 13 billion, in the US alone. These savings will arise through the reduction of “prosecutorial, judicial, correctional, and police resource spending” (Evans 2013, p. 2). Miron and Waldock (2010) estimate the savings in the following way: the budget will save up to $8.7 after marijuana legalisation, $20 billion after cocaine and heroin legalisation and $12.6 after other drugs legalisation.

When it comes to developing countries, the situation is more alarming as the illicit drugs trade results in the increased rate of crime rates (including homicide). For example, the murder rate in Honduras is almost 67%, which is the highest level in Central America (Cachanosky, Zelaya & Block 2014). Admittedly, legalisation of drugs would reduce such crime rates and will help nations save billions that governments can relocate to such important spheres as education and healthcare.

Clearly, it is crucial to implement efficient policies that would identify legal drugs and particular channels of their distribution. The market should be available to many people to reduce the niche for unregulated trade (The great pot experiment 2014). For example, dispensaries account for more than 60% of sales in Colorado, which shows that the policies implemented are not totally efficient.

Increased taxes

Apart from billions of savings, legalised drugs market can potentially bring billions in taxes. Researchers have estimated that the illicit drugs market is more than $500 billion per year (Jenner 2011). These funds could help many countries solve various issues in central sectors of their economies. Christian Hageseth, an entrepreneur in the business, expects the legal drugs trade to evolve into a significant industry similar to the one of alcohol or tobacco products (Hageseth & D’Agnese 2015).

Scholars support the view of the enthusiast and the entrepreneur stating that tax revenue generated can be over $46 billion per year if drugs are taxed similarly to alcohol or tobacco products (Miron & Waldock 2010). Clearly, these gains can be beneficial when proper legislation is introduced as it is the case with such substances as alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, stimulants, depressants and so on (After the war on drugs 2009). Countries should develop proper legal frameworks that are consistent with cultural, political and economic peculiarities.

Health issues

However, many opponents of drugs legalisation emphasise that these substances have detrimental effects on people’s health. These people claim that legalising drugs will lead to the increased number of drug addicts and the increased rate of associated health issues including HIV. Nonetheless, various studies on the effectiveness of interventions aimed at opioids users show that well-crafted strategies lead to the reduction of overdose mortality, lower crime rates as well as lower rate of HIV infection (Babor 2012).

Analysts also draw parallels between the alcohol and drug trade stating that when alcohol trade was banned the trade never stopped but simply moved to the black market (Drug control and public health 2013). On the contrary, when governments removed the ban, the legal market provided “effective competition” and the regulations brought order to the market as producers had to comply with rather high standards (Drug control and public health 2013, p. 92). Notably, health issues also reduced as low-quality products were removed from the market. This is expected in the drug market as well.

Conclusion

On balance, it is possible to note that legalising drugs have become a necessary measure to address various issues associated with the illicit drugs trade. It is associated with significant savings (related to the end of the war on drugs) and economic gains for countries (increased taxes). Apart from this, legalisation of drugs will bring more effective control over the use of substances and will positively affect public health. Thus, low-quality products that cause thousands of deaths will not be present in the market. Such issues as overdose and HIV can also be addressed. Clearly, benefits are possible if the governments introduce efficient legislative background for drugs legalisation.

Reference List

After the war on drugs: blueprint for regulations, 2009, Adam Shaw Associates, London, UK. Web.

Babor, TF 2012, ‘The public health impact on drug policies’, in E Zedillo & H Wheeler (eds), Rethinking the “war on drugs” through the US Mexico prism, Betts House, New Haven, CT, pp. 73-85. Web.

Cachanosky, I, Zelaya, VJ & Block, WE 2014, ‘Drug legalization: rescuing Central America from the claws of crime’, The Journal Jurisprudence, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 9-25. Web.

‘Drug control and public health: getting beyond stalemate’ 2013, Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, vol. 91, pp. 91-92. Web.

Evans, DG 2012, ‘The economic impacts of marijuana legalization’, The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice. Web.

Hageseth, C & D’agnese, J 2015, Big weed: an entrepreneur’s high-stakes adventures in the budding legal marijuana business, Macmillan, New York, NY. Web.

Jenner, MS 2011, ‘International drug trafficking: a global problem with a domestic solution’, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 901-927. Web.

Küçükuysal, B 2011, ‘Drug legalization debate’, SDU Faculty of Arts and Sciences Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 24, pp. 215-224. Web.

Miron, JA & Waldock, K 2010, The budgetary impact of ending drug prohibition, Cato Institute, Washington, DC. Web.

‘The great pot experiment‘, 2014, The Economist. Web.