NCJ Number
123548
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 57 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1990) Pages: 53-55
Date Published
1990
Length
3 pages
Annotation
History demonstrates that it is the drugs themselves, not the drug laws, that cause the most damage to society. Legalization would only expand the drug problem.
Abstract
During the Prohibition of the 1920s, alcohol consumption decreased from an average 2.6 gallons per person per year in the preceding decade to an average 0.73 gallons. Clearly, greater availability results in greater use and abuse. Elimination of the black market would require universal availability for all drugs, which in turn would create a black plague of drug addiction, overdose deaths and crime, and increase law enforcement costs. Each year, drug abuse costs American businesses $7,000 per drug-abusing employee. About ten percent of the workforce are drug users. The Nation's total for this year will probably surpass $100 billion in lost productivity, absenteeism, and related health expenses. Legalization is a simplistic answer to a complex question and would only make matters worse.