Four Decades and Counting: The Continued Failure of the War on Drugs
"Private individuals and policymakers often utilize prohibition as a
means of controlling the sale, manufacture, and consumption of
particular goods. While the Eighteenth Amendment, which was passed and
subsequently repealed in the early 20th century, is often regarded as
the first major prohibition in the United States, it certainly was not
the last. The War on Drugs, begun under President Richard Nixon,
continues to utilize policies of prohibition to achieve a variety of
objectives.
Proponents of drug prohibition claim that such policies reduce
drug-related crime, decrease drug-related disease and overdose, and are
an effective means of disrupting and dismantling organized criminal
enterprises.
We analyze the theoretical underpinnings of these claims, using tools
and insights from economics, and explore the economics of prohibition
and the veracity of proponent claims by analyzing data on overdose
deaths, crime, and cartels. Moreover, we offer additional insights
through an analysis of U.S. international drug policy utilizing data
from U.S. drug policy in Afghanistan. While others have examined the
effect of prohibition on domestic outcomes, few have asked how these
programs impact foreign policy outcomes.
We conclude that prohibition is not only ineffective, but
counterproductive, at achieving the goals of policymakers both
domestically and abroad. Given the insights from economics and the
available data, we find that the domestic War on Drugs has contributed
to an increase in drug overdoses and fostered and sustained the creation
of powerful drug cartels. Internationally, we find that prohibition not
only fails in its own right, but also actively undermines the goals of
the Global War on Terror."
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