Politics and Economics of Government Response to Drug Abuse

Abstract

Relative numbers and relative costs define the type and size of political response to drug abuse in the United States. Those who are damaged by the crime originating in drug abuse outnumber the abusers. While the total cost of crime attributed to drug abuse is high and exceeds efforts of control, intractability of the problem stands in the way of effective action. This paper presents an alternative to the "get-tough" policies represented by action recently taken in New York and the priorities of the federal 1975 budget. It is a second chance of self-help in a new life. Analysis of this proposal is a next step. Its potential adoption, given the relative numbers, is not favorable, and the preferred approach is likely to be incremental. But there is reason to expect that incremental solutions are not sufficient.