More facts about "war on drugs....
Crime
A recent study by Columbia University confirms what many criminologists have long known: alcohol is associated with more violent crime than any illegal drug. Twenty-one percent of violent felons in state prisons committed their crimes while under the influence of alcohol alone. Only 3% were high on cocaine and only 1% were using heroin.
Source: Kaminer, W., "Morning Edition," National Public Radio (1998, March 18). (Wendy Kaminer is a public policy fellow at Radcliffe College.)
Federal statistics show that a large percentage of crimes are committed 'under the influence' of alcohol (30.7%), a smaller percentage under the influence of a combination of alcohol and other drugs (16.1%), and an even smaller percentage under other drugs alone (8.8%).
Source: Rasmussen, D. & Benson, B., The Economic Anatomy of a Drug War, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (1994), p. 106.
Switzerland recently experimented with a heroin maintenance program in order to influence the behavior of heroin addicts and to eradicate the black market for the drug. Researchers found that at the beginning of the program, 59% of the participants' income derived from illegal activities. At the end of the study, only 10% of the participants' income was illegally earned.
Source: Uchtenhagen, A., "Summary of the Synthesis Report," in Uchtenhagen, A., Gutzwiller, F. & Dobler-Mikola, A. (eds.), Programme for a Medical Prescription of Narcotics: Final Report of the Research Representatives, Zurich, Switzerland: Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Zurich (1997).
_____________________
Economics
According to the United Nations, drug trafficking is a $400 billion per year industry, equaling 8% of the world's trade. This is greater than the exports of the automobile industry, worldwide.
Source: Associated Press, "U.N. Estimates Drug Business Equal to 8 Percent of World Trade," (1997, June 26).
In 1969, $65 million was spent by the Nixon administration on the drug war; in 1982 the Reagan administration spent $1.65 billion; and in 1998 the Clinton administration requested $17.1 billion.
Sources: U.S. Congress, Hearings on Federal Drug Enforcement before the Senate Committee on Investigations, 1975 and 1976 (1976); Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy, 1992: Budget Summary, p. 214, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1992); Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy, 1998: Budget Summary, p. 5, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1998).
________________________
Interdiction
The international illicit drug business generates as much as $400 billion in trade annually according to estimates in the World Drug Report, which was commissioned by the United Nations International Drug Control Program. That amounts to 8% of all international trade and is comparable to the annual turnover in textiles, according to the study.
Source: Associated Press, "U.N. Estimates Drug Business Equal to 8 Percent of World Trade," (1997, June 26).
Interdiction efforts intercept 10-15% of the heroin and 30% of the cocaine. Drug traffickers are making gross profit margins of up to 300%. At least 75% of international drug shipments would need to be intercepted to substantially reduce the profitability of drug trafficking.
Source: Associated Press, "U.N. Estimates Drug Business Equal to 8 Percent of World Trade," (1997, June 26).
From 1985 to 1995, the federal drug control budget has increased almost five-fold, from about $2.7 billion to about $13.25 billion. Yet, in that same period the percentage of 12th grade students that reported marijuana as "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain increased from 85.5% in 1985 to 89.6% in 1995.
Sources: Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the White House, The National Drug Control Strategy, 1997, Budget Summary, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1997, February), p. 22; Johnston, L., Bachman, J. & O'Malley, P., National Survey Results from the Monitoring the Future Study, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1996), Vol. 1, p. 270, Table 30.
To achieve a one percent reduction in U.S. cocaine consumption, the United States could spend an additional $34 million on drug treatment programs, or 20 times more, $783 million, on efforts to eradicate the supply at the source.
Source: Rydell & Everingham, (1994), Controlling Cocaine, Santa Monica, CA: The RAND Corporation. (Study commissioned by the U.S. Army and Office of National Drug Control Policy.)
ukcia.org |
