Interesting that we can't actually read the study without paying $31.50!
Most studies are like that, I'm afraid. You're not really supposed to pay that ever; most people who
need it will be able to access it through their university or through their work.
Many have suggested on here that alcohol and tobacco are legal and that, consequently, other drugs should be legalised. I for one am wholly against this. Alcohol and Tobacco are hardly public health success stories. There have been countless studies undertaken which clearly show that, not only are the substances potentially damaging to the body, they also cause widespread social problems. As I alluded to earlier, alcoholics and heavy smokers don't simply drop dead 20 years earlier than everyone else. They tend to die long, lingering deaths from diseases such as Bronchial Carcinoma, COPD/COAD, Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Korsakoff's Psychosis.
Alcohol is without a doubt the best example of this, with £2.25 million spent
per annum on the costs of alcohol abuse in Scotland alone.[1] The study also shows that the bulk of this loss is through the wider economic costs and social costs, with "only" £405 million pounds spent through the NHS. There's policing, social work, and of course the costs associated with additional days off work to factor into this equation.
Similarly, tobacco costs the NHS in Scotland £400m per annum.[2] There are also further costs to the economy due to sick days. The cost to the individual is huge as well; should someone smoke 20 Marlboro cigarettes per day (at £6.42/pack [3]), they will be paying £2,343.30 this year. And given that the prevalence of smoking is much greater in more deprived areas[4], it's obviously going to hit someone in Easterhouse/Peckham proportionately harder than it will hit someone in Milngavie/Kensington.
There is no doubt that the current costs of illegal drug abuse are much lower, because the drugs themselves are much less widely available and therefore abuse of these substances is much less prevalent. Still, drugs cost Scotland £2.6bn per annum.[5] In comparison to alcohol, there is clearly a greater cost per user. Whilst this is likely to reflect increased policing costs associated with "the war on drugs", there's also the costs to the individual, the costs to society as a whole, and the health implications arising directly from these drugs and from, for example, needle sharing, that simply will not go away with legalisation.
There is also strong public support (in Scotland anyway) for drugs to remain banned. Whilst some use is fairly widespread (with a third of people surveyed admitting to trying Cannabis at least once), support for any legalisation is much lower. Similarly, there has been a trend towards increased support for tougher penalties. [5] When the public is becoming more and more resistant to drug abuse and any attempts at legalisation, any government would be foolish to legislate for a more liberal policy.
If currently illegal drugs were to be legalised, there is no doubt in my mind that the associated costs would shoot up (if you'll pardon the pun). Yes, you'll save a lot of money on policing, and you'll make a lot of money through taxation. But you'll also be opening more people up to the issues associated with these drugs; the physical, mental and social issues. And all in all, it's these things that will add up to be yet another drain on valuable public resources.
References
[1]
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/222103/0059736.pdf - Scottish Government publication: "Costs of Alcohol Use and Misuse in Scotland", 2008
[2]
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health/health/Tobacco - Scottish Government information page on Tobacco
[3]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8246377/Tobacco-facts-ten-things-to-know-about-smoking.html "Tobacco facts: ten things to know about smoking", Daily Telegraph, 8th Jan 2011
[4]
http://www.ash.org.uk/current-policy-issues/health-inequalities/smoking-and-health-inequalities ASH Scotland information page: "Smoking and health inequalities"
[5]
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/05/19111419/0 Scottish Government publication: "Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2009: Public Attitudes to Drugs and Drug Use in Scotland"
PS: Much of this is Scottish data, but that's what I'm used to dealing with. Sorry. Undoubtedly a similar trend can be seen in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is important, however, to remember that Scotland does have bigger problems than England and Wales with smoking, alcohol abuse and illegal drug abuse.
PPS: Sorry for taking so much of your time! I appreciate that a lot of this is dry data, but looking through the thread there seems to be a lot of demand for raw hard statistics.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I would prefer to base legal decisions on more than a 'feeling'. Remember, "the law is reason free from passion".
Please tell me you didn't watch Legally Blonde tonight