DRUG PROHIBITION AND ITS ALTERNATIVES: A SOCIO-ECONOMIC EVALUATION
- Ever since its beginning, the prohibition of drugs has been a controversial policy that draws attention of many scholars, politicians and the general public. On the one hand, proponents of the policy fear that ending the prohibition would encourage drug use. Their opponents, on the other hand, argue that the War on Drugs led to various unintended consequences, whose impact on society has been devastating and clearly outweighs the advantages of drug prohibition. Firstly, this thesis offers a comprehensive overview of these consequences. Based on the existing empirical research as well as practical examples from the United States, the author constructs five hypotheses regarding drug prohibition and its consequences. In order to test validity of these hypotheses, two regions that have recently implemented alternative approaches in fighting drug abuse are selected. The author defines several indicators directly linked to the drug-related market liberalization and with help of multiple-source secondary data analysis finally shows that both the decriminalization of drug use in Portugal and the cannabis legalization in Colorado have helped successfully reverse some of the consequences of drug prohibition and have not led to a significant increase in drug consumption.