ABSTRACT
Can economic analysis help define the outline of a good drug policy? In the sphere of drugs, where ideology and moral judgements are omnipresent, it is worth knowing what kind of policy an economic approach based on research into policy effectiveness would recommend: that is, minimization of the social costs generated by drug consumption and trafficking, or the sum of the increased negative externalities and utility procured for those who consume it.1 Taking an interest, admittedly in rather abstract terms, in the form of an optimal drug policy allows us to indirectly bring to light the economic cost (sometimes exorbitant) of any policy deviating from this norm. In concrete terms, society must be aware that by deviating from optimal drug policy it incurs a waste of resources.
