ABSTRACT
Drug policy cannot be reduced to the search for a hypothetical optimal consumption level any more than it can an efficient crime level. What is the normative objective that should be established in public drug policy? There is no need to be very innovative in answering this question, as economists systematically make efficiency the objective. The search for efficiency seems shocking when applied to the area of social policy: it is, however, intertwined with the objective of minimizing the social cost of drugs, and thus solidly establishes the basis for those policies aimed at harm reduction.
