ABSTRACT
Around the world, the legal status of commodities such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin differs dramatically from that of nearly all other goods. Most commodities are subject to substantial regulation and taxation, but the production, distribution, sale, and possession of illegal drugs are prohibited outright. Violation of these prohibitions is punishable by lengthy jail terms, and many governments devote enormous resources to enforcing these prohibition regimes. The starting point for analyzing drug prohibition is the observation that drugs continue to be supplied and demanded despite prohibition. This point might seem obvious, but it bears repeating because so many policies, statements by politicians, and even scientific analyses assume that what happens under a law is what-ever that law directs. In addition to affecting the supply of and possibly the demand for drugs, prohibition has numerous other effects. Probably the most important of these is increased crime.
