ABSTRACT
The drug trade is a growth industry in most major American cities, fueling devastated inner-city economies with revenues in excess of $100 billion. In this timely volume, Sam Staley provides a detailed, in-depth analysis of the consequences of current drug policies, focusing on the relationship between public policy and urban economic development and on how the drug economy has become thoroughly entwined in the urban economy. The black market in illegal drugs undermines essential institutions necessary for promoting long-term economic growth, including respect for civil liberties, private property, and nonviolent conflict resolution. Staley argues that America's cities can be revitalized only through a major restructuring of the urban economy that does not rely on drug trafficking as a primary source of employment and income-the inadvertent outcome of current prohibitionist policy. Thus comprehensive decriminalization of the major drugs (marijuana, cocaine, and heroin) is an important first step toward addressing the economic and social needs of depressed inner cities. Staley demonstrates how decriminalization would refocus public policy on the human dimension of drug abuse and addiction, acknowledge that the cities face severe development problems that promote underground economic activity, and reconstitute drug policy on principles consistent with limited government as embodied in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. Designed to cross disciplinary boundaries, Staley's provocative analysis will be essential reading for urban policymakers, sociologists, economists, criminologists, and drug-treatment specialists.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|82 pages
Institutions, Economic Growth, and the Modern City
chapter 21|30 pages
Setting the Stage: Central City Decline and the Rise of the Drug Economy
chapter 2|22 pages
Law, Order, and Economic Development in the Modern City
chapter 3|28 pages
The Changing Values of the Central City
part II|98 pages
Foundations of the Drug Economy
chapter 844|34 pages
Drug Use and Abuse in America
chapter 6|36 pages
The Organization of the Drug Economy
part III|60 pages
Public Policy and the Drug Economy
chapter 1827|34 pages
The Drug War and the Growth of the Drug Economy
chapter 8|24 pages
The Decriminalization Alternative
part IV|12 pages
Conclusion