ABSTRACT
The Colombian government is negotiating with leading traffickers over terms of surrender. Cocaine is associated with a violent culture; marijuana markets are relatively invisible and less violent. Marijuana's mark up is lower than heroin's and cocaine's because marijuana sellers bear lower risks at the retail level than heroin and cocaine dealers. Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. Possession laws are one form of user sanction. Such sanctions figure prominently in the battle against cocaine use, although much work remains to be done with respect to determining their contribution to national drug-control objectives. Integrating marginal cost and benefit thinking into drug-policy analysis matters for one very practical reason: progress in drug policy will occur incrementally. The debate about drug policy is too polarized and the political system too sclerotic to allow for much other than gradual changes in policies.
