The Economics of Prohibition
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courts: corruption of, 130; criminological philosophy of, 125; sentencing discretion of, 98, 99
Courtwright, David T., 57
crack cocaine, 90
Crawford, Gordon B., 90
crime: association with drug use, 111, 112, 114, 115, 124–25; association with prohibition, 111–12, 122–24, 125, 126, 137–38, 142, 143; association with saloon, 54–55; changes in judicial philosophy, 125; decriminalized drug market, 149; drug use as cause, 112–13, 115; economic theory, 113–14, 115–16, 120, 130; elimination in free market, 151; fluctuation with business cycles, 123, 124; function of drug prices, 31, 33, 77, 117, 119 (fig.), 119–20; growth under alcohol prohibition, 29; prohibition as remedy, 16, 111, 112, 113; prohibition-created profit opportunities, 116–17, 123, 142; protest against temperance movement, 121–22; relation to economic development, 114, 115, 120–21, 122, 123, 126; risk-taking as function of enforcement levels, 117, 119 (fig.), 119–20; sociological theories, 114–15, 120–21; time-allocation model, 116
crime, organized: as manifestation of prohibition, 125–26; violence of, 112, 125
Croce, Benedetto, 35, 38
Cuba, 136
Customs Service, U.S., 106
DEA. See Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
death penalty, restoration of, 115–16
Declaration of Independence, 43
decriminalization: as alternative to prohibition, 3–4, 139n, 139–40, 146–47, 148–49; support of economists for, 10
demand: differentiation in, according to drug potency, 91; differentiation in, according to prices, 102–3, 103 (table), 108–9, 109–10; as function of prices, 32, 33, 36, 37, 74, 91, 101–2, 117, 118 (figs.), 144, 145, 148; as function of product attributes, 92–93; reduction of, as benefit of prohibition, 144–45
democracy: corruption of, 55, 111, 126–27; resolution of conflicts by, 87–88
Democratic party, 50, 51
designer [synthetic] drugs, 109
desire vs. attainment of satisfaction, 22
detection: avoidance of, by entrepreneurs, 131; corruption as function of probability of, 130, 132; of drug producers’ capital equipment, 132; official dismissals as result of, 134
development, economic: as cause of crime, 115, 120–21; and free markets, 152; as remedy for crime, 114, 120, 121, 122, 123, 126; and standards of leisure, 7
Dickson, Donald T., 66
discovery process: solution of social problems through, 77, 83, 150; stifled, 82, 141, 143; undiscovered, 79–80, 140–41; unsimulated, 80–82, 141; wholly superfluous, 82–83, 85, 89, 141–42
discrimination, as side effect of prohibition, 39–40, 60, 62, 66, 67–68, 140
disease, addiction as, 37n.32
District of Columbia Pharmacy Act (1906), 61, 62
Dolan, Edwin G., 11
Dorfman, Joseph, 27n.14
Dow, Neal, 46, 47
drug abuse: as antecedent of prohibition, 57–59; decriminalization as solution to, 3–4; permanence of, 76n; personal responsibility for, 152; risks of, 72&n, 110; as side-effect of war, 5, 57, 62, 64–65, 69, 152
Drug Abuse Warning Network, 110n
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 106
drugs, free markets in, 149–53. See also decriminalization; legalization; potency; prohibition
drug use: associated with crime, 111, 112, 114, 115, 124–25; as cause of crime, 112–13, 115; as leisure, 7; personal responsibility for, 151, 152
Duchaine, Nina, 127
E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company, 68
Eastman, Max, 86
economic conditions, as factor in crime, 113–14, 115–16
economic development. See development, economic
economic planning, consequences of, 85–86
The Economic Results of Prohibition (Warburton), 27
economists: as defenders of prohibition, 9, 10, 11–23; leadership of legalization movement by, 9–11
economy, impact of alcohol consumption on, 23–29
Edgeworth, Francis Yisdro, 17
education, as remedy for intemperance, 17–18, 44, 45, 51
Ehrlich, Isaac, 115–16
Eighteenth [Prohibition] Amendment, U.S. Constitution, 4–5, 19, 20, 64; passage of, 18–19; repeal of, 21n, 23, 66–67, 91, 112, 124, 139, 149
Einstein, Izzy, 81–82
Ekelund, Robert B., 11
Eldridge, W.B., 60
Elsohly, M. A., 107
Ely, Richard T., 11–12
employers: issuance of alcohol rations by, 19, 41, 42; prohibition by, 19–20, 25, 152
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 27
enforcement: allocation of resources, 73, 75; compensation of agents, 129, 133; concentration at local level, 67; consequences, 29; corruption as characteristic, 128; corruption, 112, 127, 130–38, 142; costs, 27, 31, 34, 100 (table), 100–101, 105–6, 106 (fig.), 143, 151; dismissal of honest agents, 81–82; drug substitutions as consequence, 144, 145; effects on drug potency, 90, 96–99, 106–8, 108 (fig.), 110, 132, 142; effects on prices, 82–83, 97, 101, 117, 119, 120, 131, 142; key to prohibition’s success, 19, 20, 21; methods, 46; neighborhood distribution channels, 32; obstacles, 47; optimal level, 76 (fig.), 76–77; risk of capture, 96–99, 100, 101, 106–8, 108 (fig.), 110, 116, 117, 119–20, 131, 132, 142; selective, 83, 131; “shortages,” 85; tradeoffs, 30
Engels, Frederick, 113
England. See Great Britain
entrepreneurs: bureaucrats as, 65–66, 67, 69; discovery by, 81; reaction to prohibition-created profit opportunities, 82–83, 89, 131–32; search for profits, 77–78, 80, 81, 93, 150. See also business
environment: as factor in crime, 114–15; prohibition as purifier of, 53–54
Erickson, Edward, 31, 99, 112
escalating drug-use theory, 14, 109
evolutionary competition, temperance as advantage in, 13–15
Faulkner, Harold Underwood, 42
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 106
Federal Narcotics Bureau, 65–66, 66–67
Federal Reserve, 23
Federal Reserve Act, 53
Feenstra, Robert C., 95, 98
Feldman, Herman, 23–24, 25–26, 28
Ferdinand, Theodore A., 123
Fernandez, Raul A., 31, 35, 38
fiber, artificial, as hemp substitute, 68
15 Gallon Law (1838), 121–22, 126
fines, substitution for imprisonment, 148
Fisher, Irving, 27n.13, 29, 35, 122; on alcohol consumption patterns, 102; on alcohol potency under prohibition, 103–4; as champion of prohibition, 15–23, 26, 75n; on economic losses from alcohol, 24–25; on prohibition crime rates, 123; on relative prices of types of alcohol, 101, 102 (table), 103; on repeal of prohibition, 139
Fisher, Irving Norton, 16&n, 17, 18, 22, 23
Food Act. See Pure Food and Drug Act
Fort, Joel, 66
Foster Anti-Narcotic Bill, 62–63, 64
France, 136n
Franklin, Fabian, 122, 123
freedom: economic basis for, 86; prohibition as threat to, 86–88
free markets: as alternative to prohibition, 149–53; extension to nondrug economy, 151–53
Free to Choose (Friedman and Friedman), 9–10
free will: and addiction, 37n.32; vs. environment, 53–54
Friedman, Milton, 9–10, 104–5
Friedman, Rose, 9–10, 104–5
Gallagher, Winifred, 109
gambling: as leisure, 7; and police corruption, 133, 135; prohibition of, as basis for organized crime, 125; prohibition of, discussion in economics texts, 10
gangs, as manifestation of prohibition, 125–26
genetics, as factor in crime, 114–15
Georgia, 41
German Historical School, 11–12
Germany, alcohol consumption in, 13
Gienapp, William, 46
gin: potency of, 104–5; relative prices of, 102 (table)
Goldstein, Herman, 137
Goode
, Erich, 66
Goodman, John C., 11
Great Britain: formation of police force in, 114; policy of, toward alcohol, 20; spread of opium addiction in, 58
Great Depression, 5, 20, 21n, 23, 66–67
Grimes, Alan P., 48
gunpowder factory, absenteeism rates in, 26 (table), 28–29, 29 (table)
Haller, Mark H., 133
Hampel, Robert L., 122
Harris, Jeffrey E., 95
Harrison, Francis Burton, 64
Harrison Narcotics Act (1914), 4, 29, 60, 62, 63–64, 67, 123, 124
hashish, 18, 67
Hayek, F. A., 6, 77, 80, 85–86, 105
health: endangerment by prohibited substances, 72&n, 91, 104–5, 110; risks of variations in potency for, 90–91
health care, deregulation of, 152. See also medicine, organized
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 11
Helmer, John, 66
hemp plant, versatility of, 65, 68. See also marijuana (cannabis)
Henry, Andrew F., 124
heroin, 89; association of use with criminal behavior, 111, 112; combination drugs, 90; consumption patterns, 146n; control of use in medicinal compounds, 64; discovery, 57; escalation from softer drugs, 14, 109; health risks, 73n, 91, 110n; increased potency under prohibition, 98–99; maintenance programs, 33, 34n, 147–48; rehabilitation of addicts, 31n, 33
heroin, prohibition, 3; association of, with corruption, 135–36; costs of, 31, 34, 105–6, 106 (fig.), 112; creation of profit opportunities by, 135–36; effect of, as tax, 99; enactment of, 29, 61; market conditions under, 30–34, 117–20, 118 (figs.), 119 (fig.), 148; risk of capture under, 98–99, 117, 119; statutory definitions of, 96, 110
Herrnstein, Richard J., 125
Himmelstein, Jerome L., 66
History of Inebriating Liquors (Stille), 58
hoarding, 35
Hochman, Harold M., 36, 37nn.30, 32
homeopathic medicine, suppression of, 69
Hong Kong, 137
Hoover, Herbert, 134–35
Horton, James, 52
Horton Ice Cream Company, 52
Hotelling, Harold, 27n.14
Hu,T. Y., 28n.16, 102
human action, rationality of, 6–7, 10, 35, 77
Human Action (Mises), 111
Huss, Magnus, 58
Hutt, W. H., 140
immigrants: discrimination against, 62, 66; intemperance of, 45, 46, 47; purchasing of votes of, 55; social life of, 54, 60; use of narcotics by, 60; voting rights of, 53, 55
immigration, restriction of, 48, 53
import quotas, effects on product attributes, 95
impulse buying, 35
income: vs. drug prices, as determinant of criminal risk-taking, 117, 119 (fig.), 119–20, 142; redistribution of, by prohibition enforcement, 31
Index of Economic Journals, 24n
Indians, and alcohol prohibition, 4, 41
industry, productivity in. See productivity
inefficiency: of bureaucracies, 80–81, 83, 84, 85; correction of, by market, 80
information: availability in free market, 151; distortion by prohibition, 141; and policy decisions, 80, 81
inns, licensing of alcohol sales in, 41–42
insurance companies, coverage of drug abusers, 152
intemperance: competitive disadvantage of, 13–15; definition of, 44; as male problem, 48; as side-effect of war, 5, 42, 43n, 55, 57, 62, 64–65, 69, 152. See also drug abuse; temperance
interest rate regulation, as basis for organized crime, 125
Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 106
interventionism: adulteration of capitalist system by, 121; consequences of, 79, 85–88, 141; corruption as cause of, 129; costs of, 129; effects of, on market processes, 79; limitation of, 86–87; progressive process of, 84 (fig.), 84–85; repeal of, 85. See also prohibition; regulation
intoxicants, use of, as leisure, 7. See also under name of specific intoxicant
Ippolitio, Richard A., 91
Iran, 136n
Iraq, 136n
Ireland, 114
irrational behavior, 35
IRS. See Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Italy, 136n
Japan, 95, 98
Jensen, Richard, 47
Jesus Christ, return of, 12n.3, 44, 48
Jevons, William Stanley, 22
Johnson, B. D., 111, 126
Johnson, Terry R., 95
Johnson, W. E., 104 (table)
Justice Department, 127; Bureau of Justice Statistics, 106n, 108–9
Kansas City, Missouri, 133
Kaplan, John, 147–48
Kauffman, Reginald W., 133
Kessel, Rubin A., 69
Key, Vladimer O., 49
Kirzner, Israel M., 35, 77, 79
Klein, Benjamin, 105
Kleppner, Paul, 49, 50
Knapp Commission on Police Corruption, 135
Knies, Karl, 12
Koren, John, 115
Krout, John Allen, 41, 42–43
Kunnes, Richard, 135–36
Kyvig, David E., 112
labor: conditions of, and employee absenteeism, 25, 28, 29; division of, and vice, 14
labor-leisure tradeoff, for addicts, 117
laissez faire doctrine, 17
Lancaster, Kelvin, 36, 37, 78, 92–93
Lane, Roger, 121
Lavine, Emanuel H., 133
law, as instrument of social reform, 11
law, rule of: interventionism as break with, 86; respect for, 151
law enforcement. See enforcement
law of decreasing marginal utility, 75
Lazarus, Edward H., 48
Lebanon, 136n
Leffler, Keith, 105
legalization: as alternative to prohibition, 3, 39, 139, 140, 147, 149–53; economists as advocates of, 9–11; of home production of alcohol, 21
leisure: as alcohol substitute, 28; consumption of prohibited goods as, 7; as incentive to absenteeism, 26; tradeoff of, with labor for addicts, 117
Lever Act, 55
liability laws: and drug safety in free market, 150–51; as incentive for private prohibition, 19, 20, 25
liberalism, disillusionment with, 85–86
licensing, of alcohol sales, 41–42, 43, 45, 54, 55
Lindsey, C. M., 81, 97
Little, A. D., 91
local option, 45, 46, 50
local prohibition, 45, 46
Lombroso, Cesare, 114
Lott, John R., 148
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), health risks of, 73n
McDonald, Lynn, 121
machinery, operation of, after alcohol consumption, 20
McKenzie, Richard, 11, 15
Maine laws, 46–47
maintenance programs, 33, 34n, 64, 147–48, 149–50
The Making of Index Numbers (I. Fisher), 22–23
malicious mischief, rates under prohibition, 123
marginal costs: of acts of corruption, 132; of prohibition, 75, 76 & fig.
marginal utility, of prohibition, 75–76
marijuana (cannabis): association of, with criminal behavior, 111, 115; consumption patterns of, 145, 146n; control of, in medicinal compounds, 62, 63, 64; decriminalization of, 139n, 140; escalation to harder drugs from, 14, 109; extraction of active ingredient from, 109, 110; increased potency of, under prohibition, 89, 90, 98–99, 106–8, 108 (fig.), 109, 110, 145; recreational use of, 65, 66, 105; regulation of markets in, 40; spread of use of, 67; substitutes for, 108–9; taxation of, 148
marijuana (cannabis), prohibition of, 3, 5, 28n.l6, 149; association of, with crime and corruption, 125, 126, 136; costs of, 105–6, 106 (fig.); effect of, as tax, 99; enactment of, 65, 66, 105; enforcement as determinant of potency under, 106–8, 108 (fig.); laxity of, 124; motivations for, 111; origins of, 40, 65–68, 69; risk of capture under, 98–99; statutory definitions of, 96, 110
Marijuana Tax Act (1937), 65, 66, 105
“The Market for Heroin
before and after Legalization” (Michaels), 71
markets: alteration of products in, 78, 89; for crime, 116; discovery in, 79–83, 140–42, 143, 150; effects of interventionism on, 79; free, as alternative to prohibition, 149–53; free, extension to nondrug economy, 151–53; in illegal heroin, 30–34, 117–20, 118 (figs.), 119 (fig.), 148; industry standards in, 89; process analysis of, 77–78; regulation of, 40, 41–43, 51, 54–55, 69, 121–22, 140, 149; replacement of, with bureaucracy, 80–82, 141; solution of social problems through, 77, 83, 84, 150. See also black markets
Marx, Karl, 86
Marxism: approach to heroin addiction, 3 In; theory of crime, 115, 120–21, 122, 123
Massachusetts, alcohol regulation in, 121–22, 126
Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance, 43
Mather, Cotton, 43
Mather, Increase, 43
Mayo, Charles H., 52n
medicine, organized: compromise on narcotics control legislation, 63–64; dispensing of drugs by physicians, 57, 62, 63, 64; healing practices, 57; monopoly status, 4, 64, 69; support for prohibition, 52n, 53n, 56–57, 59–60, 61–62, 69
methadone, maintenance of heroin addicts on, 33, 34n, 147
The Methodology of Economics (Blaug), 9
Metropolitan Police Act (1829), 114
“Mexican hypothesis” of marijuana prohibition, 66, 67–68
Mexicans, bigotry of prohibitionists against, 66, 140
Mexico, 112, 136n
Miami, Florida, 109n.9
Michaels, Robert J., 36–37, 71
Mills, James, 135
minimum-purchase restrictions, 46&n, 121–22, 126
Mises, Ludwig von, 6, 77, 81, 85, 111; on corruption, 127; on economic analysis of public policy, 73; on limitation of prohibition, 86–87
“misuse” of product, legalization as solution to, 3. See also drug abuse
Mitchell, Wesley C., 27n.14
“modern microeconomic synthesis,” 78
money, facilitation of exchange by, 77
Monkkonen, Eric H., 122, 124
monopoly: in alcohol market, 41–42, 43; behavior of bureaucracies as, 80–81; corrupted police as supporters of, 137–38; in medical and drug industries, 4, 64, 69
“moonshot,” 90
Moore, Mark H., 31–34, 130, 132, 135, 148
morality: as consequence of prohibition, 16; and economic questions, 12n.4; of enforcement, 137
More, Thomas, 113
Morgan, H. Wayne, 33n, 58
Morocco, 136n
morphine, 89, 109n.10; control of, in medicinal compounds, 63–64; discovery of, 57; prohibition of, 61, 86