Huge Drug Bust in PA - Why $20 Million of Cocaine is Just Chicken Feed

This article by the Associated Press is typical of the headlines that the War on Drugs filters through the media and into the mass consciousness. $20 million worth of cocaine discovered in a routine traffic stop. Sounds like a lot, right? More interesting to me are some of the behind-the-scenes statistics and policies involved. For example, why is 200 pounds of cocaine worth $20 million? As a product, cocaine isn't much harder to grow than coffee. They thrive in similar climates and, in fact, they're both drugs. I'm not trying to trivialize the negative effects of cocaine, or to imply that cocaine should replace coffee as one of the world's morning rituals. Rather, I am attempting to point out what should be obvious: what we term as a "drug" is largely arbitrary. The definition of a drug tends to be vague, along the lines of this entry from Webster's dictionary: a substance other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body. It could be argued that this definition is broad enough to encompass high fructose corn syrup, or even vitamins and minerals. Which "drugs" are labeled as illegal is arbitrary as well. Prescription drugs are good, (arbitrarily labeled) "illegal" drugs are bad. Well, ask Rush Limbaugh if that distinction is an accurate one.

Alcohol is largely socially accepted, and it is one of the most dangerous substances we encounter. The impracticality of outlawing alcohol became all too evident during prohibition. The impracticality of outlawing other drugs has been made all too evident in the years since. The simple supply and demand relationship means that when you outlaw cocaine, you make it both extremely expensive, and extremely profitable to those willing to risk breaking the law. If it were not illegal, perhaps the price of cocaine would be on par with really good coffee: about $9 per pound rather than $1000. The temptation to grow and traffic in a product that is this profitable per acre, per pound, and per truckload is overwhelming. This leads to more farmers in Columbia devoting more of their efforts and their lands to this cashcrop, more smugglers, more dealers, and of course any time there is this kind of money to be made in an illegal fashion, more violence.

The United States spends approximately $20 billion on the war on drugs. That's only part of the story. We also need to take into account that 25% of new inmates are imprisoned on drug-related charges. This is an incredible amount of time, resources, and money devoted to "fighting drugs". The net result is that the policies make drug trafficking more profitable and more appealing, creating an endless cycle. So, while the headline announcing the removal of $20 million from the streets may grab the reader's attention, we need to consider the bigger picture. The War on Drugs is, and always has been, a desperate cause. The War is lost.