fagin@ucbvax.ARPA (Barry Steven Fagin) (03/21/85)
According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the typical heroin addict's dose is between 40 and 50 mg per day, at a cost of around $100. ($100/day = a LOT of crime!) Of course, this price varies widely from city to city, but it's a good starting point. To get an idea of what the cost might be if the free market had a chance to operate, consider the price of morphine. Morphine is tightly controlled but legal in the US for medical purposes, and costs abut 15c per 30 mg tablet. Morphine is between 1/2 and 1/3 as effective as heroin, depending on the person,so in the worst case a 45 mg/day heroin habit could be maintained on 135 mg/day of morphine at a cost of 68c. Let's allow for a 100% pharmacist markup (generous, it seems to me), and add 15c for the purchase of a disposable syringe (assume that's legal too), and we get a total cost of $1.50/day. How many people steal to support a 2-pack a day cigarette habit? How many people think the free market operates in heroin distribution? How many people think it should? --Barry -- Barry Fagin @ University of California, Berkeley
rdz@ccice5.UUCP (Robert D. Zarcone) (03/25/85)
> > To get an idea of what the cost might be if the free market had a chance > to operate, consider the price of morphine. Morphine is tightly controlled > but legal in the US for medical purposes, and costs abut 15c per 30 mg tablet. > Morphine is between 1/2 and 1/3 as effective as heroin, depending on the person,so in the worst case a 45 mg/day heroin habit could be maintained on 135 > mg/day of morphine at a cost of 68c. Let's allow for a 100% pharmacist markup > (generous, it seems to me), and add 15c for the purchase of a disposable > syringe (assume that's legal too), and we get a total cost of $1.50/day. My argument for the high price of drugs has been based on a supply side issue. I think that there can be high-priced items in a free market. Granted, entry into that market by many firms will probably exert downward pressure on prices. But I don't think we can ignore that these prices will still be influenced by supply of raw materials. > > How many people steal to support a 2-pack a day cigarette habit? How > many people think the free market operates in heroin distribution? How > many people think it should? > > --Barry 1. Not me, but maybe some of the poor and youth. 2. Me (and it looks like I'm alone on this net!). 3. Undecided. *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***