Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

British Columbia Should Legalize, Not Recriminalize, Drugs

by June 18, 2024
June 18, 2024
British Columbia Should Legalize, Not Recriminalize, Drugs

Jeffrey Miron and Jacob Winter

In January 2023, British Columbia decriminalized possession of small amounts of some drugs. Last month, the province recriminalized possession in public spaces. This is a mistake.

An upcoming election has motivated politicians to blame decriminalization for rising public drug use. But it’s not clear public use has risen; data are scare, and police officials have said conflicting things about public use trends. Moreover, the death rate so far this year is down relative to the previous three years.

Reversing decriminalization is a mistake partly because authorities are not giving the policy enough time to produce the data necessary for its evaluation. Canada began drug prohibition over 100 years ago, and it’s clearly not working. Opioid overdoses have claimed more than 42,500 lives in Canada since 2016. Now, less than a year and a half into decriminalization, authorities are abandoning it.

We agree that decriminalization is not the ideal policy—because it doesn’t go far enough.

In 2022, we wrote about Oregon’s decriminalization policy, which the state unfortunately rolled back in April. Like Oregon, British Columbia decriminalized the possession of drugs without legalizing supply. As we pointed out with Oregon:

This means most standard harms from underground markets are likely to remain.

Prohibition encourages violence because illicit suppliers cannot use the legal and judicial systems to resolve disputes.

Prohibition also incentivizes high potency products because traffickers can more easily conceal these from law enforcement. Most consumers cannot easily assess potency because reliable suppliers cannot legally advertise, and consumers cannot sue over faulty or mislabeled products. So accidental overdoses from high potency drugs, especially those laced with fentanyl, are common under prohibition.

The Canadian government seems to recognize that prohibition makes the drug supply far more dangerous. It funds “safer supply” services throughout the country where doctors prescribe “medications as a safer alternative to the toxic illegal drug supply to people who are at high risk of overdose.”

This initiative has the right idea but misses the mark. Canada should make its entire drug supply safer by legalizing the manufacture, distribution, sale, and use of drugs.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Generative AI Set to Disrupt Jobs and Widen Inequality, IMF Warns
next post
Overriding the Governor’s Veto, Vermont Lawmakers Expand Access to Overdose Prevention Centers

You may also like

Crypto Clarity Is Up to Congress: Taking Stock...

July 19, 2023

When Hayek Came to Cato

December 1, 2023

It Is Time for the Fed to Cut...

July 15, 2024

Governors Running for President

July 20, 2023

The White House Addresses Tranq While Lawmakers Fight...

July 11, 2023

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Conditions for Allowing Elections

August 30, 2023

Arbitrary Redistribution

June 20, 2023

Javier Milei and the Legitimacy of Libertarian Policy

March 27, 2025

Decriminalization vs. Legalization

February 13, 2024

State Department’s Human Rights Reports and Their Failures

April 20, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • National Wealth Fund commits £200m to UK battery storage push

      August 28, 2025
    • XRP price prediction hits new highs, GMO Miner helps you earn $6,800 a day

      August 28, 2025
    • West End retailers lose £310m from VAT-free shopping ban in first half of year

      August 28, 2025
    • Dollar slips as Trump moves to sack Fed governor Lisa Cook in unprecedented clash over central bank independence

      August 28, 2025
    • CDC Director Susan Monarez refuses to be fired as other officials call it quits

      August 28, 2025
    • Bill Gates met with Trump to talk ‘importance of US global health programs and health research’: spox

      August 28, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,901)
    • Investing (2,246)
    • Politics (16,503)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved