P/E/182. Economic implications of illicit drug taking in the UK

The paper examines the problem of the illicit drug taking and its effects on the UK economy. An overview of the drug market shows that it behaves in the same way as any other market; scarcity of data, however, is underlined. The author argues that drug abuse leads to higher crime rate and loss of productivity. These in their turn lead to greater costs of policing and medical treatment. The paper comes to a highly questionable conclusion that increased capital investments in the security industry and health service have their economic advantages providing a large number of individuals with jobs.