An economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case

<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This paper reviews how...

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Autor principal: Martijn A. Boermans
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Amsterdam Law Forum 2010
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Law
K
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/a422798879d847a4a484045d2a5ae679
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:a422798879d847a4a484045d2a5ae6792021-12-02T00:28:05ZAn economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case1876-8156https://doaj.org/article/a422798879d847a4a484045d2a5ae6792010-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://ojs.ubvu.vu.nl/alf/article/view/158https://doaj.org/toc/1876-8156<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This paper reviews how economic modelling provides a deeper understanding of drug markets. The exercise focuses on ‘soft drugs’ (cannabinoids) in the Netherlands and outlines the effects of prohibition and legalisation. The purpose is to present an overview of analytical tools to non-economists. Based on a basic supply and demand framework the impact of enforcement, externalities, producer incentives and demand elasticity are highlighted. Results indicate that social welfare is maximized under legalisation given limited externalities associated with consumption and price inelastic demand. We recommend a liberalized soft drugs market that requires <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inter alia</em> taxation, complemented with various health measures like quality controls and public campaigns. The Dutch case is exemplary, as this economic perspective offers universal building blocks relevant to the legalisation debate in other countries, and potentially to other substances.</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Martijn A. BoermansAmsterdam Law ForumarticleLawKENAmsterdam Law Forum, Vol 2, Iss 4 (2010)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Law
K
spellingShingle Law
K
Martijn A. Boermans
An economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case
description <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This paper reviews how economic modelling provides a deeper understanding of drug markets. The exercise focuses on ‘soft drugs’ (cannabinoids) in the Netherlands and outlines the effects of prohibition and legalisation. The purpose is to present an overview of analytical tools to non-economists. Based on a basic supply and demand framework the impact of enforcement, externalities, producer incentives and demand elasticity are highlighted. Results indicate that social welfare is maximized under legalisation given limited externalities associated with consumption and price inelastic demand. We recommend a liberalized soft drugs market that requires <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inter alia</em> taxation, complemented with various health measures like quality controls and public campaigns. The Dutch case is exemplary, as this economic perspective offers universal building blocks relevant to the legalisation debate in other countries, and potentially to other substances.</span></p> <!--EndFragment-->
format article
author Martijn A. Boermans
author_facet Martijn A. Boermans
author_sort Martijn A. Boermans
title An economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case
title_short An economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case
title_full An economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case
title_fullStr An economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case
title_full_unstemmed An economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the Dutch case
title_sort economic perspective on the legalisation debate: the dutch case
publisher Amsterdam Law Forum
publishDate 2010
url https://doaj.org/article/a422798879d847a4a484045d2a5ae679
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