Lets Rethink Policy-Making: Illegal Drugs – Who’s Been Getting Rich. Let’s Rethink Policy-Making: The Filthy Lucre. What happens when the public cost of managing illegal drugs is larger than the market itself? Looking at England & Wales data, we explore why drug use persists, how costs accumulate across health, crime and social services, and why pretending demand can be driven to zero may be one of the most expensive policy assumptions we make.

We spend roughly £20bn a year dealing with the consequences of illegal drugs in England & Wales — while the market itself is worth around £10bn.

This isn’t a moral argument. It’s an accounting one.

🧵 The Filthy Lucre

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