Drugs cause gun violence? I know, let’s have another useless discussion!

M. Simon forwarded me an email containing the following remarks from Richard Feldman, President of the Independent Firearm Owners Association (IFoA):

“We know that 35% to 45% or more of gun-violence is directly related to the black market in drug trafficking. Now is the time to open an adult discussion on this vital and inextricably interrelated topic,” said Feldman. “Two weeks ago I posed that question to Vice President Biden and he agreed.”

Our history clearly identifies the correlation of Prohibition and the rise of violent crime followed by a dramatic decrease in firearm violence once alcohol was again legally available and regulated.

Except rational policy changes will not occur as a result of such discussions. Inevitably, government types and public policy wonks simply conclude that more laws are needed, because current laws “aren’t working.”

To me that is a logical fallacy. To them it is simple logic. Which means all arguments are a complete waste of time. (Still, at least this gave me something to put in a blog post.)

The biggest problem with our rulers is that — Hillary Clinton’s hilarious accidental remark notwithstanding — they are blind to the reality that this is all about a high profit margin caused directly criminalizing supply.

Artificially high prices on addictive substances guarantees violent criminals will be willing to take huge risks.

A classic example I stumbled onto recently involved out-of-control oxycodone-related crime in Cape Cod, where elderly people and pain patients are being terrorized by criminal addicts.

Ms. Duda’s home has been the target of eight attempted or successful break-ins this year, terrifying her and frustrating the police, who have spent nights stationed outside her gray house here, trying to catch the men. Ms. Duda, a retired nurse who takes painkillers for a number of ailments, including a spinal fusion and a hiatal hernia, left Cape Cod to stay with her son for the summer.

“She doesn’t even feel safe anymore,” said Dan Duda, the son.

Cape Cod may be a summer playground known for its pristine beaches, shingled homes and laid-back way of life. But unbeknownst to most tourists, parts of it are plagued by drug abuse that the police say has led to a jump in property crime.

Thieves have smashed the windows of dozens of cars parked at the beach, grabbing GPS devices and iPods. Flat-screen televisions have been taken from isolated summer homes. Purses snatched out of the sand have been found in the woods, missing only cash. And while not all of the thefts can be linked to drug abuse, the police say many of those arrested for the crimes admit they wanted money for pills.

Bear in mind the HUGE differential between the actual value of the pills (which is the price Ms. Duda paid at the pharmacy) and the street value.

The above story is from 2011, but the predictable response to these things is always the same.

We need to CRACK DOWN on pain meds.

That’s right. Make them harder to get. This will drive up the price, make the criminals more violent, cause more and more addicts to turn to heroin (which of course is cheaper per dose than black market oxycodone) and make it more likely that people like Ms. Duda are slaughtered in their homes for their pain meds. (These crimes, too, will be blamed on the pain meds themselves, and fuel further crackdowns.)

There is no way to have a rational argument with people who refuse to look at simple economic reality.

But hey, I have been insanely busy, and at least it provides material for a down and dirty blog post.


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12 responses to “Drugs cause gun violence? I know, let’s have another useless discussion!”

  1. […] Drugs cause gun violence? I know, let's have another useless discussion! […]

  2. Bob Thompson Avatar
    Bob Thompson

    Eric, can you visualize the drastic reduction in the size of the bureaucracy if we decriminalize drugs and possibly do some substantive tax reform? Washington can’t allow that.

  3. Kathy Kinsley Avatar
    Kathy Kinsley

    “Drugs cause gun violence?” Perhaps they missed a word? That word being “illegal”?
    Haven’t ever heard of any legal and freely available drug causing violence.

    Ever.

  4. Kathy Kinsley Avatar
    Kathy Kinsley

    And, yes, that includes pain meds.

  5. Will Avatar
    Will

    “Thieves have smashed the windows of dozens of cars parked at the beach, grabbing GPS devices and iPods. Flat-screen televisions have been taken from isolated summer homes.”

    Window, doors, and automotive repairs, sales to replace stolen goods, Burglar bars, security systems, guns, ammo, Insurance, lawyers, Police … etc. etc… and some people think government isn’t doing anything about jobs.

  6. Neil Avatar
    Neil

    “and some people think government isn’t doing anything about jobs.”

    Bastiat FTW!

  7. Will Avatar
    Will

    FTW? Sorry Neil, you forgot to phrase your answer in the form of a question, but we are still in Jeopardy, and an eventual win is not impossible.

  8. AL B Avatar
    AL B

    I agree with the libertarian position on drugs – the question I never see discussed is who pays ?

    Some percentage of users will throw their lives away – who will pay for welfare , medical expenses for these people.

    ultimately, the libertarian position boils down to individual responsibility more so than individual freedom.

  9. Simon Avatar

    Al B,

    Well the first question should be – will it lower costs? Can we at least start out by paying less?

    You start out with the utopian question. Which is a plan for no action. i.e. keeping the current level of funding.

    Eric,

    Thanks!

  10. Kathy Kinsley Avatar
    Kathy Kinsley

    @Al – the libertarian answer to that is “no way, you pay your own way.”

    Which I don’t always agree with. Except that in this situation, and alcohol, tobacco and other individual choices, I agree completely.

    Where I don’t agree is with things the individual had no choice about. Being born with some defect, etc. Though parents perhaps have a duty there. A friend once told me of a couple with 5 Down’s syndrome children. ALL of their children. And she told me they were going to have more. But my (and society’s) question is why should the children die because the parents are idiots who won’t use birth control? I really don’t know the answer to that one.

    But smokers (and I am one) and drunks and druggies? Yeah. We know the penalties, and we do it anyway. And we should pay the price.

  11. Will Avatar
    Will

    Pay your own way or beg for help from family, friends, and/or charities. This is a giving and caring nation and Government administered charities and wealth redistribution are a huge mistake. Unfortunately even large private charities often become a business model where cash flow matters much more than effective programs, actions, and use of funds.

  12. […] it to the party with cold blue steel and sweet fire, he’ll happily, or perhaps anxiously, kick down your door, or mine, in search of Schedule II-level release: [T]he predictable response to these things is always the […]