Approches économiques positives et normatives de la législation sur les drogues

Sophie Massin

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Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the issue of drug legislation from two traditional perspectives in economics: a normative perspective that seeks to determine "what ought to be" (i.e. the optimal legal regime) and a positive perspective that seeks to explain "what is" (i.e. the existing legal regime). Our analysis shows that from a normative perspective uncertainty dominates since it is very difficult to predict the effects of any reform. Nevertheless, experiences of drug use decriminalization provide positive evaluations. Furthermore, the concentration of the costs of prohibition on the poorest could be an argument in favor of legalization, in the name of social justice. At the same time, from a positive perspective, the low political weight of this group of citizens could partly explain the difficulty in implementing legalization. We conclude with some considerations about the current French situation, underlying the need to clarify the possible reform options as a prerequisite for conducting a constructive debate.

Keywords: drug; law; reform; cost; benefit; cannabis; economics; inequalities; decriminalization; legalization; drogue; loi; réforme; coût; bénéfice; écono- mie; inégalités; dépénalisation; légalisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Published in Psychotropes, 2013, ⟨10.3917/psyt.191.0049⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01241602

DOI: 10.3917/psyt.191.0049

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