In Canada, a lot of money is spent every year on enforcing drug laws. According to one study, the country spends around $2.3 billion annually on enforcement -- with this cost spread out between corrections facilities, courts, police departments, and the like -- and another $1.1 billion annually in health care costs.
According to that study, it would be better from a financial standpoint to instead spend the money on treatment. A few key points include the following:
-- A single dollar that is spent treating those who use cocaine can reduce the movement of the illegal drug as much as $10.8 spent on various legal activities relating to border patrol.
-- A single dollar that goes toward treatment can also limit cocaine flow as much as spending around $7.3 on drug enforcement.
-- A lone dollar that is spent on treatment can do the same work in regards to the reduction of the cocaine trade as spending an entire $23 trying to get farmers in Colombia to pick other crops.
The idea here is that money is being poured into the wrong areas, when it should be spent more often on treatment. Experts claim that drugs laws are not actually all that effective anyway, so working so hard to enforce them does very little. They say that reducing the demand for the drug is far more important than trying to limit how much of it enters the country.
In some instances, those accused of drug use will be given other options besides jail time, and they could include treatment and rehab. It's important to know how this process works when facing charges in Ontario.
Source: Drug Policy, "Economic Fact Sheet," accessed Aug. 04, 2016
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