sive and successful drug rehabilitation program that eliminate the need for people to financially support a recreational drug habit; (3) all or most recreational drug users in a legalized environment will be able to obtain and hold legitimate employment positions that will enable them to financially support their recreational drug habits without resorting to criminal acts; or (4) the price of recreational drugs other than alcohol and tobacco will fall to such a great extent that financially supporting a recreational drug habit will become no more onerous a task than financing a cigarette smoking habit. The first assumption, of course, is completely unrealistic. Drug rehabilitation, the second of the above assumptions, has not proved to be wildly successful. The third and fourth of the above assumptions, however, deserve more consideration.
People in contemporary society, if properly qualified and, if, a big if in this case, they are functional, can obtain and maintain acceptable employment positions. Many people in American society who use recreational drugs other than alcohol and tobacco are functional. These people, who represent a substantial proportion of the adult recreational drug users in the United States, already hold acceptable employment positions and, thus, do not engage in criminal behavior to support their recreational drug habits. Those recreational drug users who are not functional, however, are not suddenly going to become functional simply because recreational drugs other than alcohol and tobacco are legalized. These non-functional recreational drug users will continue to require a source of funds to support their recreational drug habits in a post-legalization environment. Thus, they may be expected to continue to engage in criminal behaviors to fund their recreational drug habits in a post-legalization environment.
The assumption that prices for recreational drugs will fall in a post-legalization enviro...