News story after news story highlights U.S. efforts to curtail the inflow of illegal addictive drugs into the country and to dismantle or destroy cartels and other suppliers. In the world of economics, these aggressive policies will cause reduced earnings for suppliers and price increases for users but will not eliminate the underlying demand that propels the entire system.
That leaves open the question of what constitutes the demand side of the equation and what can be done to significantly reduce the numbers of individual Americans who need the stuff or are otherwise willing to pay for it.
It would be helpful for a bigger picture of the elements of the complex market in Utah and elsewhere to be provided. Curtailment of active opioid marketing and stricter law enforcement have had positive effects but there is much more to the users’ end of story than that.
Clayton Parr, Draper
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