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Just to get a feel for things: Healthcare spending (2015) £3.2tn vs War on drugs spending (2015) $51bn So maybe if all that spending went to healthcare it m

Just to get a feel for things: Healthcare spending (2015) £3.2tn vs War on drugs spending (2015) $51bn So maybe if all that spending went to healthcare it might be enough to care for people harming themselves. It won't go to health of course if it were to become available...

pavlov 10y ago
Does that "war on drugs spending" number include any of the US prison industry? The United States spends a lot of money on keeping its citizens locked up for drug offences. If that money were redirected to healthcare, it could make a difference.
- nickff 10y ago
  The US Federal Government spends about 8.5 billion dollars on prisons (which are all government-owned as far as I know), and about half of prisoners are there on drug-related offences, though many of those have committed other offences as well. A much smaller percentage of state prisoners are there on drug offences (somewhere on the order of 10%), but many states have private prisons. I am not sure that this amount of money would be a meaningful contribution to healthcare. Please also remember that some of the strongest advocates for greater incarceration rates are the prison staff unions, which have very strong lobbying groups, and are much larger than any of the private prison corporations. The unions can monopolize the state supply of jailers, whereas the prison companies cannot.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > The US Federal Government spends about 8.5 billion dollars on prisons (which are all government-owned as far as I know), They are not; the justice department only just announced that it would begin phasing out the use of private prisons.
    - Jarwain 10y ago
      Roughly 6% of state prisoners are in private prisons, and 16% of federal prisoners. All in all, private prisons are a minority compared to public. Phasing out the use of private prisons is a step in the right direction, but the private companies that service prisons hemorrhage money. https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization-criminal-justice/private-prisons https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization...
soperj 10y ago
That kind of blows my mind that the US spends that much on health care. Canada spends 217 billion, which is far less per capita, but no one has to worry about paying to see a doctor, or that getting sick will ruin them financially.
- andy_ppp 10y ago
  It's almost as if neoliberalism is a lie made up to benefit the further enrichment of the elite...
  - leesalminen 10y ago
    No, that can't be ;)
  - undersuit 10y ago
    The proletariat? How's that working out for them?
maxxxxx 10y ago
The overall cost of the war on drugs spending is much higher, I believe. Prisons, people who grow up in crime-ridden neighborhoods and never get a real education, broken families and so on. The societal cost is much higher.
yomly 10y ago
Not to mention the tax revenue that would also be raised by legalised drug spending or the reduced costs of maintaining prisons or the economic uplift / value creation of having people back in society working and spending rather than being locked up in jail and, more importantly, a self-perpetuating spiral of social immobility

pavlov 10y ago

Does that "war on drugs spending" number include any of the US prison industry? The United States spends a lot of money on keeping its citizens locked up for drug offences. If that money were redirected to healthcare, it could make a difference.

nickff 10y ago
The US Federal Government spends about 8.5 billion dollars on prisons (which are all government-owned as far as I know), and about half of prisoners are there on drug-related offences, though many of those have committed other offences as well. A much smaller percentage of state prisoners are there on drug offences (somewhere on the order of 10%), but many states have private prisons. I am not sure that this amount of money would be a meaningful contribution to healthcare. Please also remember that some of the strongest advocates for greater incarceration rates are the prison staff unions, which have very strong lobbying groups, and are much larger than any of the private prison corporations. The unions can monopolize the state supply of jailers, whereas the prison companies cannot.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > The US Federal Government spends about 8.5 billion dollars on prisons (which are all government-owned as far as I know), They are not; the justice department only just announced that it would begin phasing out the use of private prisons.
  - Jarwain 10y ago
    Roughly 6% of state prisoners are in private prisons, and 16% of federal prisoners. All in all, private prisons are a minority compared to public. Phasing out the use of private prisons is a step in the right direction, but the private companies that service prisons hemorrhage money. https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization-criminal-justice/private-prisons https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization...

soperj 10y ago

That kind of blows my mind that the US spends that much on health care. Canada spends 217 billion, which is far less per capita, but no one has to worry about paying to see a doctor, or that getting sick will ruin them financially.

andy_ppp 10y ago
It's almost as if neoliberalism is a lie made up to benefit the further enrichment of the elite...
- leesalminen 10y ago
  No, that can't be ;)
- undersuit 10y ago
  The proletariat? How's that working out for them?

maxxxxx 10y ago

The overall cost of the war on drugs spending is much higher, I believe. Prisons, people who grow up in crime-ridden neighborhoods and never get a real education, broken families and so on. The societal cost is much higher.

yomly 10y ago

Not to mention the tax revenue that would also be raised by legalised drug spending or the reduced costs of maintaining prisons or the economic uplift / value creation of having people back in society working and spending rather than being locked up in jail and, more importantly, a self-perpetuating spiral of social immobility