The Factors of Production in Retail Drug-Dealing

Abstract

Drug control efforts are conventionally divided into supply-side (enforcement) and demand-side (preventive education and treatment) policies. The economic concept of factors of production can help illuminate the conditions that support drug consumption and distribution. The factors necessary for drug markets are a common venue; the buyers' access to the venue, desire for drugs, income, and perceived chance of impunity; and the sellers' labor, operating scope within the venue, supply of drugs, ways to spend or save money earned, and perceived chance of impunity. The optimal strategy for any situation will concentrate on those factors that can most readily be made scarce relative to the others.