Use economics to compare three ways to reduce the demand for heroin: (i) the substitution of another, less dangerous, and less debilitating drug, such as methadone for heroin, to registered addicts; (ii) the free availability of the illegal substance to registered addicts; and (iii) a legal proscription on use, which is the current policy.
If expenditures on preventing crime equal $200 billion and the costs of crime to victims equal at least $300 billion, could the United States save $500 billion by abandoning all efforts to prevent crime?