consumption as much as $7 worthof l

consumption as much as $7 worth
of law enforcement does. Treatment can lower the volume of drugs consumed;
the less consumption, the fewer drug-related crimes.
There is also a case for insisting on prison for violent first-time offenders and
tougher treatment for violent juveniles. A study by the National Bureau of Economic
Research found that the cost of locking up a violent criminal was much
less than the cost of the mayhem he would probably have committed.
And there is also a case for developing forms of punishment that stop short of
prison. Technical parole or probation violations, such as being caught drinking
or in the wrong district, are the most common reasons why people go to prison.
That can be an overly harsh—and hugely expensive—punishment for people
considered nonthreatening enough to be on the streets.
It is not just criminals who are paying an exaggerated price for America’s addiction
to incarceration. The criminal minority, in effect, consumes an increasingly
disproportionate share of the public purse. From 1986 to 2001, state prison
expenditures increased 150%, from $11.7 billion to $29.5 billion (BJS 2005).
State spending on prisons has increased more than sixfold in real terms since
1979, using money that could have been spent on education, parks, and hospitals.
Getting tough on crime is punishing not just the bad guys, but law-abiding
citizens as well.
Questions
What is the crime problem? What is the drug problem?
What tools are useful in reaching your definition?
How do different definitions lead to different policy recommendations?