# Cost of Street Drugs if They Were Legal **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760 "2009-06-23T21:12:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/1 "2009-06-23T21:12:58Z")
Let’s say, hypothetically, that all street drugs are legalized. Any addict can walk into a clinic and get some, no questions asked. The clinics would have to buy the stuff from drug companies, just like pharmacies buy their (legal) drugs from drug companies. What would be the cost, to the consumer, if street drugs (pot, heroin, cociane, crack, meth, whatever else you want to discuss) were produced in mass quantities and sold as retail goods on the open market? My guesses: Pot - extremely cheap, in light of the fact that anybody can grow it in their back yard with little agricultural skill. My guess would be less than $1 for a 20-pack of joints. Heroin - also extremely cheap. Aren’t all opiates (Percocet, Vicodin, etc.) and their relatives (isn’t heroin an opiate?) derived from synthetic chemicals that are hideously cheap to manufacture? ISTR reading that here on the Dope. Cocaine - Here I’m not so sure. I think coca leaves are pretty ubiquitous in Central America and easy to grow, and the process of turning them to cocaine probably isn’t too complicated, but on this point I profess extreme ignorance. Crack - Again, no clue. Isn’t crack basically just cocaine mixed with baking soda and put through a chemical process? Meth - Probably relatively expensive, but that’s a guess. Meth’s basic building blocks (AFAIK) are pseudeophedrine (expensive to the consumer, but I don’t know how much of that is markup), anhydrous ammonia (never been in a position to buy it, so no clue how expensive it is), and I believe lithium batteries (pretty expensive) also play a role. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/2 "2009-06-23T21:24:03Z")
Well, we can be sure that Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. run a far more efficient delivery system than the current street drug delivery & purchase system. So at least that part of the cost should be significantly reduced. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/3 "2009-06-23T21:41:10Z")
While its not the exact scenerio you are asking about, but in the Netherlands, where marijuana is sold openly (I think it is technically “decriminalized”) its not nearly as cheap as what you are envisioning; I know that it would become less expensive, but not to the dramatic extent of a dollar for a 20 pack of reefers… ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/4 "2009-06-23T21:47:31Z")
Should marijuana be cheaper to produce than tobacco? ---
**Author:** ![AZCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@AZCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZCowboy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/5 "2009-06-23T21:49:08Z")
Cost or price? Go to your nearest convenience store and compare the price of bottled drinking water to the price of gasoline. Then consider the costs. While it is easy to grow hemp, it isn’t as easy to grow high quality pot. And there is plenty of room for variations. So while I really don’t know, I would also be suspect of anyone who believes they could predict the market price with any accuracy. Who could have predicted that people would pay $1.49 for 12oz of bottled water, when they could get essentially the same product for free from the tap next to the gas pump (or, these days, next to the coin op air compressor)? ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/6 "2009-06-23T21:58:28Z")
I cant imagine they would be cheaper. One dollar for a pack of marijuanna cigarettes? In reality, the drug trade is subsidized by desperate people looking for quick money. Farmers dont get fair value for their crops, in fact Im sure there’s a lot of thuggery involved there as both are doing something illegal. The people transporting the drugs take huge risks for little money and the street sellers get a very small part of the profit. Imagine giving all these people living wages and fair market value for their labor. Imagine 401Ks, health plans, salesmen, taxes, lobbying, safety regulations, etc etc. Think about competition. You wont be the only guy selling joints so now you have to worry about marketing and advertising. Essentially, youve become the cigarette business. Cigarettes, even with taxes removed, are still no where near as cheap as you suggest illegal drugs will be. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/7 "2009-06-23T21:58:43Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > Should marijuana be cheaper to produce than tobacco? Yes, theoretically. Hemp plants will grow successfully over a much larger geographical range than tobacco plants. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/8 "2009-06-23T22:03:51Z")
According to the article below you pretty much guessed the untaxed price of marijuana perfectly, but in reality you’re thinking way too low because of tax. In Amsterdam the price of a gram of marijuana is about $10-30 depending on quality, so if you were paying $10 a gram for the weed and putting 0.5g in each joint, you end up paying a lot more than $1 for a pack of 20 joints. This article says that in Oakland, where marijuana is legal for specific medical purposes, it’s only taxed at 9.5%, but that if it were legalized for recreational use the “sin taxes” would probably end up stonkingly high: > [@](#): > > [http://cannabisnews.com/news/24/thread24863.shtml](http://cannabisnews.com/news/24/thread24863.shtml) > Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard economist and proponent of broad drug decriminalization, suggests that we look to alcohol and cigarette taxes as a model for a potential cannabis tax. Even with so-called “sin taxes” of up to 90 percent of the total price, illegal markets, once widespread, account for a tiny fraction of total sales. Miron warns that initial marijuana taxes at such a level “would just be a total mess” due to the expansiveness of the black market and ease of growing marijuana at home. Instead he recommends starting with a low tax—perhaps at 25 percent of the total price—and then gradually increasing it. > > Of course, these relative numbers beg the question: What will the initial, untaxed price be? According to Lee, marijuana averages about $300 per ounce in the Bay Area (and the bill currently under consideration in the slate Legislature would tax pot at $50 per ounce—far higher than Oakland’s dispensaries are paying now). A few reform advocates have tried to crunch the numbers. Dale Gieringer, who coordinates NORML’s California branch, estimated in 1994 that free-market, untaxed pot would cost just 5 cents to 10 cents per joint, a potency-constant measure. Even adjusted for inflation, that’s still at least 100 times cheaper than today’s marijuana prices, according to Gieringer. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/9 "2009-06-23T22:04:52Z")
These things wouldn’t be sold purely based on how easy they are to manufacture though, would they? There would be a huge demand for completely legal and potent marijuana. Even if supply could keep up with demand, the clinics/pharmacies could still charge most anything they wanted and would sell insane amounts. I don’t see marijuana being as cheap as outlined in the OP. The other stuff might go for cheap just to help curb whatever would be left of the underground market for the drugs, not because of their ease of production. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/10 "2009-06-23T22:19:48Z")
I would be very surprised if pot were any cheaper than tobacco. Remember, the cost is not so much about growing the stuff as it is paying for wages, factories, advertising and transportation. And you can bet it would be taxed at least as heavily as cigarettes. Heroin shouldn’t be much more expensive than morphine or other opiates. Here’s something with actual numbers: [http://molpharm.wisc.edu/wcpi/prof/focus/opioid.htm](http://molpharm.wisc.edu/wcpi/prof/focus/opioid.htm) Note: uses 1994 price data. Cocaine is not easy to make and there are many steps involved. The common methods of making cocaine would not meet US safety standards (for either the product or the workers). So… I don’t know how to arrive at a legal price there. It might be easier to pretend cocaine is like morphine and use some of the ranges in the previous link. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/11 "2009-06-23T23:17:40Z")
I disagree with some of the assumptions in this thread. **HeyHomie** , the OP, > [@HeyHomie](#): > > … > My guesses: > > Pot - extremely cheap, in light of the fact that anybody can grow it in their back yard with little agricultural skill. My guess would be less than $1 for a 20-pack of joints. > > Heroin - also extremely cheap. Aren’t all opiates (Percocet, Vicodin, etc.) and their relatives (isn’t heroin an opiate?) derived from synthetic chemicals that are hideously cheap to manufacture? ISTR reading that here on the Dope. > > Cocaine - Here I’m not so sure. I think coca leaves are pretty ubiquitous in Central America and easy to grow, and the process of turning them to cocaine probably isn’t too complicated, but on this point I profess extreme ignorance. > > Crack - Again, no clue. Isn’t crack basically just cocaine mixed with baking soda and put through a chemical process? > > Meth - Probably relatively expensive, but that’s a guess. Meth’s basic building blocks (AFAIK) are pseudeophedrine (expensive to the consumer, but I don’t know how much of that is markup), anhydrous ammonia (never been in a position to buy it, so no clue how expensive it is), and I believe lithium batteries (pretty expensive) also play a role. Pot- Once you plant the seeds, it’s nearly impossible not to grow pot. However, to grow it commercially, you have to figure product per acre. You’ll need pickers to reap the buds, and you’ll get maybe 3 rounds of buds per year. At end of season, you can bale the rest for cattle feed and/or fiber. Until John Deere makes a potpicker, it’s manual labor. I’m thinking comparable to organic veggies. Opium is cheap to grow, **if** you have very cheap labor. You don’t just press a bunch of poppy pods. Some parts of the flower are highly poisonous. Workers walk among the flowers slitting the pods to let them weep out their sticky pre-opium stuff, which is gathered and boiled down. From there it could be mechanized. Coca harvest is simpler. I gather it’s more like a press-and-process procedure, but I only have a thin, sketchy idea how it happens. Meth is a chemical process. The typical meth lab involve some extremely hazardous materials. If legal, though, it would probably revert back to the legal drug companies, who don’t have to resort to those insane home lab workarounds. **The FDA:** None of this legalization would happen without regulation. Opiates, methamphetamines, and cocaine are already regulated for quality and purity. Regulation would effectively take it out of the hands of organized crime, because they don’t bother with quality and purity. I really think all these drugs except pot would go right back to Lilly and SmithKline, who made them before they were illegal. Pot might, too, but I think it will go to an agricultural model. **Covered In Bees!** I’ll get back to you. I have to go cook supper. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/12 "2009-06-23T23:49:06Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > These things wouldn’t be sold purely based on how easy they are to manufacture though, would they? Excluding Taxes, yes. Thats the joy of a free market. Look at it like coffee. Sure we can make coffee at home, even grind our own beans for way less, but we still pay $5 for a big cup at starbucks. Those who can afford it will pay for it and those who want quality will pay for it. Everyone else will buy the lesser mass produced not so hot but does the job stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/13 "2009-06-23T23:53:05Z")
I think it’d be similar to alcohol. You can find generic beer and expensive beer. A huge part of street drugs is you don’t know what you’re getting. You cut coke with other benign substances to increase profits. Different varieties of marijuna have different potentcies. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/14 "2009-06-24T01:33:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Sure we can make coffee at home, even grind our own beans for way less, but we still pay $5 for a big cup at starbucks. Exactly, the pricing will max out at what the market will bear which has nothing to do with the actual cost of production. Nike shoes cost a few dollars to make, Louis Vutton bags cost a few dollars to make, etc but people pay hundreds of dollars for them because of percieved value. The idea that drugs, the most sought after commodity in life aside from food, shelter, and sex will be priced like generic white bread at Aldi’s isnt convincing. Its not the tax man who is your enemy here its Joe and Jane Pot Buyers. If they drive up the price then that’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/15 "2009-06-24T02:09:56Z")
**drachillix** and **Markxxx** : I see what you guys are getting at and it’s now easier for me to believe pot _could_ be cheap. I’m admittedly still skeptical that even the median price of pot would be low in general, but I now can see how it would be. 🙂 EDIT: > [@AskNott](#): > > Covered In Bees! I’ll get back to you. This is very ominous. Can you at least tell me if I should take shelter? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/16 "2009-06-24T02:15:53Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > Heroin shouldn’t be much more expensive than morphine or other opiates. Here’s something with actual numbers: [http://molpharm.wisc.edu/wcpi/prof/focus/opioid.htm](http://molpharm.wisc.edu/wcpi/prof/focus/opioid.htm) Note: uses 1994 price data. > > Cocaine is not easy to make and there are many steps involved. The common methods of making cocaine would not meet US safety standards (for either the product or the workers). So… I don’t know how to arrive at a legal price there. It might be easier to pretend cocaine is like morphine and use some of the ranges in the previous link. I thought cocaine or an equivalent analog was available to doctors under the same controls for opiates. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/17 "2009-06-24T02:23:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I thought cocaine or an equivalent analog was available to doctors under the same controls for opiates. You can get it [here](http://www.tocris.com/dispprod.php?ItemId=5327) for $66 for 50 mg. According to the [DEA](http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/cocaine_prices_purity.html), the average street retail price of pure cocaine in 2007 was $166.90 a gram. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/18 "2009-06-24T04:54:57Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Pot - extremely cheap, in light of the fact that anybody can grow it in their back yard with little agricultural skill. My guess would be less than $1 for a 20-pack of joints. Not a chance. You can walk into a clinic and (sort of) legally buy weed in California as long as you have a medical card. It costs the same, or more, than street value. $50-$60 for an 1/8th ounce. And it’s not really that easy to grow. The plants require constant care and precise growing conditions. It takes a long time for them to mature. Most people would much rather go down to the store and buy some than take the time and effort necessary to grow their own. ETA: plus keep in mind good old supply and demand. There is, and would continue to be a high demand for pot. So regardless of how much it costs to produce, it will be sold at the maximum price the market can bear. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/19 "2009-06-24T10:31:19Z")
Liability costs would be a big unknown. Meth and possibly cocaine may be unsaleable for that reason. Also, would legalization of cocaine or heroin here do anything to disrupt the cartels that produce coca or poppies in other countries? If not, that limits how far the price can drop. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760/20 "2009-06-24T14:06:59Z")
FWIW, the one and only time I was prescribed Percocet (generic), it was in the ER. My itemized statement showed 60-cents per pill. I have no idea if the hospital was overcharging ridiculously or not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cost-of-street-drugs-if-they-were-legal/500760.md?page=2)