# Prohibition does not reduce supply. That is marketing bullshit. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 8, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786 "2009-11-08T06:49:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786/61 "2009-11-11T16:08:03Z")
Yes, the rate of “problematic use” after people have been prescribed opiates is very low, around 0.01%. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786/62 "2009-11-11T19:19:53Z")
> [@JFLuvly](#): > > I have to wonder if marijuana was legalized, if any change in the statistics would be relevant. I would think that when asked the question, “Have you used marijuana in the last year?”, that many would say no even if they have, just because of the legal and social ramifications. If after five years, the social norm was legalized marijuana, how many would then admit to use? That’s a good question, but also I think a lot of people probably would start using it because it was available. Tobacco may stay legal but its regular usage will drop significantly as the older generation of addicts dies off. I’d be interested to see rates of nicotine addiction by generation. I’d imagine there are far few Gen Y than Boomer smokers. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786/63 "2009-11-11T19:58:36Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > That’s a good question, but also I think a lot of people probably would start using it because it was available. So then, even if prohibition doesn’t reduce supply, it reduces demand. And aren’t you being kind of contradictory here. If you say that the reason more people would start using it was because it would become available, then isn’t increasing availability increasing supply? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786/64 "2009-11-11T20:03:15Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > So then, even if prohibition doesn’t reduce supply, it reduces demand. And aren’t you being kind of contradictory here. If you say that the reason more people would start using it was because it would become available, then isn’t increasing availability increasing supply? Well you should probably read the whole thing as my opinion has evolved over the course of the discussion. There are two contentions that I am making. 1. Harder drugs have different deterrants than legality that are more important than legal status. 2. This doesn’t apply to softer drugs like Marijuana. So basically hard drugs are incredibly dangerous whether legal or not, and this serves as a deterrant in and of itself. Whereas Marijuana is not particularly dangerous so it’s likely that prohibition has a greater impact on demand. But yes, I think it’s more relevant that it reduces demand than reducing supply. Marijuana legalized would likely be normalized and as such we’d see it rise to levels of usage like alcohol as a normal thing one does at a social occasion. Heroin on the other hand is unlikely to be socialized as such, even if legal. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786/65 "2009-11-11T20:10:02Z")
Right. But if the policy goal is to reduce the number of people smoking marijuana, then prohibition achieves that. I know you don’t agree with that policy goal, but that’s different than saying that prohibition doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786/66 "2009-11-11T20:27:22Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Right. But if the policy goal is to reduce the number of people smoking marijuana, then prohibition achieves that. I know you don’t agree with that policy goal, but that’s different than saying that prohibition doesn’t work. Can you get on page two please? This is a page one argument. My argument is that while this will likely be true for Marijuana, it’s unlikely to be true with harder drugs which have a greater downside. The risk of doing heroin in and of itself is a greater danger than the likelihood of being arrested for possession of it. Whereas with Marijuana the greatest danger associated with it are the legal repercussions. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786/67 "2009-11-11T22:40:43Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > But if the policy goal is to reduce the number of people smoking marijuana, then prohibition achieves that. I know you don’t agree with that policy goal, but that’s different than saying that prohibition doesn’t work. Shooting everyone who used marijuana would also reduce the number of people who use marijuana, by one every time. Pretty sure any outcome where you create more problems than you solve falls under the heading of “doesn’t work.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prohibition-does-not-reduce-supply-that-is-marketing-bullshit/516786.md?page=3)