This meticulously researched study represents the first effort to provide a nonpartisan and objective analysis of how the United States should approach the drug legalization question. It surveys what is known about the effects of different drug policies in Western Europe and what happened when cocaine and heroin were legal in the US a century ago. The book shows that legalization involves different tradeoffs between health and crime and the interests of the inner city minority communities and the middle class. The book explains why it is so difficult to accomplish substantial reform of drug policy.

Legalizing marijuana in California would lead to a major decline in the pretax price, but the price for consumers will depend heavily on taxes, the regulatory regime structure, and how taxes and regulations are enforced. The lower price and nonprice effects will increase consumption, but it is unclear by how much. There is much uncertainty about the effect on public budgets; even minor changes in assumptions lead to major differences in outcomes.