Drug Laws Drive Addicted to Prostitution in West Virginia (and Everywhere Else)

Steubenville, West Virginia, has an interlocking problem of drugs and prostitution, The Intelligencer in nearby Wheeling reported this morning. The article was prompted by an anti-prostitution sting operation that rounded up six men and five women Wednesday night.

"The prostitution and the drugs go hand-in-hand," [police chief William] McCafferty said. "Most of the (prostitutes) are drug users, and that's how they support their habit. None of the men who are coming here to purchase the product the women are selling are from Steubenville, and we don’t need them in our city. "They know the girls are here and have a drug problem to support," he added. "It makes our drug trade better than what it actually is. The 'johns' support the prostitutes who then support the drugs."

But why do some drug addicts need to resort to prostitution to be able to afford some chemical mixtures that could literally be produced for pennies? It's because prohibition of drugs drives up the price by putting it into the criminal underground -- economics call this the "risk premium." Cigarettes are just as addictive as any street drug, but you don't see people walking the streets (or for that matter breaking into cars) to afford them, at least not very much, and the same goes for alcohol. Legalization of drugs would therefore reduce prostitution and help some of the addicted avoid being in that often degrading and dangerous circumstance. In the meanwhile, carting them off to jail probably isn't going to be the thing that helps them stop using drugs once they get out.