re: Would drug legalization increase the frequency of overdoses?

quote:

---

Those who believe in free markets (apparently few here) would argue that competition would drop the price, and innovation driven by competition would lead eventually to safer alternatives.

---

When I made the statement about the price dropping with legalization, I was speaking hypothetically. In reality, a price drop with legalization probably wouldn't be that significant, if at all, though in a real free market where supply isn't controlled or monopolized, it probably would drop due to increased supply and competition. However, as we see with a lot of prescription drugs, in reality there are many controlling factors within these particular markets that keep this from happening and keep prices relatively high. That's not really a "free market", not in a pure sense.

However, price apparently doesn't appear to decrease or increase the frequency of overdoses, not to a significant degree, neither in a free market nor in the illusion of one.

I do agree with your argument re: the so-called "war on drugs". It's an absolute failure.