Through a new course offering, the Department of Economics is delving deep into an issue that has long dominated news headlines.
Taught by instructor Bob Koehn, ECON 2P34, “The Economics of Illicit Drugs,” will be offered for the first time this spring — and with no prerequisites.
With daily stories about fentanyl, drug trafficking and the legalization of marijuana saturating news feeds, the course will offer students from many disciplines the opportunity to gain a new perspective on illicit drugs.
“Economists have a framework to study all industries. The illicit drug market can be analyzed in terms of demand and supply. However, the illicit nature of the drugs affects both the demand and supply differently from legal markets,” explains Koehn.
“The economic analysis of the drug trade has implications for public policy issues such as legalization, costs of addiction, enforcement and punishment.”
Koehn also plans to discuss Canada’s recent moves to legalize cannabis in the course, because of the unique opportunity it affords for economic analysis.
“The legalization of cannabis in Canada will enable economists to evaluate the impact of legalization of a drug which was previously illegal,” says Koehn. “Canada will serve as a test case for other countries which may be considering legalization.”
Lester Kwong, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics, hopes that students from across various disciplines will benefit from the department’s newest course offerings, including this one on the illicit drug trade and another on the economics of violence.
“Economics is often misconstrued as the study of interest rates and stock markets, as opposed to the mode of thinking regarding the efficiency in the allocation of scarce resources, which has much broader applications than is generally recognized,” says Kwong.
“These classes will help bridge the gap that exists in people’s perception about the discipline.”
Students interested in registering for ECON 2P34, or anyone thinking about picking up a few credits in spring, can learn more about incentives and course offerings online.
