The Heroin Price Collapse

According to the DEA, Afghani heroin is now selling in Los Angeles at $90 for a highly pure gram. That works out to about a dime per pure milligram (compared to $2.50 in 1975, equivalent to about $10 in today's money).

Five milligrams is a hefty dose for a naive user. So a first heroin experience is now available for less than the price of a candy bar. At those prices, users can afford to snort or even swallow the stuff rather than injecting it.

Heroin prices have been falling for a long time without creating a big upsurge in the number of new users. Maybe we'll keep being lucky that way. But we can't count on Lady Luck's being our friend forever.

Unfortunately, we don't really know how to raise drug prices for drugs with established mass markets. The prices of heroin and cocaine have both been falling even as enforcement has been rising.