This chapter looks into the economic costs of drug control to the criminal
justice systems in four European countries, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain as a
contribution to the debate on the costs of illicit drugs to society suggesting paths for
investigation.
At the global level, extensive evidence has been collected and research has been carried
out on the importance of estimating the costs of crime to society [1]. However, there is
still little evidence on some aspects of the criminal justice costs considered in relation
to the laws and regulations for which they were incurred. The study of Farrell and
Clark [2] is one example of an empirical estimate of the direct cost of public
expenditure on the global criminal justice system. Using six different regression
models, the study found that there was a direct relationship between the wealth of
nations and the amount spent on criminal justice: richer countries spend more GDP per
capita than less developed countries.
Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain show both differences and commonalities in terms of
their geographical position, economic development and criminal justice system
organization in relation to drug control. All four countries are based on a civil law
system and have old judicial traditions.
The analysis shows that drug-related costs for the three sectors considered (police,
courts and prisons) as a share of GDP, from 2010 to 2018, have increased only for
Poland, while for Italy, there has been a slight decrease and for Portugal and Spain
drug-related justice expenditure has sharply decreased.
Keywords: Cost of justice, National economy, Politicisation of drug research, Prohibitionism, Social costs of drug use.
