DRUGS IN OUR SOCIETY: A STUDY OF SUPPLY & DEMAND
YOUR FULL NAME__________________________________________PER____DATE_______________________(YOU MAY WRITE ON THIS SHEET) Unless otherwise indicated, keep your answers BRIEF
1 What are some problems associated with illegal drug use in our society?
a) corruption
b)
c)
d)
e)
2 The law of "supply and demand" states that for any product or service, there are forces at work on the supply side and on the demand side that affect prices. (Supply is the the side that provides goods and services. Demand is the side that wants and needs these products and services.) Fill in the blanks with the right choice
* If supply and demaned are equal the forces are equal and prices will -----------------------(drop, increase, not change)
* If there is an increasing supply and steady (unchanging) demand, prices will -------------------(drop, increase, not change)
* If there is a decreasing supply and a steady demand, prices will -----------------------(drop, increase, not change)
* If demand drops and supply rises, prices will -----------------------(drop, increase, not change)
3a What actions does the U.S. take to reduce the supply of illegal drugs?
3b and to reduce the demand ?
4 Explain why it would be impossible to cut off the supply side to zero.
5 Predict what would occur to the demand side if it were possible to reduce the supply to zero.
6a Predict how long, (in years) demand would last if educational efforts worked and no new users were added to the demand side starting today.
6b Approximately how long would the situation in your above answer last (in years)?
7. Guesstimate how much substance abusers spend for one day of treatment in a drug rehab center. ________
8. Define: a) RELAPSE_______________________________________________________________________
b) EUPHEMISM____________________________________________________________________
-What italicized expression in this activity is an euphemism? _________________________________
-for what more common expression?_____________________________________________________
9 Statistics (the study and interpretation of numbers in populations to try to find meaningful relationships between different factors) indicate that 50% or more of criminal arrests are drug and alcohol related. By decriminalizing (making legal) drug abuse, some experts predict that it would reduce crime (and by extension of that logic, the number of people in prison. Some European nations have already decriminalized drug abuse.) Calculate the cost of building a prison AND keeping 2000 inmates in prison for 10 years given the following:
The cost of keeping in inmate in prison is about $25,000 per year. The cost of construction of a prison is about $100,000 per jail cell. Assume there are 2 inmates per cell. Do the problem in TWO steps.
Step 1. Calculate the cost of building the prison:
Step 2. Calculate the cost of keeping the prisoners in jail for 10 years.
Step 3. Add the two figures.
Write your answer here: _______________________
Explain in ONE word why the cost of keeping inmates in jail should increase each year. I _ F _ _ _ I _ N
True/False: (Circle your answer)
T F 10) The State of California spends more money each year to keep a student in school than it spends to keep a criminal in prison.
T F 11) The United States has one of the largest prison populations of any developed country.
12 Some countries like China and Malasia now impose the death penalty for drug dealing . In the 1800's a significant number of Chinese were addicted to what drug __________? What country supplied the drug ______________?
13. Review: Fill in the last column: ( = means unchanging, + means increasing - means decreasing)
SUPPLY DEMAND PRICES (fill in.. up, down, same)
= =
+ =
- =
= +
= -
