Introduction
Governments are usually faced with the dilemma of providing incentives to a public policy because of the various consequences that result from the incentive. However, giving incentives is observed as one of the strategies that governments can use to counter the different negative effects caused by a given policy. In emphasizing the point, the United States has been keen on fighting drugs in the country by creating stricter laws on illegal drugs such as cocaine and marijuana. However, despite of the strict laws and severe punitive actions, U.S has experienced a high increase in the number of gangs, high prices, without affecting the demand for illegal (Pardo, 2014).
This essay examines government incentives that the U.S government has created in the public policy on illegal drugs based on the legalization of marijuana in Colorado
Incentives on public policy
Some of the government policies taken on different matter do not yield the same results that were anticipated. Because of the unexpected results, from the government is forced to alter the incentives in order to align policy with the response of the public. For example, in the United States, the government’s stance for fighting the manufacture and the distribution of illegal drugs has not managed to give the intended results. The policy on illegal drugs such as marijuana has only led to an increase in the prices of the drugs because of the difficult of accessing the drugs. As the price of the drugs increase, it leads to an increase in criminal gang trying to control the drugs and also cause a high increase in price of the drugs.
This is opposite to the expectation of the government when forming the strict laws on drugs. According to Australian Public Service Commission (2007), when the government is faced with the dilemma of reversing the negative effect of the public policy, the government responsiveness is meant to provide a solution to the negative effect. The legalization of marijuana in different State in the United States is a measure that the government has taken to reduce the negative effect having strict laws on marijuana.
Legalization of marijuana in Colorado
Marijuana was legalized in Colorado in 2012 for recreational purposes for people over the age of 21 years. The legalization marijuana in Colorado has been helped to boost the economic position of the Denver, the city of Colorado with the highest marijuana dispensaries. Marijuana is sold in dispensaries in Denver to both residential and non residential after showing their identification cards that they are above the required age of 21 years. Smokers of marijuana are prohibited from smoking marijuana in the public in Colorado and visitors are warned against leaving with the drug out of the State (BBC, 2014). Despite of the high prices, Colorado has continued to experience high number of customers within and outside the State. Colorado has more than 136 stores with more licenses pending because of the high demand of the drug in Colorado.
An incentive on policy is promoted when the policy is not effective in dealing with the challenges facing the public. However, it is important for the policymakers to structure strategies to limit the possibility of the subsequent government from establishing incentives. The decision to legalize marijuana in different states in the United States is contributed by different factors associated with the inefficiency of the public policy on illegal drugs. Illegal drugs have been an issue in the United States leading to rise of other related issues such as discrimination and mass incarceration (Wilson, 2012).
First and foremost, the legalization of marijuana is has been fostered because of the failure to control the use and production of marijuana in the U.S. For over 75 years, amid severe penalties on marijuana, the number of user has increased to more than 25 million. Another challenge is that the arrests for possession and use of marijuana have been found to be geared towards the minorities in the country such as African Americans and Hispanics (Rehm & Fischer, 2015). The decision to legalize has also been promoted due to its expected result of reducing incentives for teens to sell the drugs. Additional, legalization of marijuana is important for prevent the outflow of money from the United States to criminal gangs that depend on the supply of cannabis in other countries.
Changing behavior through policy
Contemporary governments are faced with the challenge of shaping the behavior of the public by imposing different policies. Policymakers should understand the need for incentives in every policy as way of motivating the public into aligning their conduct with the policy. Although incentive can closely relate to responsiveness, the difference between the two terms is clear. Incentives are given to influence the public into behaving in a particular way which responsiveness is taking new action because of the rise of a particular behavior of the public. Traditionally, the government used various policy tools which include structuring new laws, imposing taxes, regulation and sanctions to shape public behavior. However, in the modern society, the failure of different policies and emergence of new behaviors of the public had proved to be a challenge to government (Australian Public Service Commission, 2007).
Exclusive use of the traditional policy tools in influencing public behavior may not yield effective results because of the cooperative behavior change of the public. This is the main reason why it has become important for the government to engage the public when making policies targeting different issues in the society such as crime, welfare and education. Because of the complexity of influencing behavior through policy, the government should be responsive to the changes in the public behavior due to a particular policy. The legalization of marijuana is an example of a responsive approach by the government to counter the behaviors that emerged from strict laws on marijuana (Pardo, 2014).
One of the effects that are caused by the responsiveness of the government is that future government may continue to be responsive to various factors depending on the behavior of the public. The future government may not be faced with low cost of responsiveness which may further hinder the government from executing its role effectively. Although providing incentive is an alternative approach to dealing with the issues arising from the failures of a particular policy, it also comes with its set new challenges. Therefore it is important for the policymakers to analyze the effect of providing incentives or engaging in responding to the behavior of the public. Additionally, policy makers should examine how altering the incentives will affect the public. For instance legalization of marijuana has different potential problems to State of Colorado and the country (Pardo, 2014). First, it is difficult to control the resale of the cannabis, which means, there will be easy accessibility of marijuana to the unqualified people thus increasing the chances of young children accessing the drug from an early age.
Incentives are provided to promoted personal responsibility especially when the policy is targets areas such as crime and illegal drugs. Policymakers’ decision to alter incentive to favor the behavior of the public towards a given policy should be geared towards promoting loyalty with much coercing the public. Policy incentive also promotes personal responsibility of the policy and also promotes combined approach to the proving solution to challenges facing the public.
Conclusion
The decision to legalize marijuana in Colorado is a responsive approach that was been taken by the State government based on the behavior of the public. This due to the observation that the strict laws on marijuana have not achieved much in terms of reducing public accessibility and use of the drug. Although legalization also comes with its negative effects to the public, it is a strategy that is meant to raise revenue from the business in addition to offsetting the prices and the demand of the drug from the illegal drug traffickers. Government responsiveness by altering the incentive of the public policy based on the behavior of the public can lead to more responsiveness by the future governments. This means the future governments will not have high cost in being responsive which may hinder effectiveness in governance.
References
Australian Public Service Commission. (2007). Changing behaviour: a public policy perspective. See: www. apsc. gov. au/publications07/changingbehaviour. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/archive/publications-archive/changing-behaviour
BBC. (2014). Colorado Cannabis Customers Swarm as Drug’s Sale goes Legal. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieve January 21, 2017, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-25577961
Joffe, A., & Yancy, W. S. (2004). Legalization of marijuana: potential impact on youth. Pediatrics, 113(6), e632-e638.
Pardo, B. (2014). Cannabis policy reforms in the Americas: a comparative analysis of Colorado, Washington, and Uruguay. International Journal of Drug Policy, 25(4), 727-735.
Rehm, J., & Fischer, B. (2015). Cannabis legalization with strict regulation, the overall superior policy option for public health. Clinical pharmacology & therapeutics, 97(6), 541-544.
Wilson, W. J. (2012). The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago, Ill. University of Chicago Press.