Saipan’s Ice Age

Ice, ice, baby…the island is supposedly awash in the stuff, some kind of wicked drug that will put the zap on your head and the hurts on your wallet, maybe permanently.

There’s probably a bit of socio-economic triage at work. Some folks will probably do the drug no matter what; they might be rich or poor, productive or lazy, and simply have a taste for it. Their demand for it will be, then, unrelated to external economic or social factors.

At the other end of the spectrum are the folks who wouldn’t touch it no matter what. You could send me a truckload of the stuff for Christmas and I certainly wouldn’t feel the slightest inclination to touch it. I value the kind of drugs that make me well when I’m sick, not the kind that would make me sick when I’m well.

Somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, then, is the real battleground, the folks who, presumably, may or may not use the stuff depending on outside factors. They are, in a sense, “swing voters,” who will elect to become druggies or not based on (amongst other things) social pressures, acceptability, affordability of the drug, and–here’s a biggie–economic opportunity costs.

Ed’s Third Law of Economics is this: Opportunity costs are what you could be doing if you weren’t doing what you’re doing.

In other words, if you had a good economy and people could find good jobs, the cost of doing ice and turning into a zombie would be the money you would lose by not going to work that day.

By contrast, in a lousy economy with skinny employment opportunities, the “opportunity” cost of doing ice is less. Some folks will figure that they might as well get loaded on ice, since the financial fruits of work and sobriety are so small.

My take on the issue is decidedly not mainstream. I personally don’t care if people fill their heads and bodies with poison if that’s what they elect to do. As far as I’m concerned, you can jam heroin into your eyeballs with a rusty needle if you want to. As long as you stay off the roads, don’t steal my stuff to fund your habit, and don’t expect me to pay your medical bills, then go for it.

Besides, fat-laden Big Mac hamburgers and consequent obesity have killed more people than all the illegal drugs added up. I eat Big Macs, and I could stand to drop a few pounds, so I can’t claim any moral superiority over anyone who risks his health smoking crack…but I’ll concede I’m probably a better neighbor.

In the final analysis, though, since the CNMI ran the economic train off the track–and did it more or less on purpose–it’s not surprising that some of the casualties will seek illicit anesthesia. You can’t screw up an economy without suffering social consequences. Furthermore, it’s easier to pull a string than it is to push it; and without the financial pull of good jobs to enforce productive behavior, destructive behavior will rear its ugly head.

Stephens is an economist with Stephens Corporation, a professional organization in the NMI. His column appears three times a week: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Mr. Stephens can be contacted via the following e-mail address: ed4Saipan@yahoo.com.