"The report estimates that legalizing drugs would save roughly $48.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. $33.1 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments, while $15.6 billion would accrue to the federal government. Approximately $13.7 billion of the savings would results from legalization of marijuana, $22.3 billion from legalization of cocaine and heroin, and $12.8 from legalization of other drugs."
Source
Miron, Jeffey A., PhD, "The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition," (February, 2010), p. 1.
http://scholar.harvard.edu/mi…
