Abstract
International drug control has chalked up an impressive record of policy failure, yet it continues to intensify its provisions and expand its remit. This idiosyncrasy is best understood by regarding drug control as a system with separate, but linked elements dedicated to maintaining itself. Inherent to the system is an ideology which is derived from and supported by ‘scientific truths’. The survival of the regime depends on the active support of professional groups that benefit from the regime and are its chief proponents.
Highlights
International drug control has chalked up an impressive record of policy failure yet continues to intensify its provisions and expand its remit
The survival of the regime depends on the active support of professional groups that benefit from the regime and are its chief proponents
In a recent House of Commons debate, the Shadow Home Office Minister Alan Campbell was asked to give his opinion on the drug policy pursued by the government of Portugal
Summary
International drug control has chalked up an impressive record of policy failure yet continues to intensify its provisions and expand its remit. Countries with massive prison populations and appalling human rights records can dress up brutal repression of drug use as a heartfelt concern for the generation, while ill thought out phraseology, such as the ‘right to a drug free childhood’ finds its way into UN documents as an expression of idealism without borders. In effect, this international policy forum is left stuck in the same quagmire of policy inertia as the national level. The call for an internationally coordinated initiative to revise drug policy is a simple transference of a political problem experienced at national level – in almost every country
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