Global drug prohibition: its uses and crises

Abstract

In the 20th century, political leaders and governments throughout the world supported drug prohibition and constructed a global drug prohibition system. They did so because of the influence of the USA and its allies and the UN. This article suggests they also did so because drug prohibition, drug demonisation and anti-drug campaigns were very useful—especially to politicians, the police, the military, and the media. Now in the 21st century, global drug prohibition is facing several overlapping crises. The growth of the harm reduction movement has increasingly pushed drug policies in many countries from the more criminalized end of the drug prohibition continuum to the more regulated and tolerant end. Further, a serious, reputable and ever growing opposition to punitive drug policies has begun to challenge global drug prohibition itself. Finally, drug prohibition appears to be unable to prevent the increasing cultivation, use, and normalization of cannabis throughout the world. Because of these currently unstoppable developments, global drug prohibition is losing some of its invisibility and political invulnerability.