Five Steps Towards a More Effective Global Drug Policy

Abstract

We are at an interesting global juncture for drug policy, with an increasing volume of literature critiquing a zero tolerance approach, arguing that it has made little impression on either the production or consumption of illegal substances, and has caused a number of serious unintended consequences for both drug users and the societies in which they live. At the same time, increasingly liberal systems of drug policy have emerged. Portugal, for example, decriminalised the possession of all drugs for personal use in 2001. More recently, in the United States, Colorado and Washington have already established fully regulated cannabis markets. Alaska, Oregon and Washington DC have emerging regulated markets; and others such as Nevada, California, Arizona and Maine are widely expected to propose similar systems by 2016. Similarly, in Uruguay, legislation has been approved which will provide the first nationwide regulated cannabis market, and the pressure for international treaty reform from Latin American governments in general is growing. Nevertheless, Reuter (2011) has noted the difficulties that any government has in breaking out of the traditional drug policy mould. Any significant change requires the employment of sometimes radical new solutions which, if not found to be successful, would amount to political suicide for those involved in having pushed through their implementation. Thus, global drug policy often appears to be in a position of stalemate—the evidence of failure mounts, but the appetite for alternatives remains muted. This chapter offers five steps that we need to take if we are to effect any substantial change in drug policy on a global scale, and produce policies that are both more effective and more humane.