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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:59 pm
Time: 9:59 pm
Results for drug war
3 results foundAuthor: Blumenfeld, Leah H. Title: Trading Democracy for Security? The Effects of the International Drug War on the Quality of Democracy in the Dominican Republic, 1996 -2008 Summary: The purpose of the research is to study the relationship between international drug interdiction policies and domestic politics in fragile democracies, and to demonstrate how international drug control policies and the use of force fit the rhetoric of war, are legitimized by the principles of a just war, but may also cause collateral damage and negative unintended consequences. The method used is a case study of the Dominican Republic. The research has found that international drug control regimes, primarily led by the U.S. and narrowly focused on interdiction, have influenced an increasingly militarized approach to domestic law enforcement in the Dominican Republic. The collateral damage caused by militarized enforcement comes in the form of negative perceptions of citizen security, loss of respect for the rule of law and due process, and low levels of civil society development. The drug war has exposed the need for significant reform of the institutions charged with carrying out enforcement, the police force and the judicial system in particular. The dissertation concludes that the extent of drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic is beyond the scope of domestic reform efforts alone, but that the programs implemented do show some potential for future success. The dissertation also concludes that the framework of warfare is not the most appropriate for the international problems of drug traffic and abuse. A broader, multipronged approach should be considered by world policy makers in order to address all conditions that allow drugs to flourish without infringing upon democratic and civil rights in the process. Details: Miami: Florida International University, 2010. 244p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed July 2, 2012 at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1191&context=etd Year: 2010 Country: Dominican Republic URL: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1191&context=etd Shelf Number: 125439 Keywords: Drug EnforcementDrug PolicyDrug Trafficking (El Salvador)Drug Trafficking ControlDrug War |
Author: Gyngell, Kathy Title: The Phoney War on Drugs Summary: The Government has repeatedly declared that it is fighting a War on Drugs. But this has been a Phoney War, shows Kathy Gyngell in The Phoney War on Drugs published on Monday 18 May 2009 by the Centre for Policy Studies. For the UK now has one of the most liberal drug policies in Europe. Both Sweden and the Netherlands (despite popular misconceptions) have a more rigorous approach – and far fewer problems with drugs. Kathy Gyngell shows how the Labour Government has taken a new direction for drug policy. Its new “harm-reduction” strategy aimed to reduce the cost of problem drug use. The focus was switched from combating all illicit drug use to the problems of PDUs. Cannabis was declassified. Spending on methadone treatment increased threefold between 2003 and 2008. The aim of treatment for drug offenders was no longer abstinence but management of their addiction with the aim of reducing their reoffending. In practice, this meant prescribing methadone. But this harm-reduction approach has failed. It has entrapped 147,000 people in state-sponsored (mainly methadone) addiction. Addicts leaving government treatment programmes clean of drug use are at the same level as if there had been no treatment programme at all. The UK now faces a widening and a deepening crisis. Over the last 10 years, Class A consumption and ‘problem drug use’ have risen dramatically, drug use has spread to rural areas and the age of children’s initiation into drugs has dropped. 41% of 15 year olds, and 11% of 11 year olds, have taken drugs. Drug death rates continue to rise and are far higher than the European average. The UK has 47.5 deaths per million population (aged 15 to 64) compared to 22.0 in Sweden and 9.6 in the Netherlands. There are over ten Problem Drug Users (PDUs) per 1,000 of the adult population, compared to 4.5 in Sweden or 3.2 in the Netherlands. Weak enforcement and prevention The UK drugs market is estimated to be worth £5 billion a year. In comparison, the Government is spending only £380 million a year – or 28% of the total drugs budget – attempting to control the supply of drugs (over £800 million is spent on treatment programmes and reducing drug-related crime). Only five boats now patrol the UK’s 7,750 mile coastline. The numbers of recorded offences for importing, supply and possession of illicit drugs have all fallen over the last 10 years. At the same time, seizures of drugs have fallen and drug prices have dropped to record low. The quantity of heroin, cocaine and cannabis that has been seized coming into the UK has fallen by 68%, 16% and 34% respectively. Both Sweden and the Netherlands have far more coherent and effective drugs policies. All illicit drug use is targeted. Treatment is clearly aimed at breaking addiction. Drug laws are clearly understood and enforced. And, unlike in the UK, the majority of the drugs budget of both countries is spent on prevention and enforcement. As Kathy Gyngell demonstrates, these principles have been lost sight of over the last 10 years in the UK. A successful UK drug policy would in contrast: bear down on the illicit use of all drugs, not the harms caused by drug use; abandon the harm reduction approach; focus treatment on abstinence and rehabilitation; include a tougher, better-funded enforcement programme to reduce the supply of drugs. Details: London: Centre for Policy Studies, 2009. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 10, 2012 at: http://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/111026175647-thephoneywarondrugs.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.cps.org.uk/files/reports/original/111026175647-thephoneywarondrugs.pdf Shelf Number: 107669 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug ControlDrug EnforcementDrug Policy (U.K.)Drug War |
Author: Nasir, Muhammad Title: Violence and Child Health Outcomes: Evidence from Mexican Drug War Summary: An emerging literature finds that early life exposure to conflict has important effects on subsequent physical and cognitive development. While this literature focuses on large-scale violent events and low intensity conflicts, there is a lack of studies examining high levels of criminal violence. This discrepancy is important as many areas in the world, particularly Central and South America, experience consistently high levels of organized crimes. This study examines whether these health effects also extend to criminal violence setting by focusing on the sharp increase in homicide rates in Mexico since 2007-08. Using sibling fixed effects, I study whether the levels and timing of municipality homicide rates affect children's physical health and cognitive and non-cognitive development in Mexico. The results show a strong effect of in utero exposure (depending on the trimester) on the physical health and cognitive development and no effect on socio-emotional behavior and chronic illnesses. Specifically, an average increase in the homicide rate between the pre-escalation period of 2005-06 and 2009 while in utero reduces both height- for-age Z-scores (HAZ) and cognition (measured by Raven's scores) by 0.08 standard deviation (SD). The results further provide suggestive evidence about maternal stress and prenatal care use as potential channels. Details: Brighton, UK: The Institute of Development Studies - at the University of Sussex , 2016. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Households in Conflict Network: Accessed June 22, 2017 at: http://www.hicn.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/HiCN-WP-208.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Mexico URL: Shelf Number: 146346 Keywords: Children and ViolenceDrug WarExposure to ViolenceHomicides |