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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for illegal drugs
89 results foundAuthor: Kilmer, Beau Title: Understanding Illicit Drug Markets, Supply-Reduction Efforts, and Drug-Related Crime in the European Union Summary: Efforts to provide insight into the different aspects of Europe's illicit drug problems have largely focused on indicators development to assess demand-side strategies. The development of measures capturing dimensions of the supply of different illicit substances is an emerging field in the European Union. To advance these effects, the European Commission commissioned a study to recommend indicators for improving the understanding of illicit drug markets, supply reduction efforts, and drug-related crime in the European Union. This study presents a review of the literature and RAND's previous work in this area, as well as insights from European experts and policymakers. Details: Cambridge, UK: RAND, 2010. 210p. Source: Internet Resource; RAND Corporation Technical Report Series; TR755 Year: 2010 Country: Europe URL: https://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR755.html Shelf Number: 117144 Keywords: Drug Control (Europe)Drug Markets (Europe)Drug Trafficking (Europe)Drug-Related CrimeIllegal DrugsIllicit Drugs |
Author: Youngers, Coletta A. Title: Development First: A More Humane and Promising Approach to Reducing Cultivation of Crops for Illicit Markets Summary: This report lays out a more promising approach to reducing the cultivation of coca and poppy crops used in the production of cocaine and heroin. It is based on improving the welfare of poor farmers via comprehensive development strategies that include improving local governance and citizen security, combined with voluntary reductions in cultivation of crops deviated to the illicit market. Implemented in tandem with effective demand reduction strategies to contain and eventually shrink the global cocaine and heroin markets, the "development first" approach has the potential to gradually achieve sustainable reductions in coca and opium poppy cultivation by reducing poor farmers' reliance on such crops. Details: Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America, 2009. 39p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: International URL: Shelf Number: 119214 Keywords: CocaineDrug ControlDrug MarketsDrugsIllegal DrugsOpiumPoverty |
Author: Nordeste, Bruno Title: The Potential Expansion of Methamphetamine Production and Distribution in Canada: A Background Study Summary: This report presents essential background on the state of the methamphetamine market in Canada and the role of organized crime within it. Details: Ottawa: Carleton University, Country Indicators for Foreign Policy, 2004. 28p. Source: Internet Resource; Commission by Criminal Intelligence Service Canada Year: 2004 Country: Canada URL: Shelf Number: 119215 Keywords: Drug ControlIllegal DrugsMethamphetamine (Canada)Organized Crime |
Author: Reuter, Peter H. Title: Assessing Changes in Global Drug Problems, 1998-2007: Main Report Summary: This report provides key findings of the RAND Europe study which assesses how the global market for illicit drugs has developed from 1998 to 2007 and describes worldwide drug policies implemented during that period to address the problem. The study assesses the impact of policy measures, both at the national and sub-national levels, on the illicit drugs problem. To the extent data allows, the project assessed how much policy measures, at the national and sub-national levels, have influenced drug problems. The analysis is focused on policy relevant matters but it does not attempt to make recommendations to governments. The evidence suggests that illicit drugs presented as much of a problem in 2007 as in 1998. Broadly speaking, while the situation may have improved slightly in some of the world's richer countries, it has substantially worsened in others, which include a few large developing or transitional countries. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2009. 68p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: International URL: Shelf Number: 117653 Keywords: Drug ControlDrug PolicyDrug RegulationDrug TraffickingIllegal Drugs |
Author: Willis, Henry H. Title: Measuring the Effectiveness of Border Security Between Ports-of-Entry Summary: "This report offers research and recommendations on ways to measure the overall efforts of the national border-security enterprise between ports of entry. To be meaningful, the set of measures for effectiveness of border security should be sound, reliable, useful, and general. Three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) missions appear to currently be of special interest to DHS leadership because they are especially problematic: illegal drug control, counterterrorism, and illegal migration. The report recommends measuring performance of three fundamental functions that border-security efforts contribute to achieving national policy objectives: interdiction, deterrence, and exploiting networked intelligence. If the steps described here are taken, DHS and its components will be in a better position to discuss past performance and to provide reasoned justifications for future allocation of resources. Further, they will be able to relate their efforts to those of other agencies in pursuit of national objectives." Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2010. Source: Internet Resource; Technical Report Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 119332 Keywords: Border SecurityCounterterrorismDrug ControlIllegal DrugsIllegal Immigration |
Author: Whitworth, Steven Scott Title: The Untold Story of Mexico's Rise and Eventual Monopoly of the Methamphetamine Trade Summary: This thesis examines the dominant role of Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in the multi-billion dollar trade in illegal narcotics between Latin America and the United States since 1995. It assesses the implications of the existence and operation of the four major and thriving, Mexico cartels (or DTOs) for both the United States and Mexico. The story of Mexico’s rise to prominence by the mid- to late-1990s as the primary transshipment route for cocaine entering the United States is well known. However, much less attention has been devoted to how the Mexican cartels, which now control 80 % percent of all illegal drug trafficking into the United States, have become the primary producer and trafficker of methamphetamine for the American market in the past decade. Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 2008. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2010 at: http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2008/Jun/08Jun_Whitworth.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Mexico URL: http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2008/Jun/08Jun_Whitworth.pdf Shelf Number: 119693 Keywords: CocaineColumbian CartelsDrug PolicyDrug TraffickingIllegal DrugsMethamphetamine |
Author: O'Flaherty, Brendan Title: The Racial Geography of Vice Summary: Street vice (anonymous prostitution, gambling, and the sale of illicit drugs) is spatially concentrated, confined largely to black neighborhoods in central cities, even though demand is quite evenly distributed throughout the general population. We show how this pattern can arise through the interacting location decisions of sellers, buyers, and non-user households. Areas with high demand density (cities) have lower prices and more tightly packed sellers in equilibrium relative to areas with lower demand density (suburbs) under autarky. When trade between city and suburb is possible, competitive pressure from the city lowers suburban prices and seller density. Higher income households distance themselves from street vice, causing the exposed population to become poorer and disproportionately black. Even mild preferences over neighborhood racial composition can then induce lower income whites to exit, resulting in racial segregation. The relationship between segregation and exposure to vice can be non-monotonic and discontinuous: decreased segregation implies greater sorting by income, and hence larger wage disparities between city and suburb. If such disparities get too large, all sales can shift discontinuously to the city and result in higher overall black exposure even though more blacks now reside in the suburbs. Details: New York: Columbia University, Department of Economics, 2008. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper No.:0809-11: Accessed September 14, 2010 at: http://www.econ.columbia.edu/RePEc/pdf/DP0809-11.pdf Year: 2008 Country: United States URL: http://www.econ.columbia.edu/RePEc/pdf/DP0809-11.pdf Shelf Number: 119802 Keywords: GamblingIllegal DrugsProstitutionRace/EthnicityVice |
Author: Galenianos, Manolis Title: A Search-Theoretic Model of the Retail Market for Illicit Drugs Summary: A search-theoretic model of the retail market for illegal drugs is developed. Trade occurs in bilateral, potentially long-lived matches between sellers and buyers. Buyers incur search costs when experimenting with a new seller. Moral hazard is present because buyers learn purity only after a trade is made. The model produces testable implications regarding the distribution of purity offered in equilibrium, and the duration of the relationships between buyers and sellers. These predictions are consistent with available data. The effectiveness of different enforcement strategies is evaluated, including some novel ones which leverage the moral hazard present in the market. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2009. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: NBER Working Paper Series; Working Paper 14980: Accessed September 14, 2010 at: http://www.nber.org/papers/w14980 Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w14980 Shelf Number: 119803 Keywords: Drug MarketsIllegal Drugs |
Author: U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy Title: US/Mexico Bi-National Cooperation Against Illicit Drugs: Main Results and Performance Measures of Effectiveness Summary: This document contains two reports. The first one entitled Main Results of the U.S.–Mexico Bi-national Cooperation Against Illicit Drugs (1995–2000), approved at the VIII HLCG meeting held in Mexico City in August 8th 2000 and second, the Performance Measures of Effectiveness Report. The Performance Measures of Effectiveness Report describes accomplishments by the United States and Mexico in the first eighteen months (February 1998–August 1999) in which the US/Mexico Bi-National Drug Control Strategy was in effect. It is an attempt to review the status of the Action Items contributing to the achievement of the Strategy goals that were detailed within the initial PME publication. The Main Results of the Bi-national Cooperation Against Illicit Drugs is an effort to provide a general assessment and a more current account of our cooperation efforts. The purpose of the two documents is to provide information to policy makers so that they can evaluate what parts of the bi-national strategy have been achievable, what parts need more effort, and what parts ought to be changed. The two reports will permit the reader to evaluate whether we have completed our actions, and how those actions contribute to achieving the Strategy objectives. Details: Washington, DC: Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2010. 182p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 14, 2010 at: http://www.ncjrs.gov/ondcppubs/publications/international/binational_1995_to_2000/binational_1995_to_2000.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.ncjrs.gov/ondcppubs/publications/international/binational_1995_to_2000/binational_1995_to_2000.pdf Shelf Number: 120494 Keywords: Drug Control PolicyDrug EnforcementIllegal DrugsIllegal FirearmsTrafficking in Weapons |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: The Global Afghan Opium Trade: A Threat Assessment Summary: Over the last decade, the global trade in illicit Afghan opiates has been one of the world’s greatest transnational drug and crime threats – with severe consequences for health, governance and security at national, regional and international levels. In Afghanistan and elsewhere, transnational organized crime groups were the main beneficiaries of the US$68 billion trade in 2009, which they supplemented with other forms of crime such as arms trafficking and human smuggling. In 2009, the Afghan Taliban was estimated to have earned around $150 million from the opiate trade, Afghan drug traffickers $2.2 billion, and Afghan farmers $440 million. While the findings suggest that most insurgent elements content themselves with taxing the trade rather than attempting to become active participants, it now appears that some insurgents involve themselves directly in the heroin supply chain, including in the procurement of acetic anhydride. Anti-government elements based in Afghanistan and Pakistan may gain access to only a fraction of the value of Afghan opiate exports, but this is nonetheless enough to support logistics, operations and recruitment. Areas under insurgent influence, such as the border between Iraq and Turkey and the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, also provide a key competitive advantage for organized crime groups as those areas lie beyond the reach of law enforcement. If global organized crime groups managing the opiate trade pocketed only 10 per cent of the profit, they would have earned at least $7 billion in 2009. All these illicit profits are laundered in one way or another, a process that undermines the vulnerable economies of areas such as the Balkans and Central Asia. Traffickers tend to shift routes and change their modus operandi as law enforcement pressure increases. Traditional methods of land border control may not be sufficient to stem the flow of opiates into destination markets. Details: Geneva: UNODC, 2011. 162p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2011 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Global_Afghan_Opium_Trade_2011-web.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Afghanistan URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Global_Afghan_Opium_Trade_2011-web.pdf Shelf Number: 122312 Keywords: Drug TraffickingDrugs and CrimeHeroinIllegal DrugsOpium (Afghanistan)Organized Crime |
Author: Naranjo R., Alberto J. Title: Drugonomics : Industrial Organization of Illegal Drug Markets Summary: Insurgents, drug lords and anti-drug supply policies in the Andes. The United States has spent enormous resources on supply policies to decrease illegal drug production in the Andes and availability in the U.S. market. However, evidence suggests increased drug production and availability over time. Moreover, insurgent activities in the region have also increased. We present an explanation for these unexpected trends by analyzing an illicit drug market where drug lords and insurgents interact. The analysis suggests that supply policies increase drug production and insurgent activity while having no effect on drug availability and prices. Counter-intuitive effects of domestic law enforcement policies in the United States. In spite of the increase in domestic law enforcement policies in the U.S., illegal drug distribution activities have followed a non-monotonic trend and cocaine and heroin prices have been dropping or have remained stable over time. This paper provides an explanation for these counter-intuitive effects. We model how drug lords respond to this type of policy and predict distribution activities, prices and drug consumption in the United States. Spillover effects of domestic law enforcement policies. Independent efforts by local and state governments in the United States to combat illegal drug markets are in contrast with a global market where drugs are sold and distributed simultaneously in different locations. We study the effect that domestic law enforcement policies may have on this global context. The external effects of these policies induce overspending by governments, but a low level of global drug consumption. Competition effects are also studied. Drive-by competition? Violence in the drug market. Today, the retail distribution of most illegal drugs is mainly in the hands of street gangs that also account for most of the drug related violence in many states and cities in the United States. Interestingly, the level of violence in drug markets appears to vary with the type of drug. Based on the notion that gangs use violence strategically to compete for customers we find that both the effectiveness of violence in shifting demand and the cost of switching supplier by users affect the level of violence in the market. Indirect effects of anti-drug policies are discussed. Details: Stockholm: Stockholm University, 2007. 118p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 2, 1011 at: http://www.avhandlingar.se/avhandling/c2a2c5909c/ Year: 2007 Country: International URL: http://www.avhandlingar.se/avhandling/c2a2c5909c/ Shelf Number: 122609 Keywords: Drug EnforcementDrug TraffickingIllegal Drug MarketsIllegal DrugsViolent Crime |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Laboratory and Scientific Section Title: Amphetamines and Ecstasy: 2011 Global ATS Assessment Summary: Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are firmly established on global illicit drug markets and their use continues to exceed that of opiates or cocaine. While the number of people who have used ATS at least once in the last 12 months has stabilized at the global level, increases have occurred in parts of the world that previously had only very small ATS-related problems. The widespread use of ATS is a result of their attractiveness to users: they seem to appeal to the needs of today’s societies and have become part of what is perceived to be a modern and dynamic lifestyle; in some segments of society, they continue to be used frequently for occupational purposes. It is also a result of a market potential with continuously high profits and low risks that maintain their attractiveness to criminal groups around the world. Since the last global ATS assessment was published in 2008,1 there have been several new developments. The report provides evidence for these developments since 2008, with a special focus on subregional patterns and trends, and highlights the challenges ahead. Details: Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2011. 124p. Source: Internet Resource: Global SMART Programme: Accessed September 11, 2011 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/ATS/ATS_Global_Assessment_2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/ATS/ATS_Global_Assessment_2011.pdf Shelf Number: 122738 Keywords: AmphetaminesDrug Abuse and AddictionDrug MarketsEcstasyIllegal Drugs |
Author: South Carolina Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs Title: High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Five Year Overview of Indicators of Illegal Drug Activity in South Carolina Summary: High Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Five Year Overview of Indicators of Illegal Drug Activity in South Carolina is the first in what is intended to be a series of ongoing reports, designed to provide basic information about illicit drug activity over a five year period. The bulk of the information presented in the tables, graphs and charts in this publication is based on incident reports submitted to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) by state and local law enforcement agencies. These reports are edited and reviewed, corrected as needed and compiled to form the basis of the information presented in this report. It is important to note that the information in this report is only as complete and accurate as the information provided to local law enforcement and subsequently submitted to SLED. The nature of illegal drug activity is such that it is difficult, if not impossible, to measure its occurrence with any level of precision. Consumers, suppliers, producers and others involved in illegal drug activity take great pains to conceal their actions, and unlike crimes which involve an individual victim, none of those involved in the crime have any reason to report it. In order to provide a broader and more comprehensive perspective, data from the South Carolina Department of Corrections and the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services are also included, as are data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This report seeks to provide information concerning the scope and nature of illegal drug activity at the state level; however it also seeks to provide detailed information concerning short term trends and offender profiles at the county level. Details: Blythewood, SC: South Carolina Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs, 2011. 311p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 30, 2011 at: http://www.scdps.org/ojp/stats/IllegalDrugs/Report%20v14.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: http://www.scdps.org/ojp/stats/IllegalDrugs/Report%20v14.pdf Shelf Number: 122954 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction (South Carolina)Drug OffendersDrug OffensesDrugs and CrimeIllegal Drugs |
Author: Wendel, Travis Title: Dynamics of Methamphetamine Markets in New York City: Final Technical Report to the National Institute of Justice Summary: Using Respondent Driven Sampling, this study piloted an innovative research design mixing qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, and social network analysis, that addresses a gap in information on retail methamphetamine markets and the role of illicit drug markets in consumption. Based on a sample of 132 methamphetamine users, buyers and sellers in New York City (NYC), findings describe a bifurcated market defined by differences in sexual identity, drug use behaviors, social network characteristics, and drug market behaviors. The larger sub-market is a closed market related to a sexual network of men who have sex with men (MSM) where methamphetamine (referred to as “tina”) is used as a sex drug. The smaller submarket is a less-closed market not denominated by sexual identity where methamphetamine (referred to as “crank,” “speed,” or “crystal meth”) overlaps with powder and crack cocaine markets. Participants in the MSM submarket viewed “tina” as very different from cocaine, due to what they characterized as the drug’s intense sexual effects, whereas participants in the smaller non-sexual-identity-denominated submarket saw “crystal meth” as a cost-effective alternative to cocaine. While majorities of participants in all subpopulations studied reported that their use of methamphetamine primarily centered on sex, almost all (91%) MSM reported this. Many MSM reported that their sexuality had become indistinguishable from their drug use. MSM had denser patterns of social network ties and many more sex partners than other subpopulations. MSM market participants reported higher prices for the drug, which may be an indication that they are accessing purer forms of methamphetamine. Participants were more willing to discuss accessing or purchasing methamphetamine than they were to discuss providing or selling the drug, although all indications are that most market participants do both. Compared with the sometimes highly organized markets that have existed for other illegal drugs (e.g., heroin, cocaine, marijuana), retail methamphetamine markets have remained, by contrast, relatively primitive in their social and technical organization, and distinct patterns of drug use emerged as an outcome of interactions between drug providers and members of their social networks. In this case, those with less structurally advantageous positions within the network must depend on better-positioned network contacts to supply them with methamphetamine. Findings from the study indicate that the most striking characteristic of the methamphetamine market in New York City is the extent of the secondary market. Study data suggests this large secondary market has developed because of “bottlenecks” in the chain of distribution, which may be the outcome of the inconsistent supply of methamphetamine available in New York City. Participants reported essentially no violence in connection with methamphetamine markets in NYC. Participants have a lifetime total of 13 methamphetamine possession arrests for the sample of 132; none has ever been arrested for methamphetamine distribution. Study findings may be useful to practitioners, policy-makers and researchers in fields including law enforcement, criminal justice, and public health and substance abuse treatment. Details: New York: John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2011. 268p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2011 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236122.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236122.pdf Shelf Number: 123063 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug Law EnforcementDrug MarketsDrug OffendersIllegal DrugsMethamphetamine (New York City) |
Author: Paul, Christopher Title: The Challenge of Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations: An Assessment of Mexican Security Based on Existing RAND Research on Urban Unrest, Insurgency, and Defense-Sector Reform Summary: Violent drug-trafficking organizations (VDTOs) in Mexico produce, transship, and deliver into the United States tens of billions of dollars worth of narcotics annually, but their activities are not limited to drug trafficking. VDTOs have also engaged in human trafficking, weapon trafficking, kidnapping, money laundering, extortion, bribery, racketeering, and assassinations. In an effort to clarify the scope and details of the challenges posed by VDTOs, a RAND team conducted a Delphi expert elicitation exercise, the results of which offer an assessment of the contemporary security situation in Mexico through the lens of existing RAND research on related issues. The exercise centered around three strands of prior RAND research on urban instability and unrest, historical insurgencies, and defense-sector reform. Although this prior research was not designed specifically for the study of Mexico, all three areas offer applicable insights. Assessment scorecards from these projects were used to obtain input from the expert panel and to guide the resulting discussion. The goal was not to break significant new ground in understanding the dynamics of drug violence in Mexico or to offer a qualitative assessment of these dynamics, but rather to provide an empirically based platform for identifying key areas that merit further investigation. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2011. 108p Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 21, 2011 at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1125.html Year: 2011 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1125.html Shelf Number: 123414 Keywords: Border SecurityDrug CartelsDrug EnforcementDrug Trafficking (Mexico)Illegal DrugsViolence |
Author: Degenhardt, Louisa Title: What Do We Know About the Extent of Illicit Meth/Amphetamine Use and Dependence? Results of a Global Systematic Review Summary: Aims: Systematically review existing data on the prevalence of meth/amphetamine use and dependence. The aims of this paper are to: (1) describe the available international data on meth/amphetamine use and dependence; and (2) identify priorities for improving the quality and coverage of such estimates. Methods: Multiple search strategies: a) peer-reviewed literature searches (1990-2008) using methods recommended by the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) group; b) systematic searches of online databases; c) Internet searches to find any other evidence of use; d) repeated consultation and feedback from experts around the globe; e) a viral email sent to lists in the HIV and illicit drug fields. Culling and data extraction followed manualised protocols, with in-built systems of cross-checking and internal consistency. Data were extracted and graded according to predefined variables and quality scored. This paper reports the most recent and highest graded prevalence estimate for the general population and school population and reports the proportion of coverage of the world‟s population for use and dependence estimates, general population and school surveys, age and sex specific estimates, and most recent year of estimates. Results: There was some evidence of meth/amphetamine use or dependence in 181 countries/territories, comprising 99% of the world‟s population aged 15-64 years but there were no prevalence estimates in 104 of these countries. This was common in Asia, Oceania and Africa. School surveys were the most common method used (74 countries); general population surveys of meth/amphetamine use had been conducted in 48 countries. Nine countries had estimated the prevalence of dependence since 1990 (8% of the world‟s population 15-64 years). Estimates of past-year use varied extremely widely; past-year dependence estimates were all less than 1% (0.10-0.74%). Age ranges, methodologies and definitions of “amphetamines” differed widely. Conclusions: There is a global imperative to improve data on the extent of meth/amphetamine use and dependence. There were large gaps in dependence estimates even in high income countries that have the resources and infrastructure to carry out such studies. Public and policy concern about this issue has been increasing largely in the absence of any data on the extent of this “problem”. Any policies or other responses requiring some notion of “scale” are likely to be poorly targeted until this situation changes. Details: Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, 2010. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Technical Report No. 310: Accessed November 23, 2011 at: http://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/all/shared_files/ndarc/resources/TR.310.pdf Year: 2010 Country: International URL: http://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/sites/all/shared_files/ndarc/resources/TR.310.pdf Shelf Number: 123434 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionIllegal DrugsMethamphetamines |
Author: Sweeney, Josh Title: Decrease in use of ecstasy/MDMA Summary: Recent data from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program indicate a decrease in the use of ecstasy among police detainees. Specifically, only five percent of police detainees in 2010 and 2011 reported using ecstasy; 50 percent lower than in 2009 when ecstasy use peaked at 11 percent. Key findings Recent data from the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program indicate a decrease in the use of ecstasy among police detainees. Specifically, only five percent of police detainees in 2010 (n=187) and 2011 (n=170) reported using ecstasy; 50 percent lower than in 2009 (n=428) when ecstasy use peaked at 11 percent. Self-report data also indicate that ecstasy was considered by users to be lower in quality and harder to obtain in 2011 compared with earlier years. Ecstasy users also reported a decrease in the number of people selling the drug. The decline in ecstasy use coincides with a reported increase in methamphetamine use (Macgregor and Payne 2011) and the findings are consistent with data recently released by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (Sindicich & Burns 2011) and in the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) report (AIHW 2011). Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2012. 4p. Source: DUMA Research in Practice No. 26: Internet Resource: Accessed March 11, 2012 at http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/8/9/C/%7B89C0AB4B-1F28-4CA8-8483-1CE90142BC25%7Drip26.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/8/9/C/%7B89C0AB4B-1F28-4CA8-8483-1CE90142BC25%7Drip26.pdf Shelf Number: 124443 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionEcstasyIllegal DrugsMethamphetamines |
Author: Rolles, Steve Title: The Alternative World Drug Report: Counting the Costs of the War on Drugs Summary: The Alternative World Drug Report, launched to coincide with publication of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2012 World Drug Report, exposes the failure of governments and the UN to assess the extraordinary costs of pursuing a global war on drugs, and calls for UN member states to meaningfully count these costs and explore all the alternatives. After 50 years of the current enforcement-led international drug control system, the war on drugs is coming under unparalleled scrutiny. Its goal was to create a "drug-free world". Instead, despite more than a trillion dollars spent fighting the war, according to the UNODC, illegal drugs are used by an estimated 270 million people and organised crime profits from a trade with an estimated turnover of over $330 billion a year – the world’s largest illegal commodity market. In its 2008 World Drug Report, the UNODC acknowledged that choosing an enforcement-based approach was having a range of negative "unintended consequences", including: the creation of a vast criminal market, displacement of the illegal drugs trade to new areas, diversion of funding from health, and the stigmatisation of users. It is unacceptable that neither the UN or its member governments have meaningfully assessed these unintended consequences to establish whether they outweigh the intended consequences of the current global drug control system, and that they are not documented in the UNODC’s flagship annual World Drug Report. This groundbreaking Alternative World Drug Report fills this gap in government and UN evaluations by detailing the full range of negative impacts resulting from choosing an enforcement-led approach. Details: Count the Costs.org, 2012. 111p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 2, 2012 at: http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/AWDR.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/AWDR.pdf Shelf Number: 125458 Keywords: Costs of CrimeCosts of Criminal JusticeDrug Abuse and AddictionDrug EnforcementDrug PolicyIllegal DrugsOrganized Crime |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: World Drug Report 2012 Summary: About 230 million people, or 5 per cent of the world’s adult population, are estimated to have used an illicit drug at least once in 2010. Problem drug users number about 27 million, which is 0.6 per cent of the world adult population. Throughout the world, illicit drug use appears to be generally stable, though it continues to be rising in several developing countries. Heroin, cocaine and other drugs kill around 0.2 million people each year, shattering families and bringing misery to thousands of other people. Illicit drugs undermine economic and social development and contribute to crime, instability, insecurity and the spread of HIV. Global opium production amounted to 7,000 tons in 2011. That is more than a fifth less than the peak of 2007 but an increase from the low level of 2010, the year in which a plant disease destroyed almost half of the opium harvest in Afghanistan, which continues to be the world’s biggest producer. The total area under coca bush cultivation in the world fell by 18 per cent between 2007 and 2010 and by 33 per cent since 2000. Efforts to reduce cultivation and production of the main plant-based problem drugs have, however, been offset by rising levels of synthetic drug production, including significant increases in the production and consumption of psychoactive substances that are not under international control. Although Member States are to be commended for their hard work in dealing with the drug problem, often with the support of UNODC, the figures sketched above indicate the scale of the challenge. The response by UNODC has been twofold: first, develop an integrated approach; and second, focus on prevention, treatment, alternative development and the promotion of fundamental human rights. Details: New York: United Nations, 2012. 112p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 18, 2012 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2012/WDR_2012_web_small.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2012/WDR_2012_web_small.pdf Shelf Number: 125669 Keywords: Drug Abuse PreventionDrug Addiction and AbuseIllegal Drugs |
Author: Kilmer, Beau Title: The U.S. Drug Policy Landscape: Insights and Opportunities for Improving the View Summary: Discussions about reducing the harms associated with drug use and antidrug policies are often politicized, infused with questionable data, and unproductive. This paper provides a nonpartisan primer that should be of interest to those who are new to the field of drug policy, as well as those who have been working in the trenches. It begins with an overview of problems and policies related to illegal drugs in the United States, including the nonmedical use of prescription drugs. It then discusses the efficacy of U.S. drug policies and programs, including long-standing issues that deserve additional attention. Next, the paper lists the major funders of research and analysis in the area and describes their priorities. By highlighting the issues that receive most of the funding, this discussion identifies where gaps remain. Comparing these needs, old and new, to the current funding patterns suggests eight opportunities to improve understanding of drug problems and drug policies in the United States: (1) sponsor young scholars and strengthen the infrastructure of the field, (2) accelerate the diffusion of good ideas and reliable information to decisionmakers, (3) replicate and evaluate cutting-edge programs in an expedited fashion, (4) support nonpartisan research on marijuana policy, (5) investigate ways to reduce drug-related violence in Mexico and Central America, (6) improve understanding of the markets for diverted pharmaceuticals, (7) help build and sustain comprehensive community prevention efforts, and (8) develop more sensible sentencing policies that reduce the excessive levels of incarceration for drug offenses and address the extreme racial disparities. The document offers some specific suggestions for researchers and potential research funders in each of the eight areas. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2012. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 12, 2012 at: http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP393.html Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP393.html Shelf Number: 126300 Keywords: Drug Abuse PolicyDrug EnforcementDrug Policy (U.S.)Illegal Drugs |
Author: Ritter, Alison Title: Evaluating Drug Law Enforcement Interventions Directed Towards Methamphetamine in Australia Summary: Methamphetamine belongs in the class of stimulant drugs referred to as Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS). The category of ATS includes ecstasy, amphetamine and methamphetamine. This research project concerned itself with the amphetamine and methamphetamine class and excluded ecstasy (and henceforth we use the generic term methamphetamine). In Australia, methamphetamine is available in three forms—powder, base and crystal. Methamphetamine is associated with significant harms and is an important drug policy priority. The National Amphetamine-Type Stimulants Strategy (2008–2011) (Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy, 2008) articulates the following priority areas in relation to methamphetamine: • improve community awareness and understanding of amphetamine-type stimulant use and related problems; • reduce the supply of amphetamine-type stimulants; • develop specific strategies to prevent and reduce amphetamine type stimulant use; and • develop organisational and system capacity to prevent and respond to amphetamine-type stimulant problems This research concerns the second priority area—reducing the supply of methamphetamine. The specific aims of the research were twofold: • to provide a rich description of the Australian methamphetamine supply chains in order to inform drug law enforcement interventions; and • to conduct an initial economic evaluation comparing law enforcement interventions directed at the methamphetamine market. The work focused on the methamphetamine market(s) and supply chains in Australia above the retail level. Previous research (eg McKetin, McLaren, & Kelly, 2005) has examined retail methamphetamine markets in Australia. Governments and policymakers are interested in determining which interventions are more or less effective than others, such that the scarce funding resources can be allocated in the most efficient manner possible. There is scant research available to law enforcement to guide such decisions. The main impediments to such research are the fundamental methodological challenges inherent in such an undertaking. This project is an attempt to conduct a preliminary analysis comparing the costs and impacts of different types of law enforcement. It is a ground-breaking study as this has not been previously attempted and it should be seen as the initial development of a methodological approach that can be improved upon with subsequent research. The project aimed to determine the relative cost-to-impact ratios of different law enforcement strategies aimed at reducing methamphetamine production and distribution. In an environment focused on efficiency in resource allocation, it is hoped that this research will provide the impetus for further research on the effectiveness of drug law enforcement. As the results of such research accumulate, it is hoped that policymakers will be able to use the information to improve decision making on law enforcement investment. As with all research, this study has limitations, which we hope will be addressed in future research. The economic results should be read with these limitations in mind. • This study assessed the difference between four drug law enforcement interventions in terms of the impact (value of seized drugs) against expenditure (government costs). It is not a cost-effectiveness or a cost– benefit study. The results are reported in terms of the ranking of the interventions against each other. This study does not allow one to draw conclusions about the overall efficiency or value for money represented by drug law enforcement. Future research, which builds on this work, could include a cost-effectiveness analysis, between drug law enforcement interventions and across drug law enforcement and other interventions which reduce methamphetamine use (such as drug treatment). • In this evaluation, the measure of policing impact was the monetary value of seized methamphetamine (or precursor). This is an imperfect impact measure. Drug law enforcement that results in seized product can also impact on the overall capacity of a criminal network. • This study used the value of seized drugs as the measure to compare law enforcement interventions. However, drug law enforcement may change other financial aspects for drug criminals, such as increase the costs of manufacture and distribution (by seizing assets), increase the risks of arrest and imprisonment (opportunity costs) and increase the operational costs of running a business (costs of new avoidance strategies adopted against drug law enforcement). The aggregate costs are the losses to illicit drug enterprises due to drug law enforcement activities. A comprehensive analysis would include each of these aspects and calculate ‘total loss’ due to drug law enforcement. However, in this preliminary work, we were not able to cost each of these components and hence used only replacement costs (seizures) to represent the loss. • There are other important impacts of drug law enforcement interventions—deterrence, public safety and public amenity, and disruptions on other crimes that criminal networks are engaged in that have not been included in this study; future research could adopt the broader, taxpayer (societal) perspective, rather than policing agency perspective. • In this study, we evaluate the relative impact of discrete law enforcement interventions. However, in reality, law enforcement interventions are likely to exert synergistic effects such that the combined impact of a suite of interventions is likely to be greater than the sum of the impact of individual interventions. Thus, an important caveat to our results relates to the cumulative impact of law enforcement interventions. The current project did not examine the impact of cumulative or multi-pronged interventions. • There is a substantial lack of data across many areas of illicit drug markets. We had difficulty obtaining methamphetamine price data, information about market structure, police agency budgets and detailed seizure data. Some of these data, such as information about markets, involves ethnographic research. For quantitative data, consideration should be given to the development of data collection systems which would facilitate illicit drug market and law enforcement effectiveness research (eg collection of data which connects price and purity of seizures). • Our study did not include the relative impact of precursor regulations and the enforcement of these regulations, nor did it include source country interventions conducted by Australian law enforcement. There is currently very little empirical evidence to guide policy decisions about drug enforcement interventions directed to methamphetamine. In fact, the paucity of research on the effectiveness of law enforcement across all illicit drugs ‘continues to pose a major barrier to applying these policies effectively’ (Babor, et al., 2010 p. 258.) Decisions about which methamphetamine supply control policy to fund, which policies should receive increased funding, or how to derive the most effective balance of priorities, are currently uninformed by the results of research. There is a clear and pressing need for further research that examines the effectiveness of law enforcement interventions directed at methamphetamine. The current study aims to begin to fill this gap. Details: Canberra: National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, 2012. 133p. Source: Internet Resource: Monograph Series No. 44: Accessed November 24, 2012 at: http://www.ndlerf.gov.au/pub/Monograph_44.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Australia URL: http://www.ndlerf.gov.au/pub/Monograph_44.pdf Shelf Number: 126990 Keywords: AmphetaminesDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug EnforcementDrug MarketsDrug OffendersDrug TreatmentIllegal DrugsMethamphetamine (Australia) |
Author: Diplock, Jordan Title: Clandestine Drug Laboratories In British Columbia Summary: This report describes the results of a study undertaken to find out more about synthetic drug production operations, specifically methamphetamine in British Columbia. The study sought to provide a picture of selected characteristics of clandestine synthetic drug labs discovered by police in recent years, giving particular attention to how these labs came to the attention of police and how, as cases, they were investigated, prosecuted, and sentenced. Further, the study sought to describe the nature of these labs and the characteristics of the offenders involved. Details: Abbottsford, BC: Centre for Criminal Justice Research (CCJR) University College of the Fraser Valley, 2005. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed January 23, 2013 at: http://www.ufv.ca/Assets/CCJR/CCJR+Resources/CCJR+Publications/Clandestine_Labs_BC_(English).pdf Year: 2005 Country: Canada URL: http://www.ufv.ca/Assets/CCJR/CCJR+Resources/CCJR+Publications/Clandestine_Labs_BC_(English).pdf Shelf Number: 127357 Keywords: Illegal DrugsMethamphetamines (Canada)Synthetic Drug Laboratories |
Author: Asha, Omar Title: Khat -- A Drug of Growing Abuse Summary: The National Association of Somali Women in Sweden and together with the Swedish National Association of Immigrants Against Drugs (SIMON) have taken educational mat erial. Our purpose is to stop the spread of drugs by using the force of knowledge and personal involvement. In order to create a strong public opinion against khat and to support individual khat abusers, it is necessary to have basic knowledge about khat, about its history, about the development of a drug dependence, about consequences of khat abuse for the family and the economy etc. In this booklet we write frankly about khat, about our views on drugs and about how the drug abuser is affected by his or her abuse. We approach the topic step by step with the aim of assisting group discussions founded on fact-based material. The purpose of this study material, Khat – a drug of growing abuse, is to enable discussions and thinking about the khat drug. Details: Brussels: Europe Against Drugs, 2008. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 16, 2013 at: http://www.eurad.net/filestore/PDF/Khatpublication.pdf Year: 2008 Country: International URL: http://www.eurad.net/filestore/PDF/Khatpublication.pdf Shelf Number: 128381 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionIllegal DrugsKhat |
Author: Nyrop, Kris Title: An Ethnographic Comparison of Public Venue Drug Markets in Two Seattle Neighborhoods Summary: The purpose of this project was to provide an ethnographic picture of the demographic composition of two public venue drug areas in Seattle. Of particular interest was the difference (if any) between the demographic composition and structure of public venue narcotics sales between the area surrounding Second and Pike in downtown and one 15 blocks away in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. To that end the following methods were used: • on randomized days and times ethnographers carried out observations of the following areas: Second and Pike and, Broadway and Denny (both areas described below). The area around Second and Pike was observed in two waves of thirty (30) hours each and Broadway was observed in one wave of thirty (30) hours and a follow-up observation of ten (10) hours, resulting in a total of 100 observation hours. • ethnographers looked for and recorded all indications of drug sales that occurred in these locations. Ethnographers recorded the perceived race/ethnicity those engaged in transactions, the gender of those involved, and the nature of the transaction (i.e., whether individuals involved were engaged in drug purchase or the referral of buyer to seller or actual sale, which we termed “delivery”). This report is based on those observations and highlights the nature of these public venue drug markets and notes key differences and similarities. In particular, it calls attention to the differences between the two markets and the difference between publicly observable law enforcement practices in each market. Details: Seattle, WA: Street Outreach Services, 2003. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 17, 2013 at: http://www.kcba.org/druglaw/pdf/ethnographicstudy.pdf Year: 2003 Country: United States URL: http://www.kcba.org/druglaw/pdf/ethnographicstudy.pdf Shelf Number: 128383 Keywords: Drug Markets (Seattle, WA, U.S.)Illegal DrugsNarcotic DrugsNeighborhoods and Crime |
Author: Carter, Connie I. Title: Getting to Tomorrow: A Report on Canadian Drug Policy Summary: The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition is a broad coalition of non-governmental organizations and individuals committed to working with Canadians to create an approach to drug problems that will take a radical new direction—a course that will put the protection of public health and safety, social justice and equity at the forefront of Canada’s response to drugs. The primary goal of this report is to provide an overview of the state of Canadian drug policy by focusing the lens on key issues of concern to Canadians: public safety, access to services and supports for people with drug problems, national-level drug policy, and Canada’s escalating role in the international war on drugs. This report highlights the failing role that current federal drug policies play in supporting safety and health and draws attention to the acute need for an improved system of supports for people who use drugs including harm reduction. This report also highlights the patchwork of provincial policies and services that support people with drug problems. These policies, while valiant attempts to integrate and streamline services, do not always translate into meaningful changes on the front lines. This report also calls for a review of the overall use of the criminal law in responding to the use of illegal substances and drug related problems. The findings of this report, based on interviews with changemakers and service providers, and scans of important documents and research, reveals that Canada is at a crossroads when it comes to drug laws and policies. A new direction in drug policy is required. We can continue to work within the paradigm of drug prohibition or we can begin to explore alternative approaches and chart a new course that can help save lives, respect human rights and be more cost effective. The use of illegal substances is a complex issue and people use drugs for many reasons. Most people do not experience significant problems because of their drug use, some do develop drug problems, and others may experience clear benefits from illegal drug use. But despite deep public purse investments in enforcement- based approaches, lifetime use of cannabis stands at 39.4% and the non-medical use of prescription opioids is the fourth most prevalent form of substance use in Canada behind only alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. Rates of hiv and hcv associated with drug use are unacceptably high particularly among some groups. In 2010, 30.4% of new infections in women versus 13.5 % of new cases in men were attributed to injection drug use. Cases of hiv attributed to injecting drug use among First Nations, Métis and Inuit persons have gone up to more than 50 per cent in the period spanning 2001 to 2008. Deaths related to overdose of prescription opiates whether used medically or non-medically have risen sharply and are estimated to be about 50% of annual drug deaths. But like hiv and Hepatitis C infections, overdose deaths are highly preventable. This report addresses some of the urgent changes needed to support a comprehensive harm reduction and public health approach to the prevention and treatment of overdose. Despite often heroic efforts at the provincial and local levels to improve the system of supports, many people still wait unacceptably long for services. Where sound and relatively safe treatments exist, provincial governments and health authorities drag their feet because of outmoded ideas about some drugs or shortsighted concerns about finances. The Federal government remains openly hostile to evidence-based measures like key harm reduction services and has clearly taken a punitive approach to addressing drug use problems. Failure by all levels of government to fully meet the needs of people with drug problems, means that some groups are still outright denied these lifesaving services and many community-based organizations struggle to meet the basic needs of their clients. These difficulties are particularly acute for residents in rural areas, women and First Nations, Métis and Inuit citizens. Canada still relies on the criminal law to curb illegal drug use and stem the growth of illegal drug markets. These laws and policies disproportionally target already marginalized groups. Canada also spends enormous amounts of money annually to prevent the purchase, use and distribution of illegal drugs both inside Canada and beyond its borders. The federal government has allocated $527.8 million for the National Anti-Drug strategy for 2012-2017, much of it on enforcement related activities. This strategy only accounts for a portion of government spending on drug control. “Activities such as rcmp drug enforcement, drug interdiction, and the use of the military in international drug control efforts, drive up policing, military and border security budgets. Cannabis remains a key target of these policing activities—cannabis possession charges numbered 61,406 in 2011, a rate of 178 per 100,000 people in Canada. Police reported incidents of cannabis possession are far higher than any other illegal drug (21 for cocaine possession and a rate of 30 for all other illegal drugs combined.) And incidents of cannabis possession have increased 16% between 2001 and 2011. Cannabis remains a lucrative market—annual retail expenditures on this substance are estimated to be about $357 million per year in bc alone. Cannabis is a popular drug, and its harmful effects are certainly less than alcohol and tobacco, but the potential financial benefits of regulated and taxable product like cannabis are completely unavailable to federal and provincial treasuries. Rather than curbing drug markets, drug enforcement has actually been shown to escalate drug trade violence. Canada’s prisons are already overcrowded and the effects of recently introduced mandatory minimum sentences for some drug crimes are yet to be fully felt. And because of poor data collection we still do not have a full picture of the effects of the millions of dollars spent every year on enforcing Canada’s drug laws. One of the most urgent issues affecting Canadians is discrimination against people who use illegal drugs. This discrimination and the accompanying hostility towards people who use drugs can be felt in the derogatory statements that appear routinely in media reports of public debates about services. The recommendations in this report address the need for urgent change in three key areas: drug law reform, discrimination, services and supports. 1. Modernize Canada’s legislative, policy and regulatory frameworks that address psychoactive substances. We call for the replacement of the National Anti-Drug Strategy with one focused on health and human rights, the decriminalization of all drugs for personal use and the creation of a regulatory system for adult cannabis use. 2. Support and expand efforts to implement evidence- based approaches to eliminate stigma and discrimination, and social and health inequities that affect people who use drugs. 3. Support the scaling-up of comprehensive health and social services, including housing and treatment services that engage people with drug problems. Increase support for efforts to reduce the harms of substance use which includes robust educational programs about safer drug use, programs for distributing new supplies for injection and crack cocaine use, safer consumption services, opioid substitution therapies and heroin assisted treatment. Ensure these services are part of larger public health approach to substance use that respects the human rights of people who use drugs. Details: Vancouver, BC: Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, 2013. 112 p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 18, 2013 at: http://drugpolicy.ca/report/CDPC2013_en.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Canada URL: http://drugpolicy.ca/report/CDPC2013_en.pdf Shelf Number: 129029 Keywords: DecriminalizationDrug Abuse and AddictionDrug Policy (Canada)Illegal Drugs |
Author: Rasul, Imran Title: Crime and the Depenalization of Cannabis Possession: Evidence from a Policing Experiment Summary: We evaluate the impact on crime of a localized policing experiment that depenalized the possession of small quantities of cannabis in the London borough of Lambeth. Theory suggests such a policy will: (i) impact the size of the market for cannabis in Lambeth as well as neighboring boroughs as drug users move to Lambeth to purchase cannabis; (ii) allow the police to reallocate effort towards other types of crime. We investigate whether such changing crime patterns are observed during and after the depenalization policy is introduced in Lambeth using administrative records on criminal offences by drug type, by specific drug offences that proxy demand and supply side criminal activities, and for seven types of non-drug crime. We find that depenalization in Lambeth led to an increase in cannabis possession offences that persisted well after the policy experiment ended. Half of the increase is attributable to drugs tourism into Lambeth from neighboring boroughs after depenalization. We find little evidence that the policy caused the police to reallocate effort towards Class-A drug crime, rather the evidence suggests the police in Lambeth reallocate their effort towards non-drug crime: there are significant reductions in five non-drug crime types, and significant improvements in police effectiveness against such crimes as measured by arrest and clear-up rates. These nuanced results provide new insights for the current policy debate on the regulation of illicit drugs markets. Details: London: University College London, 2011. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed July 17, 2013 at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctpimr/research/depenalization.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctpimr/research/depenalization.pdf Shelf Number: 129421 Keywords: DecriminalizationDrug Control PolicyDrug Law Enforcement (U.K.)Illegal DrugsMarijuana |
Author: Derghougassian, Khatchik Title: Under (Loose) Control: Drug Trafficking in Argentina Summary: Since the emergence of drug trafficking as a major concern on the international security agenda in early 1980s, Argentina generally has remained peripheral in the global illicit market, and was seldom characterized as a country for transit and money laundering. This situation, however, changed by the end of the 20th century when the levels of drug consumption rose dramatically in Argentine society and several official reports revealed the important role that the national industry played in providing the chemical products for cocaine and other synthetic drugs processing. Yet, despite some disturbing episodes of drug-related violence that seem involving Colombian and Mexican cartels, the structure of the local drug market, both distribution and consumption, remains under control. The main reason for this loose control that avoids the outburst of violence on a major scale is decades-old symbiosis of delinquents, police and political interests commonly labeled as the “Triple P” -standing for thugs, police and politicians (Pandillas, Policía, Políticos). Based on this hypothetical argument, this paper provides a historical perspective of the inclusion of Argentina as a peripheral market in global drug trafficking to focus on the structural evolution of the phenomenon since the 1980s up to the actuality. We are mainly concerned in explaining the shift of Argentina from a country for transit to a consumers market, as well as identifying the incoming and outgoing flows of global trafficking of the illicit drug industry, to analyze its implications for predictable changes within the Triple P structure. Details: Buenos Aires;Universidad de San Andrés, 2012. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2013 at: http://www.udesa.edu.ar/files/UAHumanidades/DT/DT%20Ciencias%20Sociales/DT15_Khatchik_DerGhougassian.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Argentina URL: http://www.udesa.edu.ar/files/UAHumanidades/DT/DT%20Ciencias%20Sociales/DT15_Khatchik_DerGhougassian.pdf Shelf Number: 129519 Keywords: Drug Trafficking (Argentina)Drug-Related ViolenceIllegal DrugsIllicit MarketsOrganized Crime |
Author: Calafat, Amador Title: Night Life in Europe and Recreative Drug Use. SONAR 98. Summary: Young Europeans of the third millennium are the inheritors of a society defined in terms of consumption and opulence. These are young people born in the welfare society where leisure and entertainment take on a hegemonic value in social structure criteria. In contrast to the industrial order of a society orientated towards work and production, leisure time emerges as a restoration force of the individual qualities disguised or repressed by working conditions. Leisure is, therefore, defined as a success in welfare societies, as the space where individuals are liberated from the obligations imposed on them by the labour world, etiquette and routine, in order to devote time to those other activities which are freely chosen and which enable them to expand their better qualities. But leisure has also been assimilated by the market and is being defined by consumption criteria which have given rise to a very active leisure industry which is well-established and ever-expanding with an active role in creating life style criteria. Having the free time to devote to "oneself ", to "liberate oneself ", is already a criterion in the definition of the quality of life and, therefore, a necessity. But experiencing leisure does not only depend on having free time but on doing something in this time which is supposedly one's own, doing something considered creative and liberating, and taking part in the leisure industry. One of the social groups which has most appropriated the leisure space is the one comprising young people and this has led to the expansion of an industry and a market specifically engaged in promoting a supply of products, places and services, exclusively for this group. In particular, juvenile recreation is one of those sectors which has seen enormous expansion in the last twenty years, with activities closely linked to the weekends and holiday season, and which take place in specific spaces where the music, fashion and the use of legal and illegal addictive substances create the context of the entertainment. At the same time, the changes produced in this organisation of time are fundamental to understanding the dynamic of post-modern societies. Whereas the majority of activities relating to social reproduction, such as work, family life, studies, travel, etc., take place during the day, the night is the period of time devoted to rest, leisure and entertainment. During the night, although the majority of people remain in their houses, relaxing or sleeping, a part of the population, which includes a large number of young people, choose the night to go out and enjoy themselves, to take part in a ritualised meeting which may be with friends or with those people with whom they most identify themselves or with whom they can share the activities appropriate to that time. The places where the young people go are generally public spaces distributed in different areas of the city, and in each one of these places an environment has been created to suit specific activities. The environment, the dress, the type of people and the music, in particular, are the principal elements in giving these places their identity. Details: Palma de Mallorca, Spain: IREFREA and European Commission, 242p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 12, 2014 at: http://www.irefrea.org/uploads/PDF/Calafat%20et%20al_1999_SONAR%2098.pdf Year: 1999 Country: Europe URL: http://www.irefrea.org/uploads/PDF/Calafat%20et%20al_1999_SONAR%2098.pdf Shelf Number: 131876 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionIllegal Drugs |
Author: Myrstol, Brad A. Title: The Predictive Validity of Marijuana Odor Detection: An Examination of Alaska State Trooper Case Reports 2006-2010 Summary: This study provides an empirical estimate of the extent to which Alaska State Troopers (AST) investigators' detection of marijuana odors served as a reliable indicator of the presence of illegal quantities of marijuana in suspected structures/buildings. It also provides a detailed description of marijuana grow searches conducted by AST investigators. Data were compiled from the case records for all marijuana grow searches conducted by AST for the years 2006-2010 (n=333). Details: Anchorage, AK: UAA Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage, 2012. 61p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2014 at: http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/research/2010/1110.02.ast.marijuana/1110.02.marijuana.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://justice.uaa.alaska.edu/research/2010/1110.02.ast.marijuana/1110.02.marijuana.pdf Shelf Number: 131954 Keywords: Drug DetectionDrug EnforcementIllegal DrugsMarijuana |
Author: Pew Research Center Title: America's New Drug Policy Landscape: Two-Thirds Favor Treatment, Not Jail, for Use of Heroin, Cocaine Summary: The public appears ready for a truce in the long-running war on drugs. A national survey by the Pew Research Center finds that 67% of Americans say that the government should focus more on providing treatment for those who use illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Just 26% think the government's focus should be on prosecuting users of such hard drugs. Support for a treatment-based approach to illegal drug use spans nearly all demographic groups. And while Republicans are less supportive of the treatment option than are Democrats or independents, about half of Republicans (51%) say the government should focus more on treatment than prosecution in dealing with illegal drug users. As a growing number of states ease penalties for drug possession, the public expresses increasingly positive views of the move away from mandatory sentences for non-violent drug crimes. By nearly two-to-one (63% to 32%), more say it is a good thing than a bad thing that some states have moved away from mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders. In 2001, Americans were evenly divided over the move by some states to abandon mandatory drug terms. The survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Feb. 14-23 among 1,821 adults, finds that support for the legalization of marijuana use continues to increase. And fully 75% of the public - including majorities of those who favor and oppose the legal use of marijuana - think that the sale and use of marijuana will eventually be legal nationwide. Details: Washington, DC: Pew Research Center, 2014. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 23, 2014 at: http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/04-02-14%20Drug%20Policy%20Release.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/04-02-14%20Drug%20Policy%20Release.pdf Shelf Number: 132147 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug Abuse PolicyDrug EnforcementDrug OffendersDrug Policy (U.S.)Drug TreatmentIllegal DrugsPublic Opinion |
Author: Eventon, Ross Title: Eyes Wide Shut: Corruption and Drug-Related Violence in Rosario Summary: Drug trafficking is not a new phenomenon in the Argentinian city of Rosario. Since the 1990s, and largely under the public radar, the distribution of illicit drugs in the poor, peripheral neighbourhoods of the city has been managed by family-run gangs and small-time dealers; poverty and social marginalisation have facilitated the trade; young gang members, known as soldados, have fought over territory; local demand for illegal drugs has provided the engine; illicit profits have been laundered in collaboration with local lawyers and financial advisors; and corruption among the police and local officials has ensured that the main traffickers, while their identities are widely known, can operate with few concerns other than threats from rivals. This last element appears to explain why, until the issue was forced into the public domain, there had been a conspicuous lack of political concern with drug trafficking in the city. The change came on New Year's Day 2012. That day, three community activists were shot and killed in the Villa Moreno neighbourhood by gang members who mistook them for rivals. The killings were not unique, but the victims were: unlike the usual casualties, the activists had a movement behind them. Their deaths led to local demonstrations and calls for action. The press and local officials were suddenly impelled to pay attention to drug trafficking and related violence. Since then, a spate of official investigations has deepened public understanding of the nature of the drug trade in the city. They have also provided further evidence of the complicity of the security forces and the negligence of the state that have long been known to facilitate trafficking. Recommendations - Maintain the focus on the leadership of the most powerful and violent gangs, including following the money trail, and reverse the trend where simply increasing the number of security forces in violent areas is considered a sufficient policy response. - Re-focus the judiciary away from a two-tiered approach: recognize underage gang members as a vulnerable population, and that confronting the culture of violence will require special initiatives. - Root out corruption in the local and provincial security forces, recognise the way the state's approach facilitates this complicity, and produce more reliable statistics to better inform policymakers. Details: Amsterdam: Transnational Institute, 2013. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Series on Drug Markets and Violence, Nr 1: Accessed May 10, 2014 at: http://www.tni.org/sites/www.tni.org/files/download/dmv1.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Argentina URL: http://www.tni.org/sites/www.tni.org/files/download/dmv1.pdf Shelf Number: 132314 Keywords: CorruptionDrug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceGangsHomicidesIllegal DrugsPovertyViolent Crime |
Author: Segura, Renata Title: The Global Drug Policy Debate. Experiences from the Americas and Europe Summary: The cultivation, trafficking and consumption of illegal drugs have historically posed a multilayered series of challenges to the state: from how to minimize health risks and provide treatment and support to those who use drugs, to the security and governance threats posed by trafficking groups and networks. While global in nature, the challenges presented by the illicit drug trade are also contextual. Lack of progress in addressing the manifold challenges posed by the illicit drug trade has led to a growing acknowledgement of the need for a serious rethink of global drugs policy. The authors underscore the importance of, and encourage the creation of national and regional commissions that are tasked with reviewing current drug policies and recommending changes. It also examines current calls in Latin American for a review of the so-called 'war on drugs', highlighting the role that outspoken leaders are playing in shaping the debate on drug policy, as well as current shifts from a policing-focused approach to one that accounts for the safety and health of drug users. The paper looks in particular detail at the experiences of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, arguing that other transit regions such as West Africa should consider implementing multi-faceted strategies to respond to drug trafficking and the growing incidence of drug consumption. In this regard, it highlights examples of how exclusive reliance on repressive strategies known as mano dura can often backfire, resulting in the displacement of trafficking routes, an increase in violence, prison overcrowding and further marginalization of vulnerable populations. Finally, it highlights some actions the West Africa Commission on Drugs might adopt for its own advocacy strategy including strategic diplomacy, the development and dissemination of empirically-grounded papers on the impact of drug trafficking, drug consumption and treatment in the West Africa sub-region, and discussions and debates with relevant stakeholders on the findings of such reports; engagement of civil society; and raising of public awareness. The West Africa Commission on Drugs is faced with the difficult task of advocating for policies aimed at preventing or mitigating problems of drug use, criminality, violence, and threats to governability that have been experienced by other countries, without having complete certainty on how -or even if- the same challenges will arise in Africa. Carrier and Klantsching, in their book "Africa and the War on Drugs" argue that historical analysis would indicate that Africa might be spared from the destiny of the Andean countries, and that more harm can be done by implementing a prohibitionist regime that assumes an identical path will be followed. This warning should not fall on deaf ears. However, critics of their argument have underscored the dangers of understating the "growing power of drug money in African electoral politics, local and traditional governance, and security" (Gberie, 2012; Cockayne, 2012). They have also pointed out that having a critical perspective on the existing drug control regime must not mean turning a blind eye to the threats that come with drug trafficking and consumption, such as corruption and the emergence of criminalized states (Kavanagh et al, 2013). Similarly, while drug consumption rates currently remain relatively low in Africa, the situation can change rapidly, as happened in some Latin American countries. As noted by UNODC (2013), there are already strong indications that drug use is on the rise in West Africa. It is naturally easier to achieve the political support needed to implement policies that respond to serious problems, such as a health epidemic or extended violence, than to embrace innovative and data-based policies in order to prevent or mitigate these problems. Explaining to both elites and the population why it is indispensable that West Africa act assertively to pre-empt a situation that may emerge will be a central challenge for the WACD. This paper examines such efforts in the Americas and Europe, drawing lessons for West Africa. It argues that the current drug control regime does provide some leeway for implementing policy reforms that move away from the prohibitionist regime, and provides examples of alternative policies that have been introduced by national and local authorities in different countries. The paper provides examples from Europe to underscore the importance of using empirical research and sound data to design drug policies, highlighting successful examples of harm reduction programs, and examining ways in which governments have moved away from legal frameworks that rely on the criminalization of drug use. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Kofi Annan Foundation and the West Africa Commission on Drugs, 2013. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: WACD Background Paper No. 7: Accessed August 12, 2014 at: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Global-Drug-Policy-Debate-Experiences-2013-11-28.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Global-Drug-Policy-Debate-Experiences-2013-11-28.pdf Shelf Number: 133013 Keywords: Drug EnforcementDrug PolicyDrug ReformDrug TraffickingIllegal DrugsIllicit TradeWar on Drugs |
Author: Diarisso, Boubacar Title: Illicit drug trading in Dakar: Dimensions and intersections with governance Summary: The authors provide a thorough analysis of the situation with regard to illegal drugs in Senegal's capital, Dakar. The paper focuses on cannabis, cocaine and heroine, as well as counterfeit pharmaceutical products. It discusses the extent of cultivation, patterns of consumption, international trafficking methods and routes, the role of women, police action and the impact of trafficking on governance. It is concluded that while there is no evidence that hard drugs are manufactured in Dakar and there are insufficient indicators for Dakar being a drug trafficking hub, it is evident that crime networks are interested in exploiting the city for the channelling of drugs to other parts of the world. Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2014. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 260: Accessed August 14, 2014 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper260.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Senegal URL: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Paper260.pdf Shelf Number: 133052 Keywords: Drug MarketsDrug Trafficking (Senegal) Illegal DrugsOrganized Crime |
Author: Great Britain. National Crime Agency Title: National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2014 Summary: If there is a single cross-cutting issue that has changed the landscape for serious and organised crime and our response against it, it is the growth in scale and speed of internet communication technologies. The online streaming of real-time child sexual exploitation and abuse is a growing threat. Cyber techniques have proliferated and are used ever more extensively by wider serious and organised crime groups to commit 'traditional' crimes (see Section 1: Cross-cutting issues for cyber-enabled crime). As more government services go online, including tax collection, there is an increasing risk of online attacks and fraud against the public sector. Large scale attacks on public as well as private online services erode consumer confidence, which affects the UK's social and economic well-being and reduces the attractiveness of the UK as a place to do business. 84% of all cases of identity fraud are delivered by the internet. The pace of development of deployable criminal tools is such that we anticipate an increase in the targeted compromise of UK networked systems, more ransom-ware attacks and distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks against business-critical systems. Corruption is another key cross-cutting issue, the impact of which is disproportionate to the level and frequency at which it occurs, with serious ramifications in terms of confidence towards the public and private sectors and in undermining trust in government. Proceeds of corruption and bribery amounting to millions of pounds from some international politically exposed persons (PEPs) have been laundered through UK financial systems including banks and investment property. The scale of the laundering of criminal proceeds, despite the UK's leading role in developing international standards to tackle it, is a strategic threat to the UK's economy and reputation. Some of the same financial transfer systems used by serious and organised criminals in the UK are also used by terrorist groups both domestically and overseas. The UK and its dependent territories are believed to have been the destination for billions of pounds of European criminal proceeds. We assess that the supply of heroin from Afghanistan, amphetamine processing/production in the UK and the supply of new psychoactive substances are all likely to increase, and that the supply of cocaine from South America is likely to remain at a high rate. The impact of the illegal drugs trade in the countries where they are sourced and those through which they are trafficked can be significant and undermines states and government structures. In some cases it has the potential to damage UK strategic partnerships. Human trafficking is widely recognised as a significant global problem. Work to scope the extent of criminality behind the trafficking of human beings continues in order to improve the understanding of modern slavery. We assess that irregular migrants already in the UK will continue to provide a pool of people that serious and organised criminals can exploit by selling them forged or counterfeit documents to support fraudulent applications for leave to remain in the UK. We also assess that criminal exploitation of the legitimate supply of firearms to the UK marketplace will increase. There is also a concern that weapons, whether from illegal or legitimate sources, might find their way into the hands of extremists. All of the most serious crime threats are transnational. Commodities of all types - including, for example, trafficked people destined for modern slavery, intangibles targeted in fraud and cyber crime - either come from or transit through often unstable countries. Corruption in these countries both feeds off the proceeds of the crime and contributes in turn to instability. The criminal exploitation of corrupt and unstable governments or countries can directly threaten UK national security. Details: London: National Crime Agency, 2014. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2014 at: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/207-nca-strategic-assessment-of-serious-and-organised-crime/file Year: 2014 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/207-nca-strategic-assessment-of-serious-and-organised-crime/file Shelf Number: 133466 Keywords: Child Sexual ExploitationCybercrimeDrug TraffickingHuman TraffickingIllegal DrugsIllegal GunsNational SecurityOnline VictimizationOrganized Crime (U.K.)Violent Crime |
Author: Kamminga, Jorrit Title: Opium poppy licensing in Turkey: A model to solve Afghanistan's illegal opium economy? Summary: The report analyses the Turkish opium licensing system as a way to illustrate the "normality" of such an industry. The latter function is important for the current debate on using similar systems in other countries. In Afghanistan, for example, the opium poppy is still solely associated with illegal drug consumption, drug trafficking, crime and insurgency. On the contrary, in Turkey, opium poppies are regarded as both traditional medicine and an essential part of a rich cooking tradition. As such, the poppy licensing industry in Turkey should be regarded less a direct example of how to implement a similar model in Afghanistan, but more as an illustration of an alternative, non-politicised way of looking at the opium poppy plant and its potential benefits for Afghanistan. Details: Kabul, Afghanistan: International Council on Security and Development, 2011. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 2, 2014 at: http://www.icosgroup.net/static/reports/Opium_Licensing_Turkey_Jorrit_Kamminga.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Turkey URL: http://www.icosgroup.net/static/reports/Opium_Licensing_Turkey_Jorrit_Kamminga.pdf Shelf Number: 133549 Keywords: Drug PolicyDrug TraffickingHeroinIllegal DrugsOpium Poppy Cultivation |
Author: Kachin Women's Association Thailand Title: Silent Offensive: How Burma Army strategies are fuelling the Kachin drug crisis Summary: "Silent Offensive" by the Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT) reveals how the Burma Army is allowing its local militia to grow opium and produce heroin and other drugs in exchange for fighting against the KIA. As Burmese troops and their allies have progressively seized control of KIA areas, drug production has been increasing. The main opium growing areas in Kachin State are now in Chipwi and Waingmaw townships, under the control of the Burma Army and its local Border Guard Forces led by Zakhung Ting Ying, a National Assembly MP. In northern Shan State, opium is booming in areas under the Burma Army and thirteen government militia forces, four of whose leaders are MPs in the Shan State Assembly. Opium, heroin and methamphetamines are flooding from these government-controlled areas into Kachin communities, worsening existing problems of drug abuse, particularly among youth. It is estimated that about one third of students in Myitkyina and Bhamo universities are injecting drug users. The report details the harrowing impacts of the drug crisis on women, who struggle to support their families while husbands and sons sell off household property and steal to feed their addiction. Frustrated with the authorities' lack of political will to deal with the drug problem, women are taking a lead among local communities in setting up their own programs to combat drugs. KWAT critiques UNODC and other international donors for not focusing on the role of the war, and particularly the anti-insurgency policies of the government, in fuelling the drug problem in Burma. KWAT urges all stakeholders to focus on finding a just political settlement to the conflict as an urgent priority in tackling the drug crisis. Details: Chiang Mai, Thailand: Kachin Women's Association Thailand (KWAT), 2014. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2014 at: http://www.kachinwomen.com/images/7Oct14Report/silent_offensive_drug_report_english.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Burma URL: http://www.kachinwomen.com/images/7Oct14Report/silent_offensive_drug_report_english.pdf Shelf Number: 133914 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionHeroinIllegal DrugsNarcotics (Burma)Opium |
Author: Goodhand, Jonathan Title: Drugs, (dis)order and agrarian change: the political economy of drugs and its relevance to international drug policy Summary: In May 2014 the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) hosted a workshop, co-funded by NOREF and Christian Aid, designed to facilitate dialogue between scholars working on the political economy of drugs, conflict and development in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The workshop explored how political economy perspectives, derived from long-term empirical research on drugs-affected regions, can enhance understanding of, and policy responses to, drug production and trafficking. This approach, rather than seeing drugs as "exceptional" and "criminal", seeks to situate the role of illicit economies within broader processes of state formation and agrarian change. Contributions to the workshop revealed the highly differentiated and context-specific dynamics of drug economies, and how different configurations of institutions and security markets can lead to different kinds of relationships between drugs, state-building, agrarian change and development. This research does not lend itself to simple policy narratives or prescriptions, but it does suggest that there can be no universal and de-contextualised solutions to "the drug problem". Dogmatic and irreconcilable positions, adopted by both those advocating harsher prohibition and those arguing for blanket decriminalisation, fail to reflect sufficiently on the impacts such policies will have on drug-producing countries. A more grounded, comparative perspective is urgently needed in an arena where policies are often anything but evidence based and where data are patchy or politicised. Counter-narcotic (CN) strategies, based on a reification of the perceived linkages between drugs, instability and state fragility, often provide only a partial, and in some cases deeply misleading, insight into the economic and political orders that emerge around drug production. Political economy provides a corrective to these deeply entrenched biases and blind spots, by incorporating an analysis of aspects of drug economies and counter narcotics (CN) strategies that are frequently treated as residual or circumvented, including the varying levels and types of violence surrounding drug economies; the complex motives of those involved in drug production and trafficking; the linkages between licit and illicit commodities in processes of agrarian transformation; the potential developmental outcomes of drugs economies; the relationship between illicit economies and differing configurations of authority and rule; and a socially differentiated account of who gains and who loses from counter-narcotics policies. In doing so, political economy approaches provide a powerful analytical lens for developing a more contextually attuned public policy on drugs. Details: Oslo: Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre (NOREF), 2014. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Occasional Publication: Accessed November 4, 2014 at: http://www.peacebuilding.no/var/ezflow_site/storage/original/application/6ae957894148ed319a377eee7c775065.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.peacebuilding.no/var/ezflow_site/storage/original/application/6ae957894148ed319a377eee7c775065.pdf Shelf Number: 133967 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug PolicyDrug TraffickingDrug-Related ViolenceIllegal Drugs |
Author: Sacco, Lisa N. Title: Drug Enforcement in the United States: History, Policy, and Trends Summary: The federal government prohibits the manufacturing, distribution, and possession of many intoxicating substances that are solely intended for recreational use (notable exceptions are alcohol and tobacco); however, the federal government also allows for and controls the medical use of many intoxicants. Federal authority to control these substances primarily resides with the Attorney General of the United States. Over the last decade, the United States has shifted its stated drug control policy toward a comprehensive approach; one that focuses on prevention, treatment, and enforcement. In order to restrict and reduce availability of illicit drugs in the United States, a practice referred to as "supply reduction," the federal government continues to place emphasis on domestic drug enforcement. According to the most recent drug control budget (FY2015) released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), approximately 60% of all federal drug control spending is dedicated to supply reduction, with approximately 37% of the total budget dedicated to domestic law enforcement. Federal agencies, primarily the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), enforce federal controlled substances laws in all states and territories, but the majority of drug crimes known to U.S. law enforcement are dealt with at the state level. In the United States in 2012, the DEA arrested 30,476 suspects for federal drug offenses while state and local law enforcement arrested 1,328,457 suspects for drug offenses. In many cases, federal agencies assist state and local agencies with drug arrests, and suspects are referred for state prosecution, and vice-versa. Most drug arrests are made by state and local law enforcement, and most of these arrests are for possession rather than sale or manufacture. In contrast, most federal drug arrests are for trafficking offenses rather than possession. Over the last 25 years the majority of DEA's arrests have been for cocaine-related offenses. Trends in federal drug enforcement may reflect the nation's changing drug problems and changes in the federal response to these problems. They also may reflect the federal government's priorities. Drug cases represent the second highest category of criminal cases filed by U.S. Attorneys; however, federal drug cases have steadily declined over the last decade. This report focuses on domestic drug enforcement. It outlines historic development and major changes in U.S. drug enforcement to help provide an understanding of how and why certain laws and policies were implemented and how these developments and changes shaped current drug enforcement policy. In the 19th century federal, state, and local governments were generally not involved in restricting or regulating drug distribution and use, but this changed substantially in the 20th century as domestic law enforcement became the primary means of controlling the nation's substance abuse problems. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Services, 2014. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: CRS R43749: Accessed November 12, 2014 at: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43749.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43749.pdf Shelf Number: 134066 Keywords: Drug ControlDrug Enforcement (U.S.)Drug OffendersDrug PolicyDrug RegulationsDrug TraffickingIllegal Drugs |
Author: Transform Drug Policy Foundation Title: Ending the War on Drugs: How to win the global drug policy debate Summary: This is a guide to making the case for drug policy and law reform from a position of confidence and authority, with a particular focus on the issue of legal regulation of currently illegal drug markets - an issue that is now core to the drugs debate. It is for every policymaker, media commentator, and campaigner who not only recognises that the 'war on drugs' is a counterproductive failure that is creating catastrophic unintended consequences, but who also wants to convince others to back reform. It will equip you with the constructive arguments, different approaches and nuanced messaging needed to address the concerns and interests of diverse audiences. This will enable you to not just win the argument, but make the new allies needed to turn the current unparalleled momentum for reform into concrete policy change nationally and internationally. Details: London: Transform Drug Policy Foundation, 2015. 176p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2015 at: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/resources/publications/ending-war-drugs-how-win-global-drug-policy-debate Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/resources/publications/ending-war-drugs-how-win-global-drug-policy-debate Shelf Number: 134951 Keywords: Drug Enforcement Drug Policy Drug Reform Drug Trafficking Illegal Drugs Illicit Trade War on Drugs |
Author: Goodman, Mary Beth Title: To Stem the Flow of Illicit Drugs from Afghanistan, Follow the Money Summary: Corruption poses an existential challenge to Afghanistan's stability, as well as its political and economic development. Under the leadership of President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, there is an opportunity for the United States to capitalize on the newly expressed political will of Afghanistan's elected leaders to curb corruption. Afghanistan's national unity government has prioritized the fight against the epidemic of graft plaguing the country, and this fight is intricately tied to the production and flow of drugs. Although the United States has invested $8 billion-as of December 30, 2014-in counternarcotics efforts, Afghanistan still leads the world in opium production, and its farmers are growing more opium than ever before. The sale of opium and cannabis - another drug of which Afghanistan is a leading cultivator on the international market - produces huge sums of cash that must be laundered, or made clean, so it can appear legitimate. This parallel market and the illicit financial transactions that sustain it have a debilitating impact on the rule of law in Afghanistan; undermine the legitimacy of government institutions; and ultimately impede the ability of the Afghan government to provide basic services to its citizens. Because no bank outside of Afghanistan denominates in the Afghani-the country's national currency-the state's drug trade runs on the flow of international currencies such as U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds. Moreover, the weak oversight of anti-money laundering controls coupled with the systemic corruption plaguing Afghan institutions serves to compound the narcotics conundrum. The Afghan drug trade poses an immediate and urgent threat to U.S. interests in Afghanistan and to the integrity of the Afghan state itself. Greater efforts must be made to stem the flow of money derived from the narcotics trade in order to significantly reduce Afghanistan's narcotics production and curb corruption. Details: Washington, DC: Center for American Progress, 2015. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 19, 2015 at: https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/AfghanistanNarcotics-brief.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Afghanistan URL: https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/AfghanistanNarcotics-brief.pdf Shelf Number: 134975 Keywords: Drug MarketsDrug TradeDrug TraffickingIllegal DrugsMoney LaunderingNarcotics (Afghanistan) |
Author: Afilipoaie, Alois Title: The Growing Industry of Darknet Marketing Summary: Tor's hidden services have allowed a new form of low-risk high-profit drug dealing to emerge and grow quickly over the last four years. Vendors of narcotics are utilising innovative marketing techniques that mirror those used by legal, 'real-world' and web-based businesses to promote and sell goods and services. These range from offers of free samples and discounts, to the use of banner adverts and brand management. Drug marketing is becoming increasingly sophisticated as more users and buyers flock to the Tor network and as hidden markets become more diversified and competitive. Details: Singleton Park, Swansea, UK: Global Drug Policy Observatory, 2015. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2015 at: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/GDPO%20SA%20Marketing.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/media/GDPO%20SA%20Marketing.pdf Shelf Number: 135157 Keywords: Drug DealingDrug Markets Illegal DrugsInternet Crimes |
Author: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Title: Drug use and its consequences in the Western Balkans: 2006-2014 Summary: This report focuses on Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia - all current candidate and potential candidate countries to the European Union (EU) in the Western Balkans. This is a region that has been characterized by considerable political and social transition since the early 1990s, including armed conflicts, intraregional migration and the displacement of large populations. Such situations can generate conditions conducive to a 'risk environment' for illicit drug use, particularly problem drug use, and related health and social consequences. Over the last 10-15 years, cooperation with the EU has developed at bilateral and regional levels, with the support of specific EU programmes such as Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation (CARDS) between 2000 and 2006 and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) from 2006 until today. As part of this process, closer cooperation and coordination have progressively been achieved in the area of drugs, and substantial progress has been made in recent years on the definition of national drug strategies and the setting up of national drug coordination mechanisms, including the establishment of national drug information systems and focal points. This report draws on those achievements and, in particular, on the data gathered and analysed in the national reports of Western Balkan countries to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). It aims to provide a regional overview of the dynamics of illicit drug use and associated health and social consequences. Details: Lisbon: EMCDDA, 2015. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2015 at: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_236339_EN_TD0215196ENN.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/attachements.cfm/att_236339_EN_TD0215196ENN.pdf Shelf Number: 135361 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction (Europe)Drug Abuse PolicyIllegal Drugs |
Author: Greenfield, Victoria A. Title: Reducing the Cultivation of Opium Poppies in Southern Afghanistan Summary: This report identifies a broad range of factors that drive opium poppy cultivation in southern Afghanistan, the locus of opium production in that country, and assesses the positive and negative effects of programs designed to promote rural development, eradicate opium poppies, or otherwise create incentives for farmers to reduce the cultivation of opium poppies. The authors consider the decision to cultivate opium poppy or other crops from the perspective of farmers who must balance concerns about household income and food sufficiency in the context of socio-economic and environmental factors that, for example, relate to security, eradication, and environmental risks; governance and religiosity; landholding terms and conditions; household circumstances; and agricultural input costs and commodity prices. A factor might encourage or discourage opium poppy cultivation and, in some instances, it could have indeterminate or conflicting effects. Then, the authors examine how rural development, crop eradication, and other programs touch on the factors - and affect poppy cultivation - through mechanisms that include subsidies on fertilizer, high-quality wheat seed, saplings and vines, and farm equipment and facilities; infrastructure investment; training; introduction of non-traditional crops; cash-for-work programs; improved market links; and non-agricultural rural income. On the basis of the assessment, the authors also provide advice on how to design programs that might better serve to reduce the cultivation of opium poppies in southern Afghanistan over the long term. Key Findings -A broad range of socio-economic and other environmental factors, relating to security, eradication, and environmental risks; governance and religiosity; landholding terms and conditions; household circumstances; and agricultural input costs and commodity prices, drive farmers' decisions to cultivate opium poppy or other crops. - Socio-economic and environmental factors that drive farmers' cultivation decisions can present indeterminate or conflicting incentives to produce opium poppy or other crops, depending largely on farmers' relative concerns for household income and food sufficiency and risk tolerance. In consequence, many or most programs can have divergent effects. - Substantial increases in rural incomes must occur before programs to reduce opium poppy cultivation can result in broad-based, sustained declines, but need not suffice. - Near-term, program-led declines in aggregate opium poppy cultivation are highly implausible, but programs can still be directed to foster necessary conditions, especially with regard to incomes, to create better conditions for reducing opium poppy cultivation over the long term. - A modest set of projects holds the most promise for opium poppy reductions, in that they might eventually steer farmers toward legal opportunities. Examples include projects that focus on substantially improving the relative returns of high-value, poppy-competing, legal commodities with well-established accessible markets and boosting rural wages. - The weight of the evidence suggests that a blanket policy of widespread eradication cannot shift southern Afghanistan's rural economy away from illegal cultivation, but does not rule out the possibility that eradication can play a strategic, targeted role, particularly over the longer-term, with advancement of incomes, good governance, and social change. Recommendations - Programs should focus on traditional agricultural products, such as fruit, nuts, grapes, and other perennial orchard crops, with well-established markets; improve product quality through better sorting, grading, and processing; establish stronger links between farms and markets; employ inexpensive, readily available, maintainable, and simple technologies; and try to reach a large enough number of farmers to stimulate and sustain associated support and marketing industries. - Programs should not try to introduce agricultural products new to Afghanistan; rely on complex technologies, especially those that need electricity and other not-yet developed or widely accessible supporting infrastructure; or fail to ensure a local market for the product. - Within the broad contours of that framework, programs that focus on substantially improving the relative returns of high-value, poppy-competing, legal commodities with well-established, accessible markets and boosting rural wages are more likely to shift the rural economy in the direction of legality than other programs over time, as incomes rise. - The weight of the evidence does not support a blanket policy of widespread eradication efforts in Helmand or Kandahar, but it does not rule out a strategic, targeted role, particularly over the longer-term, with advancement of incomes, good governance, and social change. Details: Santa Barbara, CA: RAND, 2015. 266p., app. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 9, 2015 at: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1000/RR1075/RAND_RR1075.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Afghanistan URL: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1000/RR1075/RAND_RR1075.pdf Shelf Number: 135987 Keywords: Crop EradicationIllegal Drug TradeIllegal DrugsOpium |
Author: Gandilhon, Michel Title: Chemical precursors, the unknown dimension of the world's illegal drug market Summary: Precursor trafficking draws little attention as efforts are focused on seizures of finished products listed as narcotics. Yet, this trafficking is a reality that now touches all continents and makes use of all major global trade routes. For the services responsible for controlling chemical precursors and preventing their trafficking, the task is extremely complex because, in contrast with finished products, the production and commerce of substances involved in the production of the majority of illegal drugs is in fact perfectly legal. Furthermore, to circumvent the controls established by international conventions and regulations, dealers constantly adapt by using unclassified substances. After presenting an overview in the first section of the global situation, and in particular, the main trafficking routes, this issue will discuss the latest trends, and especially the challenges facing Europe with the appearance on the market of new precursors and pre-precursors. The third section will be dedicated to the resources employed by the international community to fight against this phenomenon. Details: Saint Denis La Plaine Cedex: French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2014. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Drugs, International Challenges, no. 7: Accessed July 13, 2015 at: http://en.ofdt.fr/BDD/publications/docs/efdamgub.pdf Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://en.ofdt.fr/BDD/publications/docs/efdamgub.pdf Shelf Number: 135998 Keywords: Drug MarketsDrug TraffickingIllegal Drugs |
Author: UK Drug Policy Commission Title: Charting New Waters: Delivering drug policy at a time of radical reform and financial austerity Summary: The funding, commissioning, management and delivery structures for addressing the problems associated with illicit drugs in England are experiencing an unprecedented level of change. The government's 2010 Drug Strategy places considerable focus on improving the recovery outcomes for people with drug problems, alongside efforts to reduce the supply of drugs. It identifies the need for support from a range of different services such as employment, education and housing, and family networks to enable people to reintegrate into their communities. In contrast to the strong central oversight of previous drug strategies, it calls for far greater local control over service delivery by local areas and people accessing services. At the same time, substantial reductions in public spending are being implemented alongside wide-ranging public service reform, including structural changes to the NHS, policing and criminal justice reform and a drive to deliver the Big Society. These changes raise key questions, which our study set out to explore, about the ability of areas to achieve the ambitions of the Drug Strategy and around the future security of investment in drug interventions. With considerable additional resources for drug interventions over the last decade much has been achieved but there is a real risk that the current level of change will lead to the dilution of these gains, with negative consequences for drug users, their families, for wider communities, and indeed for the wider economy. Our study reveals a broad picture of upheaval and uncertainty and this summary sets out our study's main findings. The results will be relevant for national policy makers; commissioners and providers of drug treatment and recovery services; Directors of Public Health; those engaged in drug-related enforcement; and locally elected officials. Details: London: UKDPC, 2012. 119p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2015 at: http://www.ukdpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/charting-new-waters-delivering-drug-policy-at-a-time-of-radical-reform-and-financial-austerity.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.ukdpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/charting-new-waters-delivering-drug-policy-at-a-time-of-radical-reform-and-financial-austerity.pdf Shelf Number: 136484 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug Abuse and CrimeDrug PolicyDrug TreatmentIllegal Drugs |
Author: Gutierrez, Eric Title: Drugs and illicit practices: assessing their impact on development and governance Summary: The illicit drugs trade is now so powerful that it is virtually shaping the economies, governance and social fabric of entire nations, says a new report commissioned by Christian Aid. Entitled Drugs and Illicit Practices, assessing their impact on development and governance, the report examines four countries where an increasingly active drugs trade has begun to affect development. The countries are Afghanistan, which produces opium, and Colombia, where cocaine is manufactured, together with two major transit points for narcotics, Mali, from where cocaine from South America is moved north into Western Europe, and Tajikistan, through which heroin passes en route to more lucrative markets in Russia, as well as Eastern and Western Europe. The report shows how in each case, key state functions have effectively been subverted by the scale of the trade, citing instances where drug networks have become providers of much-needed jobs and investment, drug barons have been elected to government office and criminal syndicates serve as shadow sub-contractors of state security. This report has been produced by Christian Aid to broaden the debate on drugs policies worldwide prior to a special session of the United Nations General Assembly early next year to discuss the global drugs problem. It is a collection of case studies published in the names of its independent authors, with the views expressed not necessarily endorsed by Christian Aid. Details: London: Christian Aid, 2015. 114p. Source: Internet Resource: Christian Aid Occasional Paper: Accessed December 1, 2015 at: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/Drugs-and-illicit-practices-Eric-Gutierrez-Oct-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/Drugs-and-illicit-practices-Eric-Gutierrez-Oct-2015.pdf Shelf Number: 137374 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Drug Control Drug Policy Drug Reform Illegal Drugs |
Author: Coghlan, Sarah Title: Findings from the DUMA program: Impact of reduced methamphetamine supply on consumption of illicit drugs and alcohol Summary: Changes in illicit drug availability have been shown to impact users' alcohol and other drug consumption. In late 2000 and early 2001, Australia experienced a sudden and dramatic reduction in the supply of heroin which has continued to the present date. This shortage has been attributed to, at least in part, supply-side reduction strategies undertaken by law enforcement (Weatherburn et al. 2003). However, the benefits associated with this shortage were to some degree offset by the unintended consequence of displacement in illicit drug use, reflected in an increase in the use of other drugs, such as cocaine (Weatherburn et al. 2003). Research into the impact of the heroin shortage on illicit drug users has resulted in an awareness of the need to understand potential unintended outcomes of supply-side drug law enforcement strategies. Recent media articles and government inquiries have highlighted methamphetamine as a drug of particular concern in Australia, with both the purity and availability of methamphetamine currently being very high (ACC 2014; LRDCPC 2014; Scott et al. 2014). It is not clear whether law enforcement efforts could produce a substantial methamphetamine shortage, such as that seen for heroin, as the methamphetamine supply is supported by both domestic production and importation (ACC 2014; LRDCPC 2014). However, as seizure rates continue to climb, there is some evidence that government policy and policing efforts are having an impact on supply. In 2012-13, the number and weight of border detections of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) increased and were reported by the Australian Crime Commission to be the highest on record, with the 21,056 reported seizures accounting for 24.2 percent of national illicit drug seizures, second only to cannabis (ACC 2014). Further, the number of clandestine laboratories detected in Australia was the second highest on record, having more than doubled over the last 10 years, with the majority of clandestine laboratories detected domestically producing ATS (ACC 2014). Few studies have examined the likely impact of such seizures on methamphetamine users' drug usage habits. However, a recent examination of the impact of supply-side reduction strategies on drug use and harm in New South Wales conducted by Wan et al. (2014) reported that seizures and supplier arrests for ATS were either positively associated, or were not significantly associated, with drug use and harm measures. For example, an increase in the number of large-scale ATS seizures was positively associated with an increase in the number of arrests for use or possession of ATS (Wan et al. 2014). However, no significant associations were found between the number of ATS seizures or supplier arrests and emergency department admissions (Wan et al. 2014). Although subject to number of limitations including that the study measured the associations across a relatively short temporal period (ie drug use/possession arrests were examined monthly for 4 months after seizures occurred) and that some of the drug use and harm measures may not have been sensitive enough to detect changes in consumption, the findings suggested that increases in seizures and supplier arrests for ATS may be indicative of an increased supply in the short term (Wan et al. 2014). A study by Chalmers, Bradford and Jones (2010) examined responses to hypothetical changes in the price of methamphetamine among a sample of New South Wales residents between 18 and 58 years of age (n=101) who reported using methamphetamine in the past month. As the price of methamphetamine was manipulated, users reported that they would purchase less methamphetamine at higher price levels. It was estimated that a price increase of 10 percent would result in an 18 to 19 percent decrease in the quantity of methamphetamine purchased (Chalmers, Bradford & Jones 2010). However, a number of respondents anticipated switching to using pharmaceutical opioids, cocaine and to a lesser extent, heroin, if the price of methamphetamine were to rise (Chalmers, Bradford & Jones 2010). Despite this evidence of anticipated displacement, the authors concluded that there would be an overall reduction in drug consumption, as the level of substitution for other drugs was more than offset by the decrease in the quantity of methamphetamine purchased (Chalmers, Bradford & Jones 2010). However, this study suffered from a number of limitations. First, the findings represent methamphetamine users' intentions as reported to researchers, which may or may not correspond to actual behaviour during periods of reduced methamphetamine supply. It is important to examine the actual behaviour users demonstrate in response to changes in drug markets, rather than how they believe they would behave in a hypothetical situation. Second, the assumption that supply reduction through law enforcement leads to an increase in the price of an illicit drug may not be valid or may only occur when an extreme shortage is experienced. A study conducted in the United States reported that if a drug market is well-established, the expansion of drug law enforcement may yield little return in the way of increased prices (Caulkins & Reuter 2010). Consistent with this, a 2014 review of empirical studies into the impact of increased law enforcement efforts on drug prices concluded that there was insufficient evidence to link the escalation of law enforcement activity with the raising of drug prices (Pollack & Reuter 2014). Since 1999, the Australian Institute of Criminology has monitored drug use and crime trends across Australia through the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program. Each quarter, detainees held in watchhouses at various sites across Australia are asked to complete an interviewer-assisted self-report questionnaire. Twice a year, detainees are also asked to provide a voluntary urine sample, which is analysed for the presence of illicit drugs. These data allow monitoring of the availability of illicit substances, including methamphetamine, and examinations of crime and drug usage behaviours. Using DUMA data, an analysis is presented of retrospective self-reports from methamphetamine users (police detainees) on the impact that periods of reduced methamphetamine supply had on reported consumption of methamphetamine, alcohol and other illicit drugs. In order to collect more detailed data, in quarter three of 2013, detainees who had indicated methamphetamine use in the previous 12 months were presented with additional questions to assess whether they had previously experienced a period when methamphetamine was hard to get and if they had, how this had affected the quantity of methamphetamine, alcohol and other illicit drugs used at that time. The findings should be considered in the context of Australian drug markets where methamphetamine is currently readily available, with some localised differences in availability (LRDCPC 2014). Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2015. 5p. Source: Internet Resource: Research in Practice No. 36: Accessed January 25, 2016 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/rip/rip36/rip36.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Australia URL: http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/rip/rip36/rip36.pdf Shelf Number: 137649 Keywords: Alcohol AbuseDrug Abuse and AddictionDrug MarketsIllegal DrugsMethamphetamine |
Author: Mansfield, David Title: The Devil is in the Details: Nangarhar's continued decline into insurgency, violence and widespread drug production Summary: Nangarhar - a province that historically has been one of the major entry points for the capture of Kabul - is in complete disarray. It lies in chaos, riven by a process of political fragmentation that has increased in both pace and severity since the presidential elections and the formation of the National Unity Government (NUG). In fact, there seems little to currently bind the province together given the faltering economy, a reduction in aid flows and the continued disassembling of the political alliances that maintained stability during the early years of Gul Aga Sherzai's governorship. Further catalysing this are the drawdown and subsequent closure of the US-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) - an institution that was, for a period of time, a guarantor for the Afghan state in the province. Indeed, without US military support, and with little direction from Kabul, the Afghan National Defence Security Forces (ANDSF) appear reluctant to leave the sanctuary of their fortified bases. This has led to further losses in government-held territory, particularly in the districts south of the main highway, which runs east to west linking Kabul to the Pakistan border at Torkham. Details: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2016. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Brief: Accessed February 17, 2016 at: http://www.areu.org.af/Uploads/EditionPdfs/1602E%20The%20Devil%20is%20in%20the%20Details%20Nangarhar%20continued%20decline%20into%20insurgency.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Afghanistan URL: http://www.areu.org.af/Uploads/EditionPdfs/1602E%20The%20Devil%20is%20in%20the%20Details%20Nangarhar%20continued%20decline%20into%20insurgency.pdf Shelf Number: 137856 Keywords: Drug-Related ViolenceIllegal DrugsNarcotics Natural Resources OpiumPoppy Cultivation |
Author: Rolles, Steve Title: The Alternative World Drug Report. 2nd edition Summary: In April, the world will come together at the UN to discuss the future of international drug policy. It will be the first time that far-reaching drug policy reforms are meaningfully discussed at such a high level. The current enforcement-based, UN-led drug control system is coming under unparalleled scrutiny over its failure to deliver a promised "drug-free world", and for what the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) describes as its negative "unintended consequences". It is unacceptable that despite acknowledging these negative impacts, the UNODC does not include them in its annual World Drug Report, and neither the UN nor its member states have meaningfully assessed whether these unintended consequences outweigh the intended consequences. The second edition of the Alternative World Drug Report fills this gap by detailing the full range of negative impacts caused by the drug war. It demonstrates that the current approach is creating crime, harming health, and fatally undermining all "three pillars" of the UN's work - peace and security, development, and human rights. The stark failure of the current system has meant that alternative drug policy approaches are a growing reality. This report therefore explores a range of options for reform, including decriminalisation and legal regulation, that could deliver better outcomes,. The global prohibitionist consensus has broken, and cannot be fixed. This Alternative World Drug Report is intended to help policymakers shape what succeeds it Details: London: Transform Drug Policy Foundation, 2016. 192p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2016 at: http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/AWDR-2nd-edition.pdf Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/AWDR-2nd-edition.pdf Shelf Number: 138575 Keywords: Costs of CrimeCosts of Criminal JusticeDrug Abuse and AddictionDrug EnforcementDrug PolicyIllegal DrugsOrganized Crime |
Author: Buhringer, Gerhard Title: Comparative Analysis of Research into Illicit Drugs in the European Union: Full report Summary: The study was commissioned by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security (Justice-Liberte-Securite; DG JLS) with the following six objectives: (1) To map the key research areas, research disciplines and recent research trends, covering both drug demand and drug supply reduction, taking into account any important interrelations with related thematic areas (i.e. mental health and addiction, licit substance abuse, etc.). (2) To map and analyse the capacity, infrastructure and model of coordination of drug-related research in the member states (MS). An analysis of the participation of the national research communities in EU programmes should also be conducted. (3) To map and analyse the capacity, infrastructure and coordination of illicit drug-related research at European and international level, taking into account the drug-related research activities of the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe and the World Health Organisation as well as the activities of significant private or semi-private research bodies. (4) To briefly describe - for comparative purposes - the drug-related research trends, capacity, infrastructure and model of coordination in the US, Canada and Australia as well as major research collaborations in the drug field with EU partners. (5) To identify strengths and weaknesses in EU drug-related research as well as gaps in the knowledge infrastructure in this field, always bearing in mind that the focus of this study covers both supply and demand of illicit drugs. (6) To assess options for strengthening - if necessary - the drug-related research infrastructure in EU. Details: Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2009.507p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2016 at: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/anti-drugs/files/drug-research-study-report_en.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Europe URL: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/anti-drugs/files/drug-research-study-report_en.pdf Shelf Number: 138902 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug EnforcementDrugs and CrimeIllegal DrugsIllicit Drugs |
Author: McCarthy-Jones, Anthea Title: Mexical Drug Cartels and Dark-Networks: An Emerging Threat to Australia's National Security Summary: Over the past decade Mexican drug cartels' power and the violent struggles between them have increased exponentially. Previously Mexico, and in particular the border regions with the US, were the key battle grounds for control of distribution routes. However, today Mexican drug cartels are now looking abroad in an attempt to extend their operations. This expansion has seen several cartels moving into lucrative international markets in Europe and the Asia Pacific. It is in this context that Australia has now become a target of several Mexican cartels. They have already established linkages in the Asia Pacific and are further attempting to strengthen and expand these - with a particular focus on penetrating the Australian market. These developments show how Mexican drug cartels operate as 'dark-networks', successfully creating a global system that seeks to capture new markets, and further extend their control and dominance of the flow of illicit drugs around the world. For Australia, the emergence of Mexican drug cartels in local markets presents not only criminal but strategic challenges. The size of these operations, their resources and 'dark-network' structure makes them a difficult opponent. Their presence threatens to not only increase the supply of illicit drugs in Australia, but encourage turf wars, increase the amount of guns in the country, tax border security resources and threaten the stability and good governance of South Pacific transit spots. This represents the end of Australia's 'tyranny of distance', which previously acted as a buffer and protected Australia from the interests of remote criminal groups such as the Mexican cartels. Details: Australian National University, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, 2016. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Centre of Gravity Series: Accessed May 18, 2016 at: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/COG%20%2325%20Web%20v3.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Australia URL: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/COG%20%2325%20Web%20v3.pdf Shelf Number: 139078 Keywords: Border SecurityDark NetworksDrug CartelsDrug TraffickingIllegal DrugsOrganized Crime |
Author: Kruithof, Kristy Title: Internet-facilitated Drugs Trade: An Analysis of the size, scope and the role of the Netherlands Summary: The potential role of the Internet in facilitating drugs trade first gained mass attention with the rise and fall of Silk Road; the first major online market place for illegal goods on the hidden web. After Silk Road was taken down by the FBI in October 2013, it was only a matter of weeks before copycats filled the void. Today, there are around 50 so-called cryptomarkets and vendor shops where anonymous sellers and buyers find each other to trade illegal drugs, new psychoactive substances, prescription drugs and other goods and services. But it is not just the obscure parts of the Internet where drugs are on offer. There are numerous web shops, easily found by search engines, which offer new psychoactive substances, often labelled as 'research chemicals'. The Netherlands occupies a crucial position in European illicit drug markets. Data from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction suggested it is the main producer of MDMA, ecstasy and herbal cannabis and a key distribution hub for cannabis resin and cocaine. Whether the pivotal role of the Netherlands also extends online, has yet been unclear. The Netherlands Ministry of Security and Justice commissioned RAND Europe to provide a firmer evidence base to this phenomenon and, in particular, the role of the Netherlands. This report analyses the size and scope of Internet-facilitated drugs trade both on the so-called clear and hidden web, paying special attention to the Netherlands, and delineates potential avenues for law enforcement for detection and intervention. Key Findings Monthly revenues from drugs on cryptomarkets are in the double-digit million dollars Of all products and services on offer, this study found that 57 per cent of listings across the eight analysed cryptomarkets offered drugs. The results indicate that these cryptomarkets generated a total monthly revenue of $14.2m (L12.6m) in January 2016, $12.0m (L10.5m) when prescription drugs and alcohol and tobacco are excluded (lower-boundary estimate). An upper-boundary estimate for monthly drug revenues via visible listings on all cryptomarkets would be $25.0m (L22.1m) and $21.1m (L18.5m) when prescription drugs and alcohol and tobacco are excluded. Cannabis, stimulants and ecstasy were responsible for 70 per cent of all revenues on the analysed cryptomarkets. No information was identified on revenues on the clear net. The values are based on EUR/USD exchange rate of 1.14 as of April 2016. Cryptomarkets are not just an 'eBay for Drugs' Large 'wholesale' level transactions (those greater than $1,000) are important for cryptomarkets, generating nearly one quarter of overall revenue both in September 2013 and in January 2016. Based on these findings it is likely that many cryptomarket customers are drug dealers sourcing stock intended for offline distribution. Most revenues are generated by vendors who indicate they are operating from Anglo-Saxon countries or Western Europe Most vendors appeared to be operating from the United States (890), followed by the United Kingdom (338), and Germany (225). Vendors indicating they ship from the United States generated 36% per cent of all drug revenues within our sample. Other Anglo-Saxon (Canada and the United Kingdom) as well as Western European countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France) also generate substantial proportions of revenues. Revenues from vendors operating from the Netherlands are by far the largest on a per capita basis Revenues to vendors reporting to operate from the Netherlands on cryptomarkets accounted for 8 per cent of total drug revenues. On a per capita basis, revenues to vendors operating from the Netherlands were 2.4 times higher than those from the United Kingdom and 4.5 higher than those from the United States. Vendors and buyers on online markets seem to have similar characteristics Traditional investigation techniques applied in the drug chain, postal detection and interception, online detection and online disruption are potential law enforcement strategies in the detection and intervention of Internet-facilitated drugs trade. In addition, international cooperation and coordination (and the accompanying legal challenges), capacity and resources and (technical) capabilities could play a facilitating role in deploying the different strategies to tackle Internet-facilitated drugs trade. There are four broad categories of modes of detection and intervention Traditional investigation techniques applied in the drug chain, postal detection and interception, online detection and online disruption are potential law enforcement strategies in the detection and intervention of Internet-facilitated drugs trade. In addition, international cooperation and coordination (and the accompanying legal challenges), capacity and resources and (technical) capabilities could play a facilitating role in deploying the different strategies to tackle Internet-facilitated drugs trade. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2016. 203p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 25, 2016 at: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1600/RR1607/RAND_RR1607.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Netherlands URL: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR1600/RR1607/RAND_RR1607.pdf Shelf Number: 140034 Keywords: Computer CrimesDrug MarketsIllegal Drug TradeIllegal DrugsInternet Crime |
Author: Royal Society for Public Health Title: Taking a New Line on Drugs Summary: 'Taking a New Line on Drugs' assesses the situation in the UK as regards rising health harm from illegal drugs, with reference to their context within the wider 'drugscape' of legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, and sets out a new vision for a holistic public health-led approach to drugs policy at a UK-wide level. From a public health perspective, the purpose of a good drugs strategy should be to improve and protect the public's health and well-being by preventing and reducing the harm linked to substance use, whilst also balancing any potential medicinal benefits. RSPH is calling for the UK to consider exploring, trialling and testing such an approach, rather than one reliant on the criminal justice system. Key recommendations: Transferring lead responsibility for UK illegal drugs strategy to the Department of Health, and more closely aligning this with alcohol and tobacco strategies. Preventing drug harm through universal Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education in UK schools, with evidence-based drugs education as a mandatory, key component. Creating evidence-based drug harm profiles to supplant the existing classification system in informing drug strategy, enforcement priorities, and public health messaging. Decriminalising personal use and possession of all illegal drugs, and diverting those whose use is problematic into appropriate support and treatment services instead, recognising that criminalising users most often only opens up the risk of further harm to health and well-being. Dealers, suppliers and importers of illegal substances would still be actively pursued and prosecuted, while evidence relating to any potential benefits or harm from legal, regulated supply should be kept under review. Tapping into the potential of the wider public health workforce to support individuals to reduce and recover from drug harm. Details: London: Royal Society for Public Health, 2016. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 27, 2016 at: https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/policy/protecting-the-public-s-health/taking-a-new-line-on-drugs.html Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/policy/protecting-the-public-s-health/taking-a-new-line-on-drugs.html Shelf Number: 140055 Keywords: Drug Policy Drug Policy ReformIllegal Drugs |
Author: Gotsis, Tom Title: Illegal Drug Use and Possession: Current Policy and Debates Summary: Government policy to address illegal drug use and possession is an ongoing topic of debate both in Australia and internationally. One part of the debate surrounding illegal drug use and possession involves the question of whether or not recreational drug use should be decriminalised, as has occurred in overseas jurisdictions such as Portugal. Another, and more immediate, part of the debate concerns the harms that have resulted from illegal drug use at music festivals. The NSW Government is reviewing the regulation of these events but has rejected options put forward by some stakeholders, including allowing pill testing and amnesty bins. The suggestion by drug law reform proponents that ice users be allowed to attend a medically supervised smoke inhalation room is also on the public agenda. An upcoming forum for discussing illegal drug use and possession is the Parliamentary Cross-Party Harm Minimisation Roundtable, to be held on 11 August at the NSW Parliament. This paper seeks to inform the current debate by discussing: - rates of illegal drug use and the harms of illegal drug use; - current Government policy and laws in relation to illegal drug use; - the use and effectiveness of harm reduction measures, such as the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre; - illegal drug use at music festivals; and - arguments for and against prohibition and decriminalisation, with examples and evidence from Australian and overseas jurisdictions Details: Sydney: NSW Parliamentary Research Service, 2016. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Briefing Paper No. 4/2016: Accessed August 29, 2016 at: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/Illegal%20drug%20use%20and%20possession%20current%20policy%20and%20debates.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Australia URL: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/Illegal%20drug%20use%20and%20possession%20current%20policy%20and%20debates.pdf Shelf Number: 140076 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug Abuse PolicyDrug AddictsDrug OffendersIllegal Drugs |
Author: Moyle, Leah Title: An Exploration of how the Social Supply and User-Dealer Supply of Illicit Drugs Differs to Conventional Notions of Drug Dealing and Consideration of the Consequences of this for Sentencing Policy Summary: The concept of 'social supply' has emerged as a term used both in the UK, and internationally, to describe drug distribution that is non-commercially motivated and almost exclusively found between friends and acquaintances. Social suppliers have increasingly been presented as actors who are qualitatively different to drug dealers (proper), in relation to their motivation and their activity. As a result, they have increasingly become identified as a group who should be distinguished as such legally (Police Foundation, 2000; Release, 2009). While social supply behaviours can be identified in wider research literature relating to recreational drug use, there is a relative gap in regard to in-depth accounts of social supply activity, and in regard to a social supply definition. In a similar way, heroin and crack cocaine user-dealers - a group who are also perhaps not best understood as profit motivated suppliers - have received insufficient academic attention, with the majority of research references failing to go beyond typologies that recognise them simply as suppliers who also use. With research indicating that social supply permeates a meaningful section of adolescent and adult drug markets, along with evidence to suggest that drug supply embodies one of limited options for addicted drug users to fund their habit, this thesis explores how far we can understand these behaviours as drug dealing (proper). Using qualitative in-depth interviews and case studies, this interpretivist research design develops existing ideas, as well as highlighting emergent social supply and user-dealing themes. Findings from this research indicate that social supply behaviours are usefully understood through a theoretical application of 'normalisation' (Parker et al., 1998) and 'drift' (Matza, 1964) and are wider in scope than those currently recognised by the literature base. The research findings also indicate the importance of the notion of 'economies of scale' - an incentive for drug users to obtain a larger quantity of substance for a cheaper price. Notions of reciprocity also feature, with group obligation providing a rationale for involvement in social supply. The findings are also suggestive of the idea that user-dealing - understood through the theoretical gaze of Bourdieu's 'Theory of Practice' (1990) - is characterised by limited distribution, minimal profit and explicated as a less harmful option than other crimes undertaken to fund drug dependence. This thesis concludes with the proposal that a conceptual shift towards 'minimally commercial supply' offers a more realistic and inclusive means of conceptualising both social supply and user-dealing activity. Possible ways forward therefore include the implementation of this term as a distinct offence that focuses on intent, thereby presenting a more proportionate approach than current policy responses for these groups allow. Details: Plymouth, UK: Plymouth University, 2013. 314p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 30, 2016 at: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/3007 Year: 2013 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/3007 Shelf Number: 140080 Keywords: Drug DealingDrug MarketsIllegal DRugsIllicit Drugs |
Author: New York State. Heroin and Opioid Task Force Title: Combatting the Heroin and Opioid Crisis Summary: Across the state the Task Force has heard from families who have loved ones addicted to heroin or other opioids, who have overdosed or have had serious health problems as a result of their addiction. Heroin overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the state. Between 2005 and 2014, upstate New York has seen an astonishing 222 percent increase in admissions to OASAS certified treatment programs among those 18 to 24 years of age for heroin and other opioids; Long Island has seen a 242 percent increase among the same age group for heroin and other opioids. In all, approximately 1.4 million New Yorkers suffer from a substance use disorder. Heroin and opioid addiction is now a major public health crisis in New York State. Further work must continue to fully realize the Governor's vision for a more responsive, accessible, and compassionate health care system for patients, as well as stronger education, prevention, and enforcement measures. The Task Force recommends that study and work on these issues continue as a high priority, so that New York can remain in the forefront when it comes to helping patients and their families. New York has taken important steps to address the urgent needs of those in critical condition and to prevent future generations from suffering from the disease of addiction. For the 2016 fiscal year, New York State allocated over $1.4 billion to the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) to fight this battle including funding for 1,455 beds for patients in crisis; 2,221 beds for inpatient rehabilitation programs; 5,247 beds for intensive residential programs; 2,142 beds for community residential programs; 1,842 beds in supportive living programs; and 265 beds in residential rehabilitation programs for youth. Additionally, OASAS provides more than $74 million to fund prevention services through 165 providers serving communities in every county, including 1,400 schools across the state. The State has also enacted legislation to address this growing epidemic. In 2012 the State enacted the Prescription Drug Reform Act, overhauling the way prescription drugs are dispensed and tracked in New York to improve safeguards for drugs that are prone to abuse. The Act updated the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) Registry (also known as I-STOP) to require pharmacies to report information about dispensed controlled substances on a "real time" basis, as well as require health care practitioners to consult the PMP Registry before prescribing or dispensing certain controlled substances most prone to abuse and diversion. The Act also mandated electronic prescription of controlled substances, updated the Controlled Substances Schedules, improved education and awareness efforts for prescribers, and established a safe disposal program for prescription drugs. By the end of 2015, I-STOP had led to a 90 percent decrease in "doctor shopping" - when patients visit multiple prescribers and pharmacies to obtain prescriptions for controlled substances within a three-month time period. Earlier this year, New York State entered into an agreement with New Jersey to share PMP data both ways and prevent "doctor shopping" across state borders. In 2014, the State enacted legislation that granted Good Samaritan protections to individuals who administer an opioid antagonist like naloxone, expanded access to naloxone by allowing nonpatient-specific prescriptions, enacted insurance reforms to improve treatment options for individuals suffering from addiction, directed OASAS to create a wraparound services demonstration program to provide services to adolescents and adults for up to nine months after successful completion of a treatment program, and enhanced penalties to crack down on illegal drug distribution. Despite being on the forefront of nationally-recognized best practices, the epidemic continues to grow in New York. In response, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo convened a team of experienced healthcare providers, policy advocates, educators, parents, and New Yorkers in recovery to serve on a Heroin and Opioid Task Force and develop a comprehensive plan to bring the crisis under control. The Task Force's work was informed by two executive meetings, eight listening sessions across the state, and the 246 comments submitted through www.ny.gov/herointaskforce. This public process resulted in the following recommendations - broken into four areas: prevention, treatment, recovery, and enforcement - to continue to address the crisis. Details: Albany, NY: The Task Force, 2016. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2016 at; https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/HeroinTaskForceReport_3.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/HeroinTaskForceReport_3.pdf Shelf Number: 140350 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug EnforcementDrug TreatmentHeroinIllegal DrugsOpioidsPrescription Drug Abuse |
Author: Dempsey, Orla Title: Developing and Implementing Models for the Prevalence, Incidence and Geographic Spread of Opiate Use in Ireland Summary: The objective of this study is to further develop and implement established mathematical models for the first time to the problem of estimating the true size of the opiate epidemic and to develop and apply existing mathematical models to the problem of modelling the geographic spread of opiate use in Ireland. Estimates of the true size and spread of the opiate epidemic are difficult to obtain due to the hidden nature of opiate use however these estimates are vital for policy makers and service providers when planning for the provision of effective treatment services. In a bid to estimate the true size of the epidemic this research focuses on deriving suitable models to estimate the prevalence and incidence of opiate use in Ireland. The back calculation model from AIDS epidemiology is applied to the problem of estimating the hidden, untreated incidence of opiate use. An estimate of the hidden incidence is produced by back calculating from the known treated incidence through an estimated latency period of opiate use. The back calculation model is analytically solved and the solutions obtained are used to produce estimates of the hidden, untreated incidence of opiate use when the exact rate of progression to treatment is unknown. In a bid to produce more accurate incidence estimates data on times from first opiate use to first treatment are obtained. A model for the exact rate of progression to first treatment is determined through fitting Gamma and Weibull probability distributions to data on 5,022 times to treatment for previously untreated opiate users. The exact rate of progression to first treatment along with a range of forms of treated incidence is applied to the back calculation model which is then solved analytically for the first time. The solutions obtained are applied to the problem of estimating the true size of the hidden, untreated population of opiate users who will present for their first treatment in the future. A vast array of techniques to estimate the prevalence of drug and opiate use exist however a new approach which is not heavily data dependent would be beneficial to researchers, policy makers and service providers. An integral equation model to estimate the prevalence of opiate use is derived. The prevalence model derived is based on the models developed for the hidden incidence of opiate use. Estimates of the prevalence of opiate use are produced when the exact rate of progression to treatment is unknown and known. Whilst estimates of the true size of the epidemic are necessary, it is essential to determine where the epidemic will spread in order to determine measures to prevent further spread. A partial differential equation which uses the prevalence estimates produced, is derived to describe the geographic spread of opiate use in Ireland. Techniques to estimate model parameters for the partial differential equation are developed and the hypothetical geographic spread of opiate use from Dublin to Wexford is simulated. Models for the prevalence, incidence and geographic spread of opiate use have been developed. The models derived are not heavily data dependent and could be utilised to produce estimates of any problematic drug use in any specified location providing the necessary data is available. Details: Dublin: Trinity College, 2011. 180p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed September 21, 2016 at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249326915_Developing_and_Implementing_Models_for_the_Prevalence_Incidence_and_Geographic_Spread_of_Opiate_Use_in_Ireland Year: 2011 Country: Ireland URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249326915_Developing_and_Implementing_Models_for_the_Prevalence_Incidence_and_Geographic_Spread_of_Opiate_Use_in_Ireland Shelf Number: 145575 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug PolicyHeroinIllegal DrugsOpiates |
Author: Lader, Deborah Title: Drug Misuse: Findings from the 2015/16 Survey for England and Wales. Second edition Summary: This release examines the extent and trends in drug use among a nationally representative sample of 16 to 59 year olds resident in households in England and Wales, and is based on results from the 2015/16 Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). The release covers the following topics: - extent and trends in drug use among adults, including separate analysis of young adults (16 to 24 year olds); - frequency of drug use in the last year; - drug use, by personal, household and area characteristics, and lifestyle factors; - use of new psychoactive substances (NPS); - perceived acceptability of use and ease of obtaining illegal drugs; - drug use within generations over time (a pseudo-cohort analysis). Details: London: Home Office, 2016. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Statistical Bulletin 07/06: Accessed November 3, 2016 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564760/drug-misuse-1516.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/564760/drug-misuse-1516.pdf Shelf Number: 145003 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionDrug OffendersIllegal Drugs |
Author: Leslie, Ellen Title: Alcohol use and motivations for drinking among types of young adult illicit stimulant uers Summary: Drinking among young adult users of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) during episodes of ecstasy and methamphetamine use is reported to have a number of possible functions, such as mitigating the unwanted effects of the drugs, enhancing intoxication and pleasure, and increasing drinking capacity. While there is evidence to suggest a high prevalence of risky drinking among users of ATS in Australia, little is known about how they combine their use of ATS with the consumption of alcohol or why they do so. This paper considers how ATS users consume alcohol during ecstasy and methamphetamine use, and also addresses alcohol abuse and dependence among low-risk and at-risk ATS users. At-risk users are more likely to have experienced alcohol abuse and dependence during adolescence or early adulthood, suggesting that higher-risk use of ATS may be linked with problematic drinking patterns. The paper suggests that problematic behaviour relating to alcohol and ATS use is interlinked, and may be important in developing appropriate policy responses. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2016. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice, no. 515: Accessed December 5, 2016 at: http://aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/tandi_pdf/tandi515.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Australia URL: http://aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/tandi_pdf/tandi515.pdf Shelf Number: 140281 Keywords: Alcohol Related Crime, DisorderDrug AbuseIllegal DrugsSubstance Abuse |
Author: United States Sentencing Commission Title: Weighing the Charges: Simple Possession of Drugs in the Federal Criminal Justice System Summary: The simple possession of illegal drugs is a criminal offense under federal law and in many state jurisdictions. The offense occurs "when someone has on his or her person, or available for his or her use, a small amount of an illegal substance for the purpose of consuming or using it but without the intent to sell or give it to anyone else." Simple drug possession is a misdemeanor under federal law which provides that an offender may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than one year, fined a minimum of $1,000, or both. However, if an offender is convicted of simple possession after a prior drug related offense has become final, the offender can be charged with a felony simple possession offense. The number of federal offenders whose most serious offense was simple drug possession increased nearly 400 percent during the six-year period between fiscal years 2008 and 2013. A change of this magnitude over a relatively short period of time triggered further investigation into these cases using data on offender and offense characteristics routinely collected by the United States Sentencing Commission ("the Commission"), as well as additional data collected specifically for this project. At first, this dramatic increase in the number of offenders sentenced for the simple possession of drugs seems to suggest a substantially increased focus on this offense by federal law enforcement personnel. Further analysis, however, does not support such a conclusion. A closer inspection of the data demonstrates that this increase is almost entirely attributable to a single drug type—marijuana—and to offenders who were arrested at or near the U.S./Mexico border (a group almost entirely composed of offenders from the District of Arizona). For simple possession of marijuana offenders arrested at locations other than the U.S./Mexico border, the median quantity of marijuana involved in the offense was 5.2 grams (0.2 ounces). In contrast, the offense conduct of simple possession of marijuana offenders arrested at that border involved a median quantity of 22,000 grams (48.5 pounds or 776.0 ounces)—a quantity that appears in excess of a personal use quantity. Details: Washington, DC: USSC, 2016. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2017 at: http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-publications/2016/201609_Simple-Possession.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-publications/2016/201609_Simple-Possession.pdf Shelf Number: 141143 Keywords: Drug Offenders Federal Offenders Illegal DRugsMisdemeanors |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Global SMART Programme Title: Afghanistan Synthetic Drugs Situation Assessment Summary: Afghanistan's opiate market has annually accounted for the largest share of illicit opium produced worldwide. Alongside the continued dominant presence of an illicit opiate market, recent reports indicate an increasing availability of synthetic drugs in Afghanistan and the South-Western and Central Asian region as a whole. Overall, there continue to be some significant analytical gaps in the information and data relating to synthetic drugs in Afghanistan. The main objective of this report is to offer some initial insights into the extent of synthetic drug production, use, and trafficking in Afghanistan and to highlight important areas for further research. The phenomenon of synthetic drugs cannot be understood by focussing on Afghanistan alone. Rather, this report situates the dynamics of synthetic drugs in the country within the wider context of South-Western and Central Asia in order to understand the recent emergence and origins of synthetic drugs in Afghanistan. Based on this approach, presenting the regional perspective helps to provide a full picture of the synthetic drug situation in Afghanistan. The research process of this report incorporated various resources and strands of information. Much of the data and information presented in this report are derived from field research material that was gathered over an eight-month period. The field research included missions to 5 provinces in Afghanistan, where interviews were conducted with over 100 key informants, drug users and law enforcement officials at government offices, health service centres and drug treatment providers (see Annex). These various sources of information have also been supplemented by official reports involving national aggregate information and data. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2017. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2017 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/Reports/2017_Afghanistan_Synthetic_Drugs_Assessment_report.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Afghanistan URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/Reports/2017_Afghanistan_Synthetic_Drugs_Assessment_report.pdf Shelf Number: 144842 Keywords: Drug TraffickingIllegal DrugsIllicit DrugsOpiumSynthetic Drugs |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific. ASEAN Title: Evidence for enhancing resilience to opium poppy cultivation in Shan State, Myanmar: Implications for alternative development, peace, and stability Summary: In 2016, the annual village survey was conducted in 591 villages in Shan state, the main opium poppy cultivating area in Myanmar. An independent area estimation was not part of the survey this year; however, UNODC expanded largely on the socio‐economic analysis of opium cultivation in the context of the UN Guiding Principles on Alternative Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Opium poppy continues to be an important part of the Shan State economy About 1 in 10 households in the villages surveyed in Shan State are directly involved in opium poppy cultivation. The share of villages that cultivate opium poppy and the share of households within these villages that participate have both decreased over the past year. However, opium poppy is still integral to the state’s economy, and there are many households who depend on poppy cultivation for their livelihood. Fewer villages and farmers are growing opium poppy There has been a reduction in the number of villages and households involved in opium poppy cultivation; however, accompanied by an increase in the average area under cultivation per household. The average area under opium poppy cultivation increased from 0.4 hectares per household in 2015 to 0.6 hectares in 2016. This concentration of cultivation confirms earlier observations. The average income in opium poppy villages is higher, but the positive impact on household finances is largely offset by higher costs of living The average annual household income is higher in villages where opium poppy is cultivated (US$2,261) than in non‐opium poppy villages (US$1,839). Farmers in opium poppy villages, however, were primarily buying food with the income from poppy cultivation. Moreover, there are several indications that people living in villages where opium poppy is grown face higher living costs than their peers in non‐opium poppy villages. Many opium poppy villages in East and North Shan are located in remote or highly inaccessible areas with low infrastructure coverage. For example, very few opium poppy villages have asphalt roads, and somewhat fewer of these villages have clinics than non‐growing villages (although village clinics are rare throughout East and North Shan, with such facilities operating in less than one in five villages). The nearest outside clinic also took twice as long to reach from opium poppy villages. The lack of clinics and roads means that health and transportation costs are higher for farmers in opium poppy villages in East and North Shan. Farmers in opium poppy villages face challenges in relying only on licit sources of income Across Shan State, cash crops – licit or illicit – are the main source of income for farmers. In non‐ opium poppy villages, cash crops, primarily rice, were cited as the primary source of income by nearly half of all surveyed village headmen. Before deciding to substitute opium poppy with licit crops, farmers would need to consider some challenges. Access to local markets for agricultural products is critical. None of the opium poppy cultivating villages had local markets, whereas 8 per cent of the non‐opium poppy villages had them. Moreover, the nearest market took more than two hours to reach on foot from opium poppy villages, compared to just under an hour from non‐ opium poppy villages. Daily wages were also markedly lower in poppy‐cultivating villages; the difference was greatest for male workers. These challenges make it more difficult to earn a living from licit activities in opium poppy villages than in villages where opium poppy is not grown. Distinct motivations for growing opium poppy in South Shan Several sustainable development indicators show a different situation in South Shan in comparison to East and North Shan. Villages which cultivate opium poppy in South Shan still have low levels of development but their characteristics are different from those in East and North Shan. In South Shan, the average income is higher and the infrastructure better than in East and North Shan, and more people are able to access salaried jobs, which are usually better remunerated and more stable. Moreover, according to the village headmen, the majority of households in South Shan, regardless of their opium poppy cultivation status, do not need to resort to drastic strategies to cope with food insecurity, such as reducing the number of meals per day, in contrast to East and North Shan. The higher incomes, better infrastructure and food security status in South Shan may indicate that opium poppy cultivation is primarily driven by capital accumulation, while in East and North Shan, cultivation seems to be more closely linked with subsistence needs. However, the relatively high income inequality among farmers in opium poppy villages in South Shan may suggest that there are a number of farmers who are not able to make ends meet also there. People in opium poppy villages are more dependent on forest resources, and more prone to experiencing environmental and climate‐related challenges Many households across Shan State depend on wood from local forests for cooking, particularly in villages where opium poppy is cultivated. More village headmen from opium poppy villages reported declining local forest quality in the last two years than their peers from non‐opium poppy villages. The quality of the drinking water is another concern, and again, the problem is more pronounced in opium poppy villages. There are also indications that opium poppy villages seem to be somewhat more affected by climate related shocks, like frost or drought, which could decrease crop yields and increase the price of food. Details: Thailand: UNODC - ASEAN, 2017. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 3, 2017 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/2017/2016_Myanmar_Shan_Opium_Poppy_web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/2017/2016_Myanmar_Shan_Opium_Poppy_web.pdf Shelf Number: 144703 Keywords: Illegal DrugsIllicit CropsOpium Poppy Cultivation Socioeconomic Conditions and Crime |
Author: Hughes, Michael C. Title: Merida Initiative and Effectiveness: An Analysis of Supply-Side Policy Summary: The drug war in Latin America has received an increasing amount of funds and resources since it began nearly four decades ago. Recent efforts by the United States and Mexico to combat illegal narcotics traffickers have gained increased attention in the wake of September 2001 terrorist attacks. Similar efforts by the United States have been tried in the past, particularly in Colombia, with varied levels of success. This increased level of attention runs in counterpoint to the continued vitality of the drug trade, as markets expand and consumption remains steady. Violence resulting from drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in Mexico has produced an even greater sense of urgency for both nations to respond to this threat. The latest plan to combat DTOs and the drug trade, the Merida Initiative, has gained high visibility and shows promise at providing an adequate solution. This thesis will discuss the effectiveness of the Merida Initiative and its ability to impact the trafficking of illegal narcotics in the United States and Latin America. Likewise, we will use the Merida Initiative as an example of modern supply- side practices, to evaluate the overall effect of such actions affecting price and consumption of illegal narcotics. Details: Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School, 2013. 104p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 12, 2017 at: http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/34680/13Jun_Hughes_Michael.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2013 Country: Latin America URL: http://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/34680/13Jun_Hughes_Michael.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 131352 Keywords: Drug Trafficking Drug War Illegal DRugsMerida Initiative War on Drugs |
Author: National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (UK) Title: Prevalence of Drug Use and Gambling in Ireland and Drug Use in Northern Ireland Summary: This Bulletin presents the key findings from the fourth drug prevalence survey of households in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Within Ireland the survey sampled a representative number of people aged 15+ from August 2014 to August 2015. Within Northern Ireland a representative sample of persons aged 15-64 years was selected. The survey was carried out according to standards set by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Data relating to drug prevalence on a lifetime (ever used), last year (recent) and last month (current) basis for Ireland, Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland are presented in this bulletin. Statistically significant changes in prevalence rates between 2002/03, 2006/07, 2010/11 and 2014/15 are presented in the tables and comparisons between 2010/11 and 2014/15 are discussed in each section. Details: Dublin: National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACDA), 2016. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Bulletin 1: Accessed June 14, 2017 at: http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/26364/1/Bulletin-1.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Ireland URL: http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/26364/1/Bulletin-1.pdf Shelf Number: 146177 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Gambling Illegal Drugs |
Author: Arbid, Jeremy Title: Captured by Captagon? Lebanon's evolving illicit drug economy Summary: Lebanon has a long history of drug cultivation and trafficking, which predated the civil war, and has long been attributed with resourcing conflict protagonists thereby prolonging it. By the end of the war in 1990, Lebanon was home to a multi-billion drug economy which was firmly entrenched both into local and central politics and power. The Bekaa valley, which assumed prominence as a drug producing hotspot during the conflict, has retained its reputation as a source of opium and hashish production. Estimating the exact size of the country's current drug trade is difficult given the paucity of reliable figures, although its assumed to have reduced since the war. There is however a worrying new trend: the growth of the illicit economy around the drug Captagon - a global illicit industry worth an estimated US $ 1 billion a year. Captagon is an amphetamine and popular party pill widely used throughout the Gulf countries. Profit margins of Captagon are astonishingly high: a single pill can be produced for a few cents with easy to access precursor chemicals, but currently retails at up to US$20 in the Gulf. Evidence presented in an earlier Global Initiative report, "The Nexus of Drug Trafficking and Conflict in Syria and the Wider Region" suggests that the trade in Captagon is burgeoning, with much of the production in Syria and its neighbouring countries. and profits from the drug trade once again fuelling conflict actors. This paper explores the evolution of Lebanon's drug trade, and in particular the production and trafficking of Captagon. Major seizures were made in Lebanon in 2014 in particular, but the subsequent steady decline in seizures suggests, that smuggling groups have adapted to law enforcement interventions rather than increased efficacy of enforcement. Given the litany of other challenges faced by the Lebanese government, curbing the illegal trade in drugs is not a priority. Lebanon's military is focussed on more significant cross-border threats and terrorist violence, and the police force is understaffed, underfunded and under equipped. A central directorate for drug control within the Ministry of Interior exists only on paper. Lebanon's own Finance Minister has suggested that weeding out corrupt personnel at Beirut's airport is a more urgent need to combat smuggling than to reinforce capacity or introduce new technologies aimed at curbing these illicit practices. Legal and institutional frameworks are inadequate and international support in the area of organised crime and drug trafficking is small. Tracking the money flow is next to impossible, but various patterns for laundering money in Lebanon are clearly apparent: from Halawa cash transfer networks, to smuggled telephones, to a real estate sector where cash-based transactions are still common. Drug use, addiction prevalence and rehabilitation statistics in Lebanon are nearly non-existent, as is the amount the state dedicates to the war on drugs that officials involved insist they are waging. Lacking reliable data, drawing detailed recommendations is difficult, but what is clear is that Lebanon needs more of everything (funding, manpower, strategy, rehabilitation facilities) if it ever wants to genuinely address its growing drug problem. A lack of resources continues to bedevil attempts at border control and law enforcement. The international community and the Lebanese themselves may rue this lack of attention in future. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/lebanon-drug-report_24.05.17_low.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Lebanon URL: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/lebanon-drug-report_24.05.17_low.pdf Shelf Number: 147632 Keywords: AmphetaminesDrug CultivationDrug TraffickingIllegal DrugsIllicit DrugsOrganized Crime |
Author: Felbab-Brown, Vanda Title: Myanmar Maneuvers: How to Break Political-Criminal Alliances in Contexts of Transition Summary: The Myanmar case study analyzes the complex interactions between illegal economies - conflict and peace. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the effects of illegal economies on Myanmar's political transitions since the early 1990s, including the current period, up through the first year of the administration of Aung San Suu Kyi. Described is the evolution of illegal economies in drugs, logging, wildlife trafficking, and gems and minerals as well as land grabbing and crony capitalism, showing how they shaped and were shaped by various political transitions. Also examined was the impact of geopolitics and the regional environment, particularly the role of China, both in shaping domestic political developments in Myanmar and dynamics within illicit economies. For decades, Burma has been one of the world's epicenters of opiate and methamphetamine production. Cultivation of poppy and production of opium have coincided with five decades of complex and fragmented civil war and counterinsurgency policies. An early 1990s laissez-faire policy of allowing the insurgencies in designated semi-autonomous regions to trade any products - including drugs, timber, jade, and wildlife - enabled conflict to subside. The incorporation of key drug traffickers and their assets into the state structures significantly strengthened the state and the military regime. The Burmese junta negotiated ceasefires with the insurgencies, and underpinned the agreements by giving the insurgent groups economic stakes in resource exploitation and illegal economies. Under pressure, including from China, opium poppy cultivation was suppressed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, even as unregulated and often illegal trade in timber, jade, and wildlife continued. Although local populations suffered major economic deprivation, the ceasefires lasted. The armed ethnic groups, however, did not lose their source of revenues, compensating for the diminished heroin business by switching to methamphetamines and, with the participation of Chinese businesses, augmenting the legal and illegal extraction of other resources, such as timber and gems. Since the middle of the 2000s, however, the ceasefires have started to break down, and violent conflict has escalated. As of this writing in February 2017, it is probably at its most intense at any time since the early 1990s. Among the reasons is the effort of the previous Myanmar government and military since 2008 as well as powerful Bamar and Chinese businessmen and powerbrokers (many linked to the military and military business conglomerates) to restructure the 1990s economic underpinnings of the ceasefires so their economic profits increase. Business conglomerates linked to the Tatmadaw, such as Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), came to enjoy special access to the significant gem mines and other resource economies and trade more broadly, serving crucial political survival interests of the military. Control of the jade economy became a key enrichment and strategic priority for the junta. The military also sought to guarantee a steady pension for former Tatmadaw officials and soldiers and thus keep them from potentially rebelling. The MEHL and other military-linked economic conglomerates and cronies hence were accorded monopolies on the import of various consumer goods. Meanwhile, however, illegal and unregulated resource economies, including the drug trade, logging, mining, and wildlife trafficking, have thrived and devastate Burma's ecosystems, even as the plunder-underpinned peace has slid into war again. In 2011, the Myanmar military embarked on political and economic liberalization that, though a miscalculation of the military, culminated in the election of the Aung Sang Suu Kyi government in November 2015. However, the military has retained significant formal and informal power. Indeed, despite the military's electoral miscalculation, the entire transition had been at the discretion of the junta. Illicit economies played an integral part of the transition process, being a crucial element of the golden parachute that the junta awarded itself. Moreover, with its continuing lock on constitutional power, the military regime also guaranteed itself a sufficient budget. Any reforms that took place, including those directed at illicit economies, such as the embrace of greater transparency measures in mining, greater enforcement in logging, and the significant weakening the power of the cronies, were still at the direction of the military. Reforms and actions against illicit economies and organized crime that would not be advantageous to the military's institutional power or enrichment of key individuals have not taken place and could be subverted or vetoed by the key powerbrokers of the military. Similarly, the selective suppression of organized crime and aspects of the illicit economies has served crucial political and strategic objectives of the military. Nonetheless, under President Thein Sein, significant economic liberalization was in fact undertaken, with a surprising willingness to change economic arrangements with privileged economic actors. As a result of growing economic competition, the footprint of the military conglomerates and crony companies in the formal economy was reduced. Thein Sein also launched an anti-corruption drive, limited in its reach and determination mainly to the civil service, but nonetheless not insignificant. A comprehensive new land law was passed, and some stolen land was returned to local populations as a result of civil society mobilization. Details: Tokyo: United Nations University, 2017. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Crime-Conflict Nexus Series: No 9: Accessed June 19, 2017 at: https://i.unu.edu/media/cpr.unu.edu/attachment/2445/Myanmar-Maneuvers-How-to-Break-Political-Criminal-Alliances-in-Contexts-of-Transition.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Burma URL: https://i.unu.edu/media/cpr.unu.edu/attachment/2445/Myanmar-Maneuvers-How-to-Break-Political-Criminal-Alliances-in-Contexts-of-Transition.pdf Shelf Number: 146260 Keywords: Crime-Conflict NexusIllegal DrugsIllegal LoggingResource ExploitationTrafficking in MineralsTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife CrimesWildlife Trafficking |
Author: Mawani, Fatima Title: Measuring Illicit Cannabis Seizures in Canada: Methods, Practices and Recommendations Summary: The measurement of illicit cannabis seizures in Canada was not previously studied in detail. Measuring seizures is important because the data can be analyzed to develop an understanding of many areas of cannabis regulation and enforcement - from trends in criminal methods or enforcement efficiency, to the size and value of illicit markets. This report examines the current methods of measuring the metric of cannabis seizures in Canada, with particular attention paid to the way seizure information is recorded by law enforcement officials. A discussion of potential improvements to the way Canada currently measures the metric of cannabis seizures is presented, including a critical review of which analyses could be undertaken if improvements to seizure reporting were introduced. Details: Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2017. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: RESEARCH REPORT: 2017-R002: Accessed September 7, 2017 at: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2017-r002/2017-r002-en.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Canada URL: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2017-r002/2017-r002-en.pdf Shelf Number: 147141 Keywords: CannabisDrug EnforcementIllegal DrugsIllicit marketsMarijuana |
Author: Sviatschi, Maria Micaela Title: Making a Narco: Childhood Exposure to Illegal Labor Markets and Criminal Life Paths Summary: This paper shows that exposing children to illegal labor markets makes them more likely to be criminals as adults. I exploit the timing of a large anti-drug policy in Colombia that shifted cocaine production to locations in Peru that were well-suited to growing coca. In these areas, children harvest coca leaves and transport processed cocaine. Using variation across locations, years, and cohorts, combined with administrative data on the universe of individuals in prison in Peru, affected children are 30% more likely to be incarcerated for violent and drug-related crimes as adults. The biggest impacts on adult criminality are seen among children who experienced high coca prices in their early teens, the age when child labor responds the most. No effect is found for individuals that grow up working in places where the coca produced goes primarily to the legal sector, implying that it is the accumulation of human capital specific to the illegal industry that fosters criminal careers. As children involved in the illegal industry learn how to navigate outside the rule of law, they also lose trust in government institutions. However, consistent with a model of parental incentives for human capital investments in children, the rollout of a conditional cash transfer program that encourages schooling mitigates the effects of exposure to illegal industries. Finally, I show how the program can be targeted by taking into account the geographic distribution of coca suitability and spatial spillovers. Overall, this paper takes a first step towards understanding how criminals are formed by unpacking the way in which crime-specific human capital is developed at the expense of formal human capital in "bad locations." Details: New York: Columbia University, 2017. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Job Market Paper: Accessed September 19, 2017 at: http://www.micaelasviatschi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/jmpMMSviatschi.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Colombia URL: http://www.micaelasviatschi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/jmpMMSviatschi.pdf Shelf Number: 147408 Keywords: Child Labor Cocaine Drug Policy Illegal DrugsIllegal Industries |
Author: Sviatschi, Maria Micaela Title: Essays on Human Capital, Labor and Development Economics Summary: This dissertation contains four essays on human capital, labor and development economics. The first two chapters study how exposure to particular labor markets during childhood determines the formation of industry-specific human capital generating longterm consequences in terms of adult criminal behavior, labor outcomes and state legitimacy. The third chapter explores how criminal capital developed during childhood can be exported to other locations generating spillover effects on human capital accumulation. Finally, the last chapter studies how improving access to justice for women affects children's outcomes. Chapter 1, "Making a Narco: Childhood Exposure to Illegal Labor Markets and Criminal Life Paths", shows that exposing children to illegal labor markets makes them more likely to be criminals as adults. I exploit the timing of a large anti-drug policy in Colombia that shifted cocaine production to locations in Peru that were well-suited to growing coca. In these areas, children harvest coca leaves and transport processed cocaine. Using variation across locations, years, and cohorts, combined with administrative data on the universe of individuals in prison in Peru, affected children are 30% more likely to be incarcerated for violent and drug-related crimes as adults. The biggest impacts on adult criminality are seen among children who experienced high coca prices in their early teens, the age when child labor responds the most. No effect is found for individuals that grow up working in places where the coca produced goes primarily to the legal sector, implying that it is the accumulation of human capital specific to the illegal industry that fosters criminal careers. As children involved in the illegal industry learn how to navigate outside the rule of law, they also lose trust in government institutions. However, consistent with a model of parental incentives for human capital investments in children, the rollout of a conditional cash transfer program that encourages schooling mitigates the ef- fects of exposure to illegal industries. Finally, I show how the program can be targeted by taking into account the geographic distribution of coca suitability and spatial spillovers. Overall, this paper takes a first step towards understanding how criminals are formed by unpacking the way in which crime-specific human capital is developed at the expense of formal human capital in "bad locations." While my first chapter focuses on low-skilled labor and criminal capital, my second chapter studies the expansion of high-skilled labor markets. In Chapter 2, "Long-term Effects of Temporary Labor Demand: Free Trade Zones, Female Education and Marriage Market Outcomes in the Dominican Republic", I exploit the sudden and massive growth of female factory jobs in free trade zones (FTZs) in the Dominican Republic in the 1990s, and subsequent decline in the 2000s, to provide the first evidence that even relatively brief episodes of preferential trade treatments for export industries may have permanent effects on human capital levels and female empowerment. Focusing on a sample of provinces that established FTZs and exploiting variation in the opening of zones and age of women at the time of opening, I show that the FTZs' openings led to a large and very robust increase in girls' education. The effect persists after a decline in FTZs' jobs in the 2000s following the end of a trade agreement with the U.S. and an increase in competition from Asia. The reason appears to be that the increase in some girls' education changed marriage markets: girls whose education increased due to the FTZs' openings married later, had better matches with more stable marriages, gave birth later, and had children who were more likely to survive infancy. In sum, the evidence in this paper indicates that labor markets can improve female outcomes in developing countries through general equilibrium effects in the education and marriage markets. Another question I address in my dissertation is whether criminal capital developed during childhood can be exported to other locations. In the first chapter, I find that individuals take skills related to the illegal drug industry with them when they move to other districts, even when they move to districts without significant illegal industries. Chapter 3, "Exporting Criminal Capital: The Effect of U.S. Deportations on Gang Expansion and Human Capital in Central America", provides new evidence on how an increase in criminal capital due to deportations from the US affects human capital investments in El Salvador. In 1996, the U.S. Illegal Immigration Responsibility Act drastically increased the number of criminal deportations. In particular, the leaders of large gangs in Los Angeles were sent back to their countries. In addition to having a direct effect, the arrival of individuals bringing criminal skills and connections may have generated important spillover effects. We exploit this policy to look at the impact that deportation policies and the subsequent arrival of criminal capital to El Salvador had on several educational and economic outcomes. Using the 1996 policy and geographical variation in the exact location and delimitation of different gang groups, we find that criminal deportations led to large increase in crime and decrease in human capital accumulation for children living in these areas. Overall, this project helps to understand one of the reasons why El Salvador is among the world's most violent peacetime countries. Understanding these effects is crucial for public policy to successfully incorporate deported criminals back into society. While my work in the Dominican Republic and the previous literature has shown that increasing the returns to education for women incentivizes schooling, there is little evidence on how domestic violence affects human capital development and whether improving access to institutions for women can address these issues. During my field work in rural areas of Peru, I found that institutions do not usually address the problems facing women or ethnic and religious minorities. For example, the police do very little to stop domestic violence. Moreover, in many cases, women do not even trust these institutions enough to report these issues. Chapter 4, "Inter-Generational Impacts of Improving Access to Justice for Women: Evidence from Peru", exploits the introduction of women's justice centers (WJCs) in Peru to provide causal estimates on the effects of improving access to justice for women and children. Our empirical approach uses variation over time in the distance from schools and households to the nearest WJC together with province- by-year fixed effects. After the opening of WJC, we find that primary school enrollment increases at schools that are within a 1km radius of a WJC and the effect decreases with distance. In addition, we also find that primary school second graders have better test scores in reading and mathematics. Moreover, we find that children in primary school living in household's located near a WJC are more likely to attend school, to pass a grade and they are also less likely to drop out of school. We also provide some evidence that these improvements might be driven by an increase in the bargaining power of women inside the household and decrease in domestic violence. In sum, the evidence in this paper shows that providing access to justice for women can be a powerful tool to reduce domestic violence and increase education of children, suggesting a positive inter-generational benefit. Details: New York: Columbia University, 2017. 243p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed September 20, 2017 at: https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:nk98sf7m24 Year: 2017 Country: South America URL: https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:nk98sf7m24 Shelf Number: 147415 Keywords: Child LaborCocaineDrug PolicyEconomics of CrimeGangsIllegal DrugsIllegal ImmigrantsIllegal IndustriesLabor MarketsViolence Against Women |
Author: Global Commission on Drug Policy Title: The World Drug Perception Problem: Countering Prejudices about People Who Use Drugs Summary: Previous reports by the Global Commission on Drug Policy have shown how the potential harms of drugs for people and communities are exacerbated by repressive drug control policies at local, national and international levels. The present report, while fully acknowledging the negative impact that problematic drug use often has on people's lives, focuses on how current perceptions of drugs and people who use them feed into and off prohibitionist policies. Indeed, drug policy reforms have sometimes been difficult to carry out, design or implement because current policies and responses are often based on perceptions and passionate beliefs, and what should be factual discussions - such as the efficiency of harm reduction - are frequently treated as moral debates. The present report aims to analyze the most common perceptions and fears, contrast them with available evidence on drugs and the people who use them, and on that basis recommend changes that can be enacted to support reforms toward more effective drug policies. DRUGS, ADDICTION, AND THE AIM OF TREATMENT Drugs are often presented as unnatural contaminants, pushed into a society from the outside or by deviant forces, and many people fear them. In reality, taking substances to alter ones mind seems to be a universal impulse, seen in almost all cultures around the world and across history (though the substances used vary). Furthermore, while there are certainly risks involved in all drug use, the legal status of a drug rarely corresponds to the potential harms of that drug. In addition, the potential harms of a substance are increased when it is produced, obtained and consumed illegally. It is also widely believed that drug addiction is the result of someone simply taking a drug casually for pleasure, then becoming accidentally "hooked" on the chemical substances within the drug and thereafter enslaved. However, this is based on a misunderstanding of addiction. Drug use is relatively common and, in 2016, an estimated quarter of a billion people used currently illegal drugs, while about 11.6% of these are considered to suffer problematic drug use or addiction. The most common pattern of use of psychoactive substances is episodic and non-problematic. Addiction is often believed to be permanent and irreversible. If recovery is deemed possible, abstinence is generally perceived as the primary - and often only - goal of treatment. However, the primary goal of treatment should be to allow a person to attain, as far as possible, physical and mental health. From this perspective, abstinence is not necessarily the best objective for treatment for a particular person, nor even perhaps his or her aim. Even when it is, many people with problematic drug use only achieve abstinence after several attempts. A large range of options is therefore needed to allow for doctors and their patients to freely decide on the appropriate treatment. Options include psychosocial support, substitution therapy, and heroin-assisted treatment. There is strong evidence for the effectiveness of these treatments. In addition, many scientifically proven methods prevent many of the harms caused by drug use - foremost those caused by failed repressive policies without aiming for abstinence. These harm reduction interventions include needle and syringe programs, safe injection facilities, provision of opioid-overdose antagonists, and drug checking. PERCEPTIONS SURROUNDING PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS When considering the reasons why someone might take drugs, psychological and moral explanations generally prevail, primarily the assumption that the person is "weak" or immoral. Thus, the general public often sees problematic drug use as an individual problem and not one that society needs to deal with. Another common stereotype of people who use drugs is that of people living on the margins of society, who are not equal members of it or entitled to the same rights as others. These perceptions and stereotypes contrast with what experts consider to be the primary reasons for consuming drugs. These include youthful experimentation, pursuit of pleasure, socializing, enhancing performance, and self-medication to manage moods and physical pain. Another widespread perception is that people who use drugs, and particularly people with problematic drug use, engage in criminal activities. But the vast majority of those who use drugs are not committing any crime other than the contravention of drug laws. Individuals with problematic drug use often cannot afford the drugs they need without resorting to crime themselves. In addition, people who use drugs are often forced out of the mainstream and into marginalized subcultures where crime is rife. Once they have a criminal record, they find it much harder to find employment, thus making the illegal market and criminal activity among their only means of survival. PORTRAYALS IN THE MEDIA AND AMONG THE GENERAL PUBLIC The perceptions discussed in the report are largely influenced by the media, which portray the effects of drugs as overwhelmingly negative. Two narratives of drugs and people who use them have been dominant: one links drugs and crime, the other suggests that the devastating consequences of drug use on an individual are inevitable. Public opinion and media portrayals reinforce one another, and they contribute to and perpetuate the stigma associated with drugs and drug use. Commonly encountered terms such as "junkie," "drug abuser", and "crackhead" are alienating, and designate people who use drugs as "others" - morally flawed and inferior individuals. Such stigma and discrimination, combined with the criminalization of drug use, are directly related to the violation of the human rights of people who use drugs in many countries. Therefore, in order to change how drug consumption is considered and how people who use drugs are treated, we need to shift our perceptions, and the first step is to change how we speak. THE LINK BETWEEN PERCEPTIONS OF DRUGS, THOSE WHO USE THEM, AND DRUG CONTROL POLICIES The link between the perception of drugs, the people who use them, and drug policy constitutes a vicious cycle. Under a prohibitionist regime, a person who uses drugs is engaging in an act that is illegal, which increases stigma. This makes it even easier to discriminate against people who use drugs, and enables policies that treat people who use drugs as sub-humans, non-citizens, and scapegoats for wider societal problems. First, the fear of drugs has translated into messages for prevention that promote complete abstinence and state that all drugs are equally bad. However, providing information which is incomplete and often even incorrect lessens any chance of trust between the authorities and young people. A better way forward would be to offer honest information, encourage moderation in youthful experimentation, and provide knowledge on safer practices. Second, drug use is perceived as a moral issue, considered a public wrong, and is therefore criminalized, even though drug consumption itself is a non-violent act, and poses potential physical harm only to the person who engages in it. Yet in many countries the death penalty is applied to some non-violent drug offenses, placing them de facto on a similar moral ground to murder and other most serious crimes. A change of perceptions and policies is already underway in some countries. Leadership and information have played a critical role in showing that the public can support more pragmatic and evidence-based drug policies when it has been given credible information. It has been possible to persuade people concerned about public order and security that alternative drug policies can be more effective at reducing drug-related harms for users, their immediate environment, and society as a whole. Details: Geneva, SWIT: The Commission, 2017. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 17, 2018 at: http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/GCDP-Report-2017_Perceptions-ENGLISH.pdf Year: 2017 Country: International URL: http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/GCDP-Report-2017_Perceptions-ENGLISH.pdf Shelf Number: 148846 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Drug Control Policy Drug Enforcement Drug Policy Illegal dRugsPublic Attitudes |
Author: Webster, Daniel W. Title: Estimating the Effects of Law Enforcement and Public Health Interventions Intended to Reduce Gun Violence in Baltimore Summary: Baltimore has long been plagued by high rates of homicides, with guns playing an important role. City and law enforcement officials in Baltimore have attributed much of the gun violence to the illegal drug economy and the availability of guns for criminal use. For many years, the most visible and direct approaches employed by the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) to curb gun violence have focused on enforcement of drug laws to reduce violent crime associated with the drug trade. In the most ambitious and resource-intensive efforts, the objective of law enforcement actions has been to "take down" or severely weaken organized groups selling illegal drugs through targeted arrests and prosecutions. Such efforts are intended to both remove violent criminals from communities and, ideally, deter violent crime. Most of these targeted drug law enforcement efforts have been placefocused, targeting "hot spots" for homicides and shootings. Within these hot spots, there is often some degree of targeting of individuals believed to be important drivers of gun violence, based on intelligence gathered, individuals' histories of criminal offending, and individuals' criminal associates. In the early 2000s, Baltimore City leadership encouraged aggressive enforcement of drug laws, resulting in the arrests of tens of thousands of individuals for drug possession and drug distribution. However, beginning mid-2007, the BPD shifted its focus to initiatives aimed at apprehending violent criminals and targeting illegal gun possession. We used data from January 1, 2003, through December 23, 2017, to estimate the effects of place-focused policing and prevention initiatives that were focused on criminal offending involving guns and/or drugs to estimate the effects of those interventions on homicides and nonfatal shootings. An overview of the specific interventions assessed in this study follows. Details: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2018. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2018 at: https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/publications/JHSPH-Gun-Violence-in-Baltimore.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-gun-policy-and-research/publications/JHSPH-Gun-Violence-in-Baltimore.pdf Shelf Number: 149142 Keywords: Drug-Related ViolenceGun ViolenceGun-Related ViolenceHomicidesHotspots PolicingIllegal DrugsPublic Health Interventions |
Author: Management Systems International Title: The Development Response to Drug Trafficking in Africa: A Programming Guide Summary: Drug trafficking poses a growing problem in Africa. Increasing flows of illicit drugs threaten good governance, peace and security, economic growth and public health. Failure to address this threat risks undermining the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)'s investments and thwarting U.S. Government objectives on the continent. In recognition of the issue, USAID's Africa Bureau initiated research in 2011 on the development causes and consequences of drug trafficking and potential programmatic responses. The resulting programming guide aims to help USAID, other development actors, and other U.S. Government personnel understand the relationship between drug trafficking and development assistance and seek ways to mitigate any negative impacts. At a minimum, development actors should undertake crimesensitive programming that ensures their efforts do no harm. Where possible, development actors should consider programming targeted to counter the flow of drugs (e.g., anticorruption efforts or judicial reform) or programming to ameliorate the impacts of drug trafficking, such as demand reduction programs including prevention and treatment. This guide helps Missions examine opportunities for incorporating such considerations into current or future USAID programming. This guide first focuses on identifying the development challenge in Africa. The second section addresses the political economy analysis that will inform what type of programming is appropriate and which actors are appropriate partners for development efforts. The third section presents programming options to: (1) counter drug trafficking, (2) ameliorate its impacts, and (3) incorporate crime sensitivity. The fourth section presents key findings and lessons learned. These include: - Drug trafficking in Africa threatens development. Drug trafficking has exacerbated instability in Guinea-Bissau and Mali and is corroding governance throughout Africa. If left unattended, drug trafficking threatens to further undermine stability and governance and impair economic growth and public health. - Development practitioners must "get smart" on the issue. Given the significant threats across development sectors, USAID personnel should increase awareness of this issue by engaging with U.S. Government counterparts and incorporating issues of drug trafficking and criminality into planned assessments and analyses. - Interdiction alone will not solve the problem. Interdiction must be accompanied by demand reduction efforts to help counteract the potential increased profitability from decreasing the supply of drugs. Moreover, interdiction must lead to prosecution of traffickers beyond the lowest level to effectively disrupt drug trafficking networks. - Early identification of the problem and prevention efforts are critical. Although it is difficult to garner support for these issues before they erupt, early investments to contain the influence of drug money in politics and local conflicts and to prevent the spread of a retail drug market could significantly contribute to Africa's future stability and prosperity. - Political will must drive the counternarcotics approach. Whereas Missions can undertake crime-sensitive programming and support efforts to ameliorate harm and increase demand for counternarcotics measures without accompanying political will, they should only pursue supply-side efforts to improve counternarcotics efforts where there is corresponding political will. - Resources influence programming options. To the extent that a Mission has democracy and governance funds and a serious drug trafficking issue, the Mission could direct resources to building accountable governance that simultaneously addresses core democracy and governance challenges in the country and promotes counternarcotics efforts. Absent such resources, Missions may still ensure that existing programming across development sectors incorporates crime sensitivity and works to ameliorate the impacts of drug trafficking (e.g., consider using health resources to raise awareness and support demand and harm reduction). - Change presents windows of opportunity and vulnerability. The environment for drug trafficking is fluid and Missions should identify windows of opportunity, or moments that present a chance for positive change, and vulnerability, or moments that risk fostering drug trafficking. - Coordination increases impacts. Given the many actors involved in providing assistance, USAID should work closely with its local, interagency and international counterparts as coordinated efforts are more likely to result in system-wide reform than those undertaken by any single entity. In addition, USAID should seek ways to align efforts across a region to prevent successful efforts in one country from simply pushing the problem elsewhere. Details: Washington, DC: United States Agency for International Development, 2013. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 14, 2018 at: https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/Development_Response_to_Drug_Trafficking_in_Africa_Programming_Guide.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/Development_Response_to_Drug_Trafficking_in_Africa_Programming_Guide.pdf Shelf Number: 149469 Keywords: Drug TraffickingIllegal Drugs |
Author: Singer, Jeffrey A. Title: Abuse-Deterrent Opioids and the Law of Unintended Consequences Summary: The United States has seen a surge in deaths from overdoses of opioids, including both prescription drugs and illegal opioids such as heroin. Nonmedical users and abusers often obtain prescription opioids diverted from the legal to the illegal market. In the hope of reducing opioid use, abuse, and overdoses, policymakers have focused on developing and promoting tamper-resistant or abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) that render diverted opioids unusable if individuals attempt to use them for nonmedical (i.e., recreational) purposes. Although the benefits of ADFs seem to be nonexistent, these formulations have led to real harms. ADFs have encouraged users to switch to more dangerous opioids, including illegal heroin. In at least one instance, the reformulation of a prescription opioid led to a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outbreak. Along the way, ADFs unnecessarily increase drug prices, imposing unnecessary costs on health insurance purchasers, taxpayers, and particularly patients suffering from chronic pain. Like the federal government's promotion of abuse-deterrent alcohol a century ago, these efforts are producing unintended consequences, such as making legal pain relief unaffordable for many patients and possibly increasing morbidity and mortality. Government at all levels should stop promoting ADF opioids. Congress should end or limit the ability of pharmaceutical manufacturers to impose higher costs on pain patients by using ADFs to "evergreen" their opioid patents (evergreening is a practice by which pharmaceutical manufacturers extend or renew the patent protection before the current patent expires by tweaking the formula slightly or repurposing the product). The FDA should end its policy of encouraging ADF opioids and particularly its goal of eliminating non-ADF opioids. Lawmakers should abandon efforts to require consumers to purchase coverage for costlier ADF opioids and should instead allow insurers to steer medical users of these products toward cheaper, non-ADF generic formulations. Details: Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2018. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Analysis No. 832: Accessed April 4, 2018 at: https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/abuse-deterrent-opioids-law-unintended-consequences Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/abuse-deterrent-opioids-law-unintended-consequences Shelf Number: 149664 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AddictionIllegal DrugsOpioid EpidemicOpioidsPrescription Drugs |
Author: Jelsma, Martin Title: Balancing Treaty Stability and Change: Inter se modification of the UN drug control conventions to facilitate cannabis regulation Summary: Key Points - Legal tensions are growing within the international drug control regime as increasing numbers of member states or jurisdictions therein move towards or seriously consider legal regulation of the cannabis market for non-medical purposes, a policy choice not permitted under the existing UN legal framework. - Reaching a new global consensus to revise or amend the UN drug control conventions to accommodate cannabis regulation, or that of other psychoactive plants and substances currently scheduled in these treaties, does not appear to be a viable political option in the foreseeable future. - The application of dubious or 'untidy' legal arguments to accommodate regulated cannabis markets does little for the integrity of the regime, undermines respect for international law more broadly and is not sustainable. - Appealing to human rights obligations can provide powerful arguments to question full compliance with certain drug control treaty provisions, but does not in itself resolve the arguable conflict between different treaty obligations. - States may wish to adopt a stance of respectful temporary non-compliance as they pursue legally valid and appropriate options for the re-alignment of international obligations with domestic policy. - The nature of the international drug control regime's internal mechanisms does much to limit avenues for modernisation and forces states to consider extraordinary measures, such as the rightful choice made by Bolivia in relation to coca to withdraw and re-adhere with a new reservation. - Amongst reform options not requiring consensus, inter se modification appears to be the most 'elegant' approach and one that provides a useful safety valve for collective action to adjust a treaty regime arguably frozen in time. - Inter se modification would require the like-minded agreement to include a clear commitment to the original treaty aim to promote the health and welfare of humankind and to the original treaty obligations vis-a-vis countries not party to the agreement. - A legally-grounded and coordinated collective response has many clear benefits compared to a chaotic scenario of a growing number of different unilateral reservations and questionable re-interpretations. - Among other things, inter se modification would provide opportunities to experiment and learn from different models of regulation as well as open the possibility of international trade enabling small cannabis farmers in traditional Southern producing countries to supply the emerging regulated licit spaces in the global market. - Inter se modification would facilitate the development of what, within an international policy environment characterized by faux consensus, is increasingly necessary: a 'multi-speed drug control system' operating within the boundaries of international law, rather than one that strains against them. Details: Swansea, UK: Global Drug Policy Observatory, Swansea University, 2018. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Report 7: Accessed April 5, 2018 at: https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Stability-Change-Inter-Se-Modification_GDPO-TNI-WOLA_March-2018.pdf Year: 2018 Country: International URL: https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Stability-Change-Inter-Se-Modification_GDPO-TNI-WOLA_March-2018.pdf Shelf Number: 149703 Keywords: CannabisDrug ControlDrug MarketsDrug PolicyIllegal DrugsMarijuana |
Author: U.S. Government Accountability Office Title: Illicit Opioids: While Greater Attention Given to Combating Synthetic Opioids, Agencies Need to Better Assess their Efforts Summary: What GAO Found Federal agencies collaborate with foreign governments, such as China, Mexico, and Canada, as well as with international organizations, to limit the production of illicit synthetic opioids. They do this by enhancing investigations, sharing information on emerging trends, helping to expand the regulation of illicit substances, and building capacity to thwart the distribution of illicit drugs. Federal agencies have ongoing efforts to limit the domestic availability of and enhance their response to illicit synthetic opioids. For example, federal efforts include treating overdose death scenes as crime scenes where officers collect evidence to investigate and identify the drug source. Federal agencies have also documented specific strategies to combat illicit opioids. However, only one of the five strategies we reviewed included outcome, or results-oriented measures-largely due to agency perceptions that designing such measures posed challenges. The Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 directs agencies to develop goals, as well as performance indicators. Without specific outcome-oriented performance measures, federal agencies will not be able to truly assess whether their respective investments and efforts are helping them to limit the availability of and better respond to the synthetic opioid threat. We also found that while federal law enforcement agencies are increasingly coordinating with the public health sector to share overdose information, both sectors reported ongoing data sharing obstacles and related challenges with the timeliness, accuracy, and accessibility of overdose data. Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government states that information for decision-making should be appropriate, current, complete, accurate, accessible, and provided on a timely basis. Embarking on a concerted effort, led by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), to examine and address data related concerns will enhance agencies' efforts continue to understand and respond to the opioid epidemic. Federal agencies have adapted to the opioid epidemic by, among other things, expanding prevention programs and treatment options. For example, agencies have increased engagement with medical professionals about the implications of prescribing practices to help reduce opioid abuse, and provided additional resources to states and localities to expand the distribution and use of overdose reversal and treatment options. Why GAO Did This Study Increased illicit use of synthetic (manmade) opioids has contributed to drug-related overdose deaths. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl-a substance 100 times stronger than morphine- accounted for more than 19,000 of the nearly 64,000 overdose deaths in 2016, the most recent year for which federal data are available. GAO was asked to review U.S. agency efforts to combat illicit synthetic opioids. This report examines how U.S. agencies (1) work with international partners to limit production of illicit synthetic opioids; (2) work domestically to limit the availability of and enhance their response to these drugs and how agencies can improve their effectiveness; (3) measure performance in their documented opioid response strategies; and (4) have adapted their approaches to prevention and treatment. GAO reviewed documents that described agencies' international coordination efforts, domestic opioid reduction strategies and prevention and treatment approaches, and interviewed international and federal agency officials engaged in drug control policy. GAO also interviewed state and local law enforcement and public health officials in seven states, selected in part for their high rates of overdose deaths. What GAO Recommends GAO is making six recommendations, including that agencies develop performance metrics. DHS agreed, ONDCP did not state whether they agreed or disagreed, and DOJ did not agree with GAO's recommendations. GAO continues to believe that these recommendations remain valid. Details: Washington, DC; GAO, 2018. 94p. Source: Internet Resource: GAO-18-205: Accessed April 16, 2018 at: https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/690972.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/690972.pdf Shelf Number: 149801 Keywords: Drug Abuse and AdditionDrug Control PolicyIllegal DrugsIllicit DrugsOpioid EpidemicOpioidsPrescription Drugs |
Author: Sullivan, Tom Title: The ecstasy market: police detainee perspectives Summary: The data in this report were collected as part of the Australian Institute of Criminology's Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program, which is a quarterly collection of criminal justice and drug use information from police detainees at multiple sites across Australia. From January 2015 to December 2016, 4,400 adult police detainees were interviewed in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney (Bankstown and Surry Hills), most of them male (83%; n=3,647). Recent users reported consuming ecstasy on average three out of the last 30 days before detention and rated availability at an average seven out of 10, while quality was rated at an average six out of 10. Detainees reported the price of ecstasy per pill was approximately $15 to $25, with a majority of recent users reporting that the price had stayed the same compared to the three months prior to interview. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2018. 5p. Source: Internet Resource: Statistical Bulletins no. 8: Accessed April 16, 2018 at: https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb08 Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb08 Shelf Number: 149816 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Drug Abuse and Crime Drug Offenders Ecstasy Illegal Drugs |
Author: Fuller, Georgina Title: Police detainee predictions on future Australian illicit drug market influences Summary: Forecasting the nature and form that the Australian illicit drug market will take by the start of 2018 based on the opinions of police detainees - who engage with illicit drug markets as users and suppliers - provides a unique perspective on likely market fluctuations and influences. Police detainees predicted that by the start of 2018 the most likely changes and greatest impacts will occur within the cannabis and methamphetamine markets, with the heroin market remaining relatively stable. Improvements in cultivation technology and the emergence of new cannabis strains were predicted to impact the cannabis market. An increase in the number of injecting methamphetamine users was predicted to have high impact on the methamphetamine market in terms of health and crime costs to the user and community. Predicting market influences supports government, law enforcement and health sectors to proactively develop strategies to address future challenges in the Australian illicit drug market. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2018. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Statistical Bulletin No. 05: Accessed April 16, 2018 at: https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb05 Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb05 Shelf Number: 149819 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Drug markets Drug Offenders Illegal DrugsIllicit Drug Markets |
Author: U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy Title: High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program Report to Congress Summary: Pursuant to the requirements of Section 707 of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Reauthorization Act of 1998, as amended by Section 301 of the ONDCP Reauthorization Act of 2006, P.L. 109-469, ONDCP is providing Congress with this report on the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs). In order to present a national overview and individual HIDTA focus, this report provides background information and addresses three Congressional reporting requirements in one cohesive and coordinated document. This document is divided into an Executive Summary, Strategic Objectives, and five primary sections: 1. HIDTA Program Background Information The HIDTA program provides assistance to Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug trafficking regions of the Nation. There are currently 28 regional HIDTAs which include approximately 16 percent of all counties in the United States and 60 percent of the population. HIDTA-designated counties are located in 45 states plus Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. Through the HIDTA program, representatives of Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies in each HIDTA region coordinate and collaborate to address the specific drug threats of that region. 2. National HIDTA Program Evaluation This report provides Congress with an evaluation of HIDTA performance. ONDCP has established two goals for the HIDTA program which address program effectiveness, program efficiency, and program management. These goals also reflect the continued refinement of the process ONDCP has developed to manage and measure HIDTA performance. The first goal is to reduce drug availability by assisting Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies participating in HIDTAs to dismantle and disrupt drug trafficking organizations. The second goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of HIDTA initiatives. In order to report on their achievement of these goals, each HIDTA is required to provide the following four documents pertaining to its geographical area, on which its performance evaluation is based: 1) Threat Assessment; 2) Strategy; 3) Initiative Budget Proposals; and 4) Annual Report. 3. Assessment of Law Enforcement Intelligence Sharing in the HIDTA Program This report outlines the formal processes of the HIDTA program to assess law enforcement intelligence and information sharing, and highlights the formal evaluation and review process of the HIDTA program, including policy and budget guidance; FY 2009 funding levels for intelligence; processes for sharing Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement information; and the measures needed to achieve effective sharing of information. The HIDTA program has 57 operational intelligence and information sharing initiatives. Each HIDTA capitalizes on the combined resources of the Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement communities. The HIDTAs prepare and review threat assessments and apply the appropriate law enforcement response to combat illegal drug activity in our Nation. 4. Assessment of Drug Enforcement Task Forces in HIDTAs Regardless of the method of funding task forces (e.g., HIDTA, Justice Action Grant (JAG)/Byrne-sponsored), the 28 HIDTAs provide a coordination umbrella for Federal, state, local, and tribal drug law enforcement efforts; foster a strategy-driven systemic approach to integrate and synchronize efforts; facilitate efficiency, effectiveness, and cooperation among and between various agencies; and focus on outcomes and impacts. Using both formal and informal methods of coordination among drug enforcement task forces, the HIDTAs act as neutral centers to manage, deconflict, analyze, and report on drug enforcement activities in their respective regions. 5. Individual HIDTA Reports To address the specific reporting requirements, an analysis of each HIDTA is included in this report. These reports are succinct descriptions of the individual HIDTAs and their responses to the Congressional report requirements. For more comprehensive information on an individual HIDTA's performance in addressing specific drug threats, ONDCP can provide, upon request, that HIDTA's Annual Report, Strategy, or Threat Assessment. Details: Washington, DC: ONDCP, 2010. 184p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 8, 2018 at: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/policy-and-research/hidta_2011.pdf Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/policy-and-research/hidta_2011.pdf Shelf Number: 150507 Keywords: CollaborationDrug Control PolicyDrug EnforcementDrug TraffickingIllegal DrugsInformation Sharing |
Author: Beittel, June S. Title: Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations Summary: The notorious drug trafficking kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is now imprisoned in the United States awaiting trial, following the Mexican government's decision to extradite him to the United States on January 19, 2017, the day before President Trump took office. Guzman is charged with operating a continuing criminal enterprise and conducting drug-related crimes as the purported leader of the Mexican criminal syndicate commonly known as the Sinaloa cartel. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) maintains that the Sinaloa cartel has the widest reach into U.S. cities of any transnational criminal organization. In November 2016, in its National Drug Threat Assessment, the DEA stated that Mexican drug trafficking groups are working to expand their presence, particularly in the heroin markets inside the United States. Over the years, Mexico"s criminal groups have trafficked heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and increasingly the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Mexico's drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have been in constant flux. By some accounts, in 2006, there were four dominant DTOs: the Tijuana/Arellano Felix organization (AFO), the Sinaloa cartel, the Juarez/Vicente Carillo Fuentes organization (CFO), and the Gulf cartel. Since then, the more stable large organizations have fractured. In recent years, the DEA has identified the following organizations as dominant: Sinaloa, Los Zetas, Tijuana/AFO, Juarez/CFO, Beltran Leyva, Gulf, and La Familia Michoacana. In some sense, these organizations might be viewed as the "traditional" DTOs, although the 7 organizations appear to have fragmented to at least 9 (or as many as 20) major organizations. New crime groups have emerged since the December 2012 inauguration of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who has faced an increasingly complex crime situation. The major DTOs and new crime groups have furthered their expansion into such illicit activity as extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and oil syphoning, posing a governance challenge to President Pena Nieto as daunting as that faced by his predecessors. Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) initiated an aggressive campaign against Mexico's drug traffickers that was a defining policy of his government and one that the DTOs violently resisted. Operations to eliminate DTO leaders sparked organizational change, which led to significant instability among the groups and continued violence. Such violence appears to be rising again in Mexico. In January 2017, the country registered more homicides than in any January since the government began to release national crime data in the late 1980s. In a single weekend in April 2017, more than 35 died in what was assumed to be drug trafficking-related violence. Although the Mexican government no longer estimates organized crime-related homicides, some independent analysts have claimed that murders linked to organized crime may have exceeded 100,000 since 2006, when President Calderon began his campaign against the DTOs. Mexico's government reported that the annual number of all homicides in Mexico declined after Calderon left office in 2012 by about 16% in 2013 and 15% in 2014, only to rise in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, the Mexican government reported a 22% increase in all homicides to 22,932, almost reaching the high point of nearly 23,000 murders in 2011, Mexico's most violent year. The 115th Congress remains concerned about security conditions inside Mexico and the illicit drug trade. The Mexican DTOs are the major wholesalers of illegal drugs in the United States and are increasingly gaining control of U.S. retail-level distribution. This report examines how the organized crime landscape has been significantly altered by fragmentation and how the organizational shape-shifting continues Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2017. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: R41576: Accessed June 29, 2018 at: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41576.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Mexico URL: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41576.pdf Shelf Number: 150740 Keywords: Drug CartelsDrug TraffickingDrug ViolenceDrug-Related ViolenceHomicidesIllegal DrugsOrganized CrimeViolence |
Author: New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. Portfolio Committee No. 2 - Health and Community Services Title: Provision of drug rehabilitation services in regional, rural and remote New South Wales Summary: Chapter 1 provides an overview of the current state of play for the provision of drug rehabilitation services in regional, rural and remote New South Wales. This includes a discussion of the problem of drug addiction in regional areas, and information about the services available, funding arrangements and the process for patients to access facilities. While this inquiry has focused on addiction to illegal drugs, it has also encompassed alcohol addiction, as often these addictions go hand-in-hand. Chapter 2 provides an overview of each region that the committee visited during the inquiry, noting the services available as well as the gaps that were identified by local inquiry participants. The committee travelled to Nowra and Batemans Bay on the South Coast, Dubbo and Broken Hill in the West and Far West, and Grafton and Lismore on the Far North Coast. A theme that emerged throughout the inquiry was that many in the community are unaware of all the services available in their local area and broader region. This chapter therefore provides a snapshot of each region to the best of the committee's knowledge. The issue of improving publicly available information about drug rehabilitation services will be explored in the next chapter. Chapter 3 discusses key improvements to the provision of rehabilitation services in regional, rural and remote New South Wales which have been identified by inquiry participants. Overall, participants considered that there is a lack of funding in drug and alcohol rehabilitation which means that there are a lack of facilities, beds and staff. However, inquiry participants also identified the need for funding to be distributed responsibly. This chapter therefore goes on to consider improvements in the areas of service delivery and publicly available information, as well as data collection, effective planning, measuring success and the oversight of facilities. The chapter concludes by discussing staffing and funding concerns. Issues specific to Aboriginal people living in regional, rural and remote New South Wales are discussed in chapter 4. Chapter 4 examines the provision of drug rehabilitation services for Aboriginal people in regional, rural and remote New South Wales. It commences by discussing the relationship between Aboriginal disadvantage and drug and alcohol addiction, before providing an overview of the drug and alcohol services currently available to Aboriginal people in regional New South Wales. The chapter then discusses the need for more Aboriginal-specific services, including treatment that is available on country. Finally, this chapter explores Aboriginal staffing levels and training, and the Koori Court. Details: Sydney: The Committee, 2018. 130p. Source: Internet Resource: Report no. 49: Accessed August 15, 2018 at: http://apo.org.au/system/files/186371/apo-nid186371-985751.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: http://apo.org.au/system/files/186371/apo-nid186371-985751.pdf Shelf Number: 151133 Keywords: Drug Abuse Drug Abuse and Addiction Drug Abuse Treatment Illegal DrugsSubstance Abuse Treatment |
Author: Sullivan, Tom Title: Fentanyl use by police detainees remains unchanged Summary: This bulletin provides new data on the prevalence of fentanyl use among a sample of Australian police detainees. A survey of 1,044 detainees conducted under the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program in 2018 found that three percent of detainees reported having used fentanyl in the past 12 months. The same proportion of detainees interviewed in 2016 reported having used the drug. The most common reason that detainees started to use fentanyl was that it had been prescribed for medical reasons. Seventy-one percent of frequent users had engaged in non-medical use of fentanyl. Most of these users were given fentanyl by their family and friends. Details: Sydney: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2018. 3p. Source: Internet Resource: Statistical Bulletins no. 13: Accessed September 27, 2018 at:https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb13 Year: 2018 Country: Australia URL: https://aic.gov.au/publications/sb/sb13 Shelf Number: 151710 Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Drug Abuse and Crime Drug Offenders Fentanyl Illegal Drugs |
Author: Beittel, June S. Title: Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations Summary: Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) pose the greatest crime threat to the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA's) National Drug Threat Assessment published in October 2017. These organizations have for years been identified for their strong links to drug trafficking, money laundering, and other violent crimes. These criminal groups have trafficked heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and, increasingly, the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. U.S. overdoses due to opioid consumption sharply increased to a record level in 2016, following the Mexican criminal syndicates expanded control of the heroin and synthetic opioids market. The major DTOs and new crime groups have furthered their expansion into such illicit activity as extortion, kidnapping, and oil theft that costs the government's oil company more than a billion dollars a year. Mexico's DTOs have also been in constant flux. Early in his term, former Mexican President Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) initiated an aggressive campaign against Mexico's drug traffickers that was a defining policy of his government and one that the DTOs violently resisted. By some accounts, in 2006, there were four dominant DTOs: the Tijuana/Arellano Felix organization (AFO), the Sinaloa cartel, the Juarez/Vicente Carillo Fuentes organization (CFO), and the Gulf cartel. Government operations to eliminate DTO leadership sparked organizational changes, which led to significant instability among the groups and continued violence. In recent years, larger and more stable organizations have fractured, leaving the DEA and other analysts to identify seven organizations as predominant: Sinaloa, Los Zetas, Tijuana/AFO, Juarez/CFO, Beltran Leyva, Gulf, and La Familia Michoacana. In some sense, these organizations include the "traditional" DTOs, although the 7 organizations appear to have fragmented further to at least 9 (or as many as 20) major organizations. A new transnational criminal organization, Cartel Jalisco-New Generation, which split from Sinaloa in 2010, has sought to become dominant with brutally violent techniques. During the term of President Enrique Peea Nieto that will end in 2018, the government has faced an increasingly complex crime situation that saw violence spike. In 2017, Mexico reached its highest number of total intentional homicides in a year, exceeding, by some counts, 29,000 murders. In the 2017-2018 election period that opened in September 2017 and ran through June 12, 2018, 114 candidates and politicians were killed allegedly by crime bosses and others in an effort to intimidate public office holders, according to a security consultancy that tracks these homicides. On July 1, 2018, Andres Manuel Lopez Obredor won the election for President by as much as 30 points over the next contender. He leads a new party, Morena, but has served as Mayor of Mexico City and comes from a leftist ideological viewpoint. Lopez Obredor campaigned on fighting corruption and finding new ways to combat crime and manage the illicit drug trade. U.S. foreign assistance for Mexico in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-141) totaled $152.6 million, with more than $100 million of that funding focused on rule of law and counternarcotics efforts. The 115th Congress pursued oversight of security conditions inside of Mexico and monitored the Mexican criminal organizations not only because they are the major wholesalers of illegal drugs in the United States but also to appraise their growing control of U.S. retail-level distribution. This report examines how the organized crime landscape in Mexico has been altered by fragmentation of criminal groups and how the organizational shape-shifting continues. Details: Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2018. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: R41576: Accessed )ctober 22, 2018 at: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41576.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Mexico URL: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41576.pdf Shelf Number: 153043 Keywords: Drug CartelsDrug TraffickingDrug ViolenceDrug-Related ViolenceHomicidesIllegal DrugsOrganized CrimeViolence |
Author: Governing Institute Title: Confronting a Crisis: A Practical Guide for Policymakers to Mitigate the Opioid Epidemic Summary: Ninety-one Americans die every day from opioid overdoses. Victims come from all walks of life: a 19-year-old mother of two from Panama City, Fla., a 28-year-old Army sergeant from upstate New York, a 49-year-old juvenile court mediator from Arizona. For some, addiction started in their youth. For others, it began after an injury or surgery when a doctor prescribed opioids for pain. Opioids, a class of drugs that includes everything from prescription medications, like oxycodone, morphine, tramadol and fentanyl, to illegal drugs like heroin, have led to a public health crisis. The addictive nature of opioids and overprescribing are fueling the epidemic. In the last 15 years, the number of opioids prescribed and sold in the U.S. has quadrupled, even though the amount of pain Americans report is the same. Opioids were involved in more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, but the crisis continues to grow. Drug overdose deaths have significantly increased in Massachusetts, Florida, New York, North Carolina, West Virginia and more than a dozen other states. The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis that is tearing families apart and ruining lives. It also puts an incredible burden on government, including law enforcement agencies, justice departments and the foster care system, as children are orphaned or removed from parents and caretakers struggling with addiction. Though some states are taking significant steps to address the problem, they face continuing challenges in preventing future overdoses and addictions. Some experts contend there isn't nearly enough state or federal funding to combat the epidemic. Others say there are so many stakeholders involved that it's difficult to know where to begin to coordinate efforts. However, collaboration among state and local leaders, public health experts, health care providers, insurers and others is critical. There isn't one off-the-shelf solution to curb the epidemic, but policymakers are taking action to address the crisis and save lives. This handbook will detail those efforts and outline other steps policymakers can take to help mitigate the opioid crisis. Details: California: Governing Institute, 2017. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 1, 2018 at: file:///C:/Users/AuthUser/Downloads/GOV17_HANDBOOK_BCBS_V.PDF Year: 2017 Country: United States URL: http://www.governing.com/papers/Confronting-a-Crisis-A-Practical-Guide-for-Policymakers-to-Mitigate-the-Opioid-Epidemic-81958.html Shelf Number: 153137 Keywords: Drug-Related DeathsIllegal DrugsOpioid CrisisOpioid EpidemicPolicy RecommendationsPrescription MedicationPublic Health CrisisSubstance Abuse |
Author: Mansfield, David Title: Stirring Up the Hornet's Nest: How the Population of Rural Helmand view the current Counterinsurgency Campaign Summary: A central tenet of US counter-insurgency during the Bush and Obama administrations was "winning the hearts and minds" of the population. This was termed a "population-centred" approach and was informed by a strategy of "clear, hold and build," in which coalition and Afghan forces would clear insurgents from a given territory, then hold it while their influence was mitigated, and invest in the development and governance of the area. The assumption was that such a strategy would gain the support of the population. Between 2008 and 2012, Helmand province was a focal point for just such a population-centred counterinsurgency effort. It was estimated that between 2009 and 2011, more than US$648 million was spent in the province in tandem with an inflow of over 20,000 US marines, as well as UK, Danish, and Afghan military forces.2 As early as late 2009, the district of Nawa Barakzai, just south of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, became an emblem of counter-insurgency efforts and cited as an exemplar of the merits of "putting the population first." The approach was then replicated in the neighbouring districts of Nad e Ali and Marjah when over 3,000 US marines, 1,200 soldiers from the UK and 4,400 Afghan forces deployed under Operation Moshtarak in February 2010, while millions of dollars were spent on physical and social infrastructure. Levels of violence declined, but any gains were short-lived following the departure of international military forces in the summer of 2014, which diminished the mobility of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF). Development investments in central Helmand also dwindled along with the associated donor funds. By the fall of 2016, the insurgency had once again made major inroads, ANDSF had abandoned security checkpoints in Nad e Ali, Marjah and Nawa Barakzai and there were few rural development projects. In the wake of the Trump administration's debates over the future of US assistance to Afghanistan, a new counter-insurgency strategy-the South Asia Policy-came into play. Armed with a change in presidential authorities that supported a more aggressive military position against insurgent forces and those believed to be financing them, the United States Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), in the words of its commander General Nicholson, would take "the fight to the enemy in all its dimensions." This paper documents how this new strategy is perceived by the rural population of central Helmand, both in the canal-irrigated areas of Marjah, Nawa Barakzai, Nahre Seraj and Nad Ali and in the former desert areas north of the Boghra canal. It is based on the results of fieldwork in rural Helmand in May 2018 and high-resolution imagery. The paper emphasises how, by the turn of 2018, central Helmand was once again a battleground in which the population was not the prize-to coin the phrase used by proponents of population-centric counterinsurgency-but the perceived victims of a campaign of protracted violence that many farmers believe is at the behest of US and Afghan military forces. The paper also suggests that antagonism toward the government and the uptick in violence were exacerbated by a campaign of air strikes targeting heroin labs, a dramatic downturn in opium prices and a worsening economic situation. The allegations of corruption frequently levelled at Afghan officials and security forces without any notable investments in physical or social infrastructure only serve to further alienate the rural population from a government that is thought to only "fill its own pockets." The paper concludes that, in this environment, the US and Afghan government forces may be able to clear parts of central Helmand of insurgent forces, and even hold the area for a time, but there is little to suggest this strategy will win the support of the population. Finally, recommendations are offered. Details: Kabul: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2018. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Issues Paper: Accessed November 16, 2018 at: https://areu.org.af/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1814E-STIRRING-UP-THE-HORNET%E2%80%99S-NEST.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Afghanistan URL: https://areu.org.af/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1814E-STIRRING-UP-THE-HORNET%E2%80%99S-NEST.pdf Shelf Number: 153494 Keywords: Illegal DrugsIllicit CropsOpium Poppy EradicationPoppy Cultivation |
Author: Mansfield, David Title: High and Dry: Poppy cultivation and the future of those that reside in the former desert areas of South West Afghanistan Summary: The deserts of southwestern Afghanistan have been transformed. Land that was once dry and strewn with rocks, has been cleared, irrigated, and planted with crops by an influx of new settlers. The pace of the settlement of the former desert areas of the southwest is such that by 2018 there was an additional 357,885 hectares of agricultural land compared to 2002, and possibly as many as 3.6 million people residing there. And at a time when the north of the country is experiencing a dramatic drought, a further 29,000 hectares of land came under cultivation in the former deserts of the southwest between 2017 and 2018. In fact, more land was cultivated in the former desert north of the Boghra Canal in Helmand in 2018 than ever before, and there were further signs of migration into the area from farmers looking to escape the uptick in violence in the canal irrigated area following the government's efforts to recapture parts of Nad Ali. The change is such that the former desert lands north of the of the Boghra in Helmand are almost indistinguishable from those areas to the south where US$ 75 million, much of it provided by the United States, was invested in more than 200 km of irrigation canals over a three-decade period. Increased access to technology, relatively low land prices-and at least in the area north of the Boghra Canal-a recovery of opium yields-continue to draw people into these former desert lands. The population has dug in. The markets, that once straddled the Boghra canal, and thereby served both the populations of the desert to the north and the irrigated areas to the south, have lost their importance. Permanent markets have been established deep in the former desert area, north of the canal, reflecting the changing face of central Helmand, the growth in the settled population in these former empty spaces, and the increasing purchasing power of those that live there. However, despite these obvious gains the productivity of these former desert places - and thereby the lives of the population that reside there - is precarious. In recent years the uptick in technology such as herbicides and the use of solar technology to power deep wells has helped farmers overcome falling yields and lower production costs. But at the same time these developments pose a threat to agricultural sustainability and the livelihoods of the population in these former desert areas. The ground water that the area relies on is falling at an increasing rate with the growth in solar-powered technology and there are signs that it is contaminated with nitrates. This paper draws on detailed fieldwork and imagery in 2018 to document the changes in the lives and livelihoods of the population in these rapidly expanding former desert areas of the southwest. It traces changes in agricultural practice, governance and the experiences of the population, both men and women, to illustrate how fragile life is for those living in these former desert areas and the vulnerability of the population. The paper is pioneering in its efforts to document the lives and livelihoods of women in these former desert areas where prevailing levels of insecurity, the tradition of seclusion, and the challenges of conducting fieldwork in the remote former desert spaces mean that this is a population group whose voices are rarely heard. The paper is divided into six sections. The first section outlines the methodology used to conduct research in such difficult and insecure terrain. The second section examines the contrasting histories of settlement of two former desert areas: the area north of the Boghra canal in Helmand and Bakwa, some 100 kilometers to the northwest. The third section looks at the changing face of governance in these former desert areas. It highlights just how incidental the government is to those that live in places like Bakwa and north of the Boghra and provides evidence of the insurgency's growing influence over the population's way of life in matters of security, justice, education, and even environmental policy. The fourth section details agricultural production over the winter of 2017-18 and highlights the critical role that opium production plays in the economic viability of these former desert areas. The fifth section documents the experiences of those that live in these former desert areas, with a particular focus on those women that migrate to the area north of the Boghra Canal on a seasonal basis. Finally, a conclusion is offered. Details: Kabul: Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, 2018. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Issues Paper: Accessed November 16, 2018 at: https://areu.org.af/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1817E-High-and-Dry-Poppy-cultivation-and-the-future-of-those-that-reside-in-the-former-desert-areas-of-South-West-Afghanistan.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Afghanistan URL: https://areu.org.af/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1817E-High-and-Dry-Poppy-cultivation-and-the-future-of-those-that-reside-in-the-former-desert-areas-of-South-West-Afghanistan.pdf Shelf Number: 153495 Keywords: Illegal Drugs Illicit Crops Opium Poppy Cultivation |
Author: Le Cour Grandmaison, Romain Title: No More Opium for the Masses: From the U.S. Fentanyl Boom to the Mexican Opium Crisis: Opportunitiee Amidst Violence? Summary: This report examines the effects of the upsurge in U.S. fentanyl use on opium producing areas in Mexico. By using available quantitative data on Mexican opium production as well as qualitative field research from opium producing communities in Nayarit and Guerrero, this paper offers valuable insights into Mexico's illicit drug trade. In particular, this paper demonstrates the extent to which certain villages in the Golden Triangle, but also in Guerrero, Nayarit, and Oaxaca rely on opium production for survival. The authors estimate that the opium economy channeled around 19 billion pesos ($1 billion dollars) to some of the poorest communities in Mexico in 2017. This is a vast amount, nearly three times the total legal agricultural output of the entire state of Guerrero. Up to around 2017, opium growers in Mexico were earning around 20,000 pesos ($1,050 dollars) a kilo of raw opium, and families could bring in up to 200,000 pesos ($10,500 dollars) per year. With the upsurge in fentanyl use, the demand for Mexican heroin has fallen sharply, by an estimated 7 billion pesos ($364 million dollars). This has had an immediate knock-on for opium producers. Farmers are now being paid around 6000 to 8000 pesos ($315 - 415 dollars) per kilo of raw opium. These losses have caused farmers' profits to disappear, village economies to dry up; and out-migration to increase. These findings have important implications for public security in Mexico, as well as major ramifications for international counter-drug efforts. Criminal groups in Mexico are nothing if not supple and adaptable to change. If current trends continue in the coming years, such groups may continue to dominate poppy-growing regions through other industries including illegal logging, illegal mining or the production of synthetic drugs. While legalization and crop substitution have been touted as possible alternatives, these should not be conceived of as silver bullets. However, if properly researched and managed, both policies could be introduced relatively cheaply and effectively. Initially at least, they would loosen the grip of organized crime groups on the regions and tie farmers to licit international markets. Combined with other broader security policies, they could integrate these marginalized areas into the country for good. Resolving this crisis requires further in-depth, policy-focused research in Mexico. It is urgent to design policies that are based on solid, updated knowledge about local dynamics of violence in the country. Any political response must be based on further research and diagnosis, conducted in the most critical opium producing regions of the country. Mexican government officials and international aid agencies should work to strengthen programs to promote long-term crop-substitution and economic development opportunities. Such policies are urgently needed to encourage local agricultural producers to focus on legitimate, locally sustainable crops and alternative industries. Recent proposals to legalize opium for the pharmaceutical industry should be considered seriously. Yet, legalization would only solve a one part of the issue, since Mexican demand for legal opioids is massively lower than the country's current illegal production. Hence, the solution must be articulated both at the national and international level, in order to tackle supply and demand simultaneously. Details: s.l.: Noria Research, Washington, DC: Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center. 2019. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2019 at: https://www.noria-research.com/app/uploads/2019/02/NORIA_OPIUM_MEXICO_CRISIS_PRO-1.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Mexico URL: https://www.noria-research.com/app/uploads/2019/02/NORIA_OPIUM_MEXICO_CRISIS_PRO-1.pdf Shelf Number: 154601 Keywords: FentanylIllegal DrugsIllicit Drug TradeOpioid EpidemicOpioidsOpiumOrganized Crime |
Author: New York City. Mayor's Task Force on Cannabis Legalization Title: A Fair Approach to Marijuana: Recommendations from the Mayor's Task Force on Cannabis Legalization Summary: New York State may be poised to legalize non-medical adult cannabis use in the coming year, joining ten other states and the District of Columbia. This crossroads presents New York City with unique challenges and opportunities. These challenges include working to see that the State legislation is best structured to protect New York City residents and visitors to avoid unwanted consequences from adult legalization. The legislation, and State and City regulations that follow, must do all they can to protect the health and safety of New Yorkers. At the same time, we have the responsibility to use this turning point to help redress the disproportionate harms that criminalization of cannabis use has caused the City's communities of color. Legalization also poses unique opportunities to build a new industry in ways that advance our City's commitment to promote economic opportunities for economically disadvantaged New Yorkers and small businesses. The State legislation should forge a path to opportunities not for big corporations but for New Yorkers who need them most. Ongoing federal criminalization of cannabis adds further complexity to these challenges, perpetuating potential ill-consequences particularly for disadvantaged communities while limiting access to financial, tax, and other services and benefits to support the burgeoning industry. To help chart the City's course for cannabis legalization, Mayor Bill de Blasio convened the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization with the charge of identifying the goals and challenges that should guide the City's preparations for potential legalization. The Task Force includes representatives of City agencies that engage in areas affected by cannabis legalization, including those concerned with public health, public safety, education, economic opportunity, and finance, among others. The Task Force reviewed the range of regulatory regimes in other jurisdictions that have legalized adult cannabis use and the practical experiences of those jurisdictions. It conducted interviews with public health and public safety officials throughout the nation and in Canada, and consulted with academic and other experts, New York City officials, and community organizations. Task Force members also attended community listening sessions in New York City to hear the views of New Yorkers on the issues posed by legalization. Based on this research, the Task Force developed the following guiding principles for cannabis legalization and the recommendations summarized in the Executive Summary and detailed in the report below. Details: New York City: Mayor's Task Force on Cannabis Legalization, 2018. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2019 at: http://criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/A-Fair-Approach-to-Marijuana.pdf Year: 2018 Country: United States URL: https://criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/reports/mayors-task-force-on-cannabis-legalization/ Shelf Number: 155247 Keywords: Cannabis LegalizationDrug PolicyDrug ReformIllegal DrugsMarijuana LegalizationNew York CityPublic Health |
Author: Van De Ven, Katinka Title: The Formation and Development of Illicit Performance and Image Enhancing Drug Markets: Exploring Supply and Demand, and Control Policies in Belgium and the Netherlands Summary: This research explores the understudied phenomenon of performance and image enhancing drug (PIED) markets by examining the structure and formation of the market for PIEDs in the Netherlands and Belgium. Furthermore, this study aims to understand and analyse the actors that operate in the PIED dealing environment. In particular bodybuilding is adopted as a case study. Finally, this thesis examines how the PIED control system and its application influence these respective markets. Chapter one introduces the global PIED problem, the policy options currently available to deal with it, and its connection to anti-doping and sport. Chapter two begins by reviewing the literature on PIED use and its supply, and reflects on the anti-doping and PIED policies that seek to regulate this market. In chapter three the theoretical contours of this dissertation are developed. Chapter four describes the research methods which form the empirical bases of the findings chapters. Chapter five focuses on the general characteristics of PIED suppliers, and the ways in which the actions of PIED dealers are influenced by the market cultures in which they operate. Chapter six examines the importance of socio-cultural factors in the formation and development of PIED dealing networks within bodybuilding subcultures. Chapter seven analyses and describes the characteristics of the Belgian and Dutch PIED markets, and unravels the complex relationship between the two. Chapter eight explores the illegal production of steroids in the Netherlands and the flourishing Internet trade in Belgium. Chapter nine assesses the harms related to the production and distribution of PIEDs, and accounts for the effects that Belgian and Dutch PIED policies may have on this illicit market. Finally, in chapter ten, the main findings of this dissertation are summarized, future research endeavours are considered and policy implications are drawn from the analysis. This thesis illustrates that social systems of rules and values, and in particular the embeddedness of culture, are important factors in our efforts to comprehend illicit PIED markets. Specifically, 'the beliefs, norms, 'tools', rules and behaviours appropriate to a cultural setting are key factors for understanding the structure of PIED markets and greater attention must be given to the role played by socio-cultural factors in influencing the market behaviour of criminal groups and individuals. Nevertheless, this thesis also demonstrates that it is imperative to examine the production, distribution and use of PIEDs, as embedded within a diverse combination of social, economic and cultural processes. Indeed, the structure and formation of illicit PIED markets are shaped by a variety of factors including the types of PIEDs dealt within them, the characteristics of the users, the social structures which sustain them, the cultural and economic context in which the markets exist, and market forces (e.g. technical innovations, drug policies) Details: Kent, UK: University of Kent, 2015. 261p. Source: Internet Resourde: Dissertation: Accessed April 26, 2019 at: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/54398/ Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/54398/ Shelf Number: 155561 Keywords: Illegal DrugsPerformance Enhancing Drugs Sports Doping Steroids |
Author: Egnell, Susanne Title: Cannabis policy and legislation in the Nordic countries: A report on the control of cannabis use and possession in the Nordic legal systems Summary: Why should we study the legal control of cannabis from a Nordic perspective? Reasons and statistics Cannabis is used throughout the Nordic countries (Kraus, 2016; Skretting, 2016; Bretteville-Jensen, 2013). There are many reasons why we should be interested in the use of this drug and why we ought to look more closely at how society responds to its use - not least because of the changes which currently impact on both the use of cannabis and societal responses to it. Cannabis use seems to be on the increase among young adults in most Nordic countries, or at least it is safe to say that the use of cannabis is not decreasing among young adults in any Nordic country. For example, in Finland almost 20% of people aged 15-69 reported in 2014 having used cannabis at least once in their lifetime (Hakkarainen et al. 2015). Still, the use of cannabis in the Nordic countries has not increased among underage adolescents (Kraus et al., 2016). Cannabis markets have also changed. The illegal market today is more professional and centralised, and online dealing of cannabis (or plants) is more common. During the 21st century cultivation of cannabis has expanded in the Nordic countries (Bretteville-Jensen, 2013). Home cultivation among the users themselves has also become more important (Hakkarainen et al., 2008). In Iceland, for example, all of the cannabis used in the country appears to be cultivated in Iceland or home-grown by the users or the dealers, say the informants to this report. Attitudes towards cannabis have also grown more lenient in the population. The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) shows that young people in all of Europe perceive the use of cannabis as less risky than young people did ten years ago (The ESPAD Group, 2016). Also, adults seem to be less critical of cannabis compared to attitudes on other drugs (Hakkarainen et al., 2015). The more lenient attitudes towards cannabis also prevail internationally. Lately there have appeared international efforts and discussions to legalise, decriminalise, or depenalise cannabis use (and in some cases drug use in general). The discussion has also intensified in the Nordic states. The use of medical cannabis has increased internationally, but is still small-scale. Medical cannabis is mainly allowed as pain treatment in certain cancers and to alleviate some symptoms of multiple sclerosis. While many other use areas have been claimed and studied, the evidence is still contradictory (EMCDDA, 2018). As our report will show, the use of medical cannabis is strictly regulated in the Nordic countries. Cannabis users in the Nordic countries are a heterogeneous group both in terms of their use and social background. According to a Finnish survey, most cannabis users use the drug a few times a year, without any major health or social consequences from the use (Hakkarainen & Karjalainen, 2017). Sporadic use - a few times a year - seems to be the most common way to use cannabis in other Nordic countries as well (Skretting et al., 2016). A typical Finnish cannabis user 'is a young man who lives in a city and smokes marihuana that he got from friends. He uses cannabis recreationally and is a heavy user of alcohol.' (Hakkarainen & Karjalainen, 2017, translation Yaira Obstbaum.) Many cannabis users do not use other illegal drugs, but they often use alcohol simultaneously or on different occasions. The share of cannabis users with prevalent health and social problems is higher than among non-users. Using other drugs is also more prevalent among cannabis users than among non-users of cannabis. Alcohol seems to be the most common drug, at least in Finland (Hakkarainen & Karjalainen, 2017). Cannabis is not a harmless substance. Frequent use of cannabis is connected to at least impaired cognitive ability and increased risk of psychotic symptoms. More studies are needed to clarify the effects of long-term cannabis use (WHO, 2017). A growing body of evidence points at cannabis use (and its psychosocial consequences) being a mental health risk (Nordentoft et al., 2015). Cannabis problems can also be regarded as a symptom of underlying ills, such as social problems, social exclusion, economic problems, ill health, and many other factors. Starting to use cannabis at an early age may be a sign of socioeconomic and (mental) health problems, and is connected to truancy and higher levels of school drop-out (Lemstra et al., 2008; Tims et al., 2002). Young cannabis users have a heightened risk of developing dependence (Sundhedsstyrelsen, 2017). It is safe to say that cannabis use is not decreasing in Nordic countries, and in most Nordic countries the use is increasing at least in the young adult population. Use of cannabis is thus likely to produce increasing harm - social problems, health problems, and problems of law and order - burdening not only the health and treatment systems but also the legal system. (For an overview of current treatment of cannabis use in the Nordic countries, see Stenius, 2019.) The relationship between cannabis use and the legal system is complicated. That the use of cannabis is illegal in many countries obviously has many consequences for those who use the drug. Many researchers support the claim that the illegal status of cannabis may aggravate an already strained social situation (Houborg & Pedersen, 2013) or push towards further social problems (Tham, 2005). Possessing and using cannabis may currently lead to legal sanctions in the Nordic countries, and while the consequences are not necessarily always heavy, the sanctions vary a great deal. The very existence of a criminal record due to cannabis use may have consequences for those, for example, applying for a job where one needs to disclose one's criminal record. Researchers emphasise the need for a stronger focus on treatment and social support. According to Kinnunen (2018), the Nordic countries have quite similar criminal policies in general; criminal control and sanctions are usually a last resort. 'We try other things instead, social policy and welfare measures, to create possibilities to combat social exclusion.' But when it comes to drugs, the situation is different. Criminal sanctions come into the picture very quickly, raising the question of how social exclusion is conceived in our criminal policy. In a Scandinavian welfare state, drug use seems to be viewed as an arena where welfare policies are not enough (see Kinnunen, 2008). There are also differences between the Nordic countries in how much they lean on welfare policies and how much trust is placed in criminal control. This report will show how cannabis use and possession are controlled by the legal systems in the Nordic countries, beginning with an overview of Nordic trends in cannabis use. This is followed by comprehensive reports on the legal control of cannabis in each of the five Nordics: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The country reports are complemented by a short summary of the key findings for each country. The report concludes with an overall summary along with suggestions for further study Details: Stockholm: Nordic Welfare Centre, 2019. 146p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 24, 2019 at: https://nordicwelfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Cannabis-policy-and-legislation-in-the-Nordic-countries_FINAL.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Norway URL: https://nordicwelfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Cannabis-policy-and-legislation-in-the-Nordic-countries_FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 156622 Keywords: Cannabis Drug Control Drug Policy Illegal DrugsMarijuana Medical Marijuana Nordic Countries |