Drugs, insecurity and failed states: The problems of prohibition

By Nigel Inkster and Virginia Comolli

The world’s wealthiest nations have expended vast blood and treasure in tracking and capturing traffickers, dealers and consumers of narcotics, as well as destroying crops and confiscating shipments. Yet the global trade in illicit drugs is thriving, with no apparent change in the level of consumption despite decades of prohibition. This Adelphi argues that the present enforcement regime is not only failing to win the ‘War on Drugs’; it is also igniting and prolonging that conflict on the streets of producer and transit countries, where the supply chain has become interwoven with state institutions and cartels have become embroiled in violence against their rivals and with security forces.

What can be done to secure the worst affected regions and states, such as Latin America and Afghanistan? By examining the destabilising effects of prohibition, as well as alternative approaches such as that adopted by the authorities in Portugal, this book shows how progress may be made by treating consumption as a healthcare issue rather than a criminal matter, thereby freeing states to tackle the cartels and traffickers who hold their communities to ransom.

The full document is available here.

Nigel Inkster is Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk, IISS.

Virginia Comolli is Research Associate for Transnational Threats at the IISS.

‘The unintended consequences of the global drugs control regime have been felt most keenly in fragile and failing states which have seen their security threatened and their institutions subverted by criminal networks competing for the massive profits generated by an international black market in illicit substances. IISS provides a detailed and dispassionate analysis of this phenomenon and highlights the need to consider alternative approaches.’

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil; Chair, Global Commission on Drug Policy

‘A sober, thorough and elegant assessment of the War on Drugs and why it has failed so badly. When venerable institutions like the IISS bring their considerable gravitas to this debate in such a forceful manner, then it is surely a sign that the time has come for a fundamental rethink of this policy.’

Misha Glenny, journalist and author of McMafia: A Journey through the Global Criminal Underworld

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