Research Handbook on International Drug Policy

Analysing one of the most controversial areas in public policy, this pioneering Research Handbook brings together contributions from expert researchers to provide a global overview of the shifting dynamics of drug policy. Chapters tackle a complex and cross-cutting issue from inter and multi-disciplinary perspectives, incorporating political science, history, law and public health into their analyses. Emphasising connections between the domestic and the international, this timely Research Handbook illustrates the intersections between drug policy, human rights obligations and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Integrating detailed discussion of ever-evolving drug markets, a diverse range of policy responses, and political and ideological tensions, the contributors offer an insightful analysis of the regional dynamics of drug control, its historic constructions, and the contemporary and emerging problems it is facing. Aimed at researchers and students interested in drug policy, as well as policy makers and practitioners at different levels of governance, the Research Handbook on International Drug Policy provides a much-needed comparative approach and will prove to be an essential resource for navigating the difficulties surrounding drug policy and control.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Foreword xiii Hon. Louise Arbour Introduction: international drug policy in an era of growing complexity, challenge and tension xvi David R. Bewley-Taylor and Khalid Tinasti PART I HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL 1 Foundations of the international drug control regime: nineteenth century to the Second World War 2 William B. McAllister 2 The evolution of international drug control under the United Nations 19 Constanza Sánchez-Avilés and Ondrej Ditrych 3 Drug consumers and the formation of the international drug control apparatus 38 Christopher Hallam PART II THE GEOSPATIAL DIMENSIONS OF DRUG POLICY 4 North American drug policy: American and Canadian developments from the early twentieth century to today 54 Katharine Neill Harris 5 Latin America and the Caribbean: complicity and legacy of a long war 72 Juan Carlos Garzón and Ana María Rueda 6 Western and Central Europe: towards a cohesive model for drug policies? 94 Renaud Colson and Henri Bergeron 7 Documenting human rights violations is not enough to reform archaic drug policies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia 113 Mikhail Golichenko 8 Drug policy in Africa: a history of global and regional dynamics 131 Neil Carrier and Gernot Klantschnig 9 Drug use, policies and prohibition in Muslim countries 145 Khalid Tinasti 10 Drug policy in Asia: the origins and extremities of prohibition 163 Gloria Lai and Claudia Stoicescu 11 The changing tides of drug consumption, supply and drug policy in Oceania 185 Amber Marks and Caitlin Hughes PART III EMERGING TENSIONS WITHIN THE UN DRUG CONTROL SYSTEM AND BEYOND 12 The rise and fall of the “drug free world” narrative 206 Steve Rolles 13 Drug control and human rights: parallel universes, universal parallels 225 Julie Hannah and Rick Lines 14 Public health and international drug control: harm reduction and access to controlled medicines 248 Jennifer Hasselgard-Rowe, Naomi Burke-Shyne and Ann Fordham 15 Drugs and development: drug policies and the Global South 265 Julia Buxton 16 Bolivia, coca, culture and colonialism 283 Zoe Pearson 17 Regulating cannabis in Uruguay, the United States and Canada: is a social justice framework possible? 301 Zara Snapp and Jorge Herrera Valderrábano PART IV FUTURE CHALLENGES 18 The search for new drug policy metrics 325 Nazlee Maghsoudi, Justine Tanguay and Dan Werb 19 The NPS imposters, merging and emerging drug markets and the contribution of drug checking 341 Fiona Measham 20 Drug cryptomarket futures: structure, function and evolution in response to law enforcement actions 355 Patrick Shortis, Judith Aldridge and Monica J. Barratt Index 381

About the Author :
Edited by the late David R. Bewley-Taylor, formerly Professor of International Relations and Public Policy and Director of the Global Drug Policy Observatory, Swansea University, UK and Khalid Tinasti, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland

Review :
‘For both the drug-specific and the wider issues raised, the book is to be welcomed for its insights and examples and is a valuable addition to third wave literature.’ ‘The editorship and a welcome international group of authors from six continents adding diverse interpretations to familiar discussions, wide thematic coverage, and reminders of the growing reform movement combine to make this an impressive collection. The book sees the hegemony of the global order as being increasingly 'disregarded' and is an important critical reminder that a human rights framework might not be the 'right fit' for international drug policy as the latter requires more worldly values of open debate, diversity, freedom, and equal participation of national governments in shaping policies.’ ‘At a critical time when drug laws are fundamentally starting to change from prohibition to regulation in a few countries, this book is timely and appropriate as it brings together a collection of writings of authors who not only cover the historical timespan of drug laws and the diversity of experience in different countries but do so in depth on the key issues in a style easily followed by the reader.’