Case Study 16 - Illicit Drugs)

Should Illicit Drugs Be Legalised?
Christian Elcock
The global illicit drug trade is thought to be worth $32 billion. In some parts of the
world, drug trafficking organisations have so much power that they effectively undermine
government authority, creating states within states. In turn, trafficking routes, like in Central
America, West Africa and Central Asia, enable violence, addiction and corruption to spread
outside the producing countries. Drug abuse and drug-related deaths have been increasing
globally, as decision-makers struggle to stem the tide. To fight drug abuse and drug
trafficking, the overwhelming majority of the international community has long been involved
in a relentless US-led “War on Drugs,” which shows no signs of ending soon.
Over the past two decades, however, some countries and jurisdictions have been
moving away from these punitive policies. Some of them now consider drug abuse as a health
problem requiring medical, rather than police attention. Meanwhile, cannabis is slowly, but
inexorably moving out of illegality in Western countries, where reform advocates point to the
benefits of medical marijuana and the extra employment and tax revenues that accompany this
new market.
If, as some claim, the War on Drugs has failed, is it time to legalise on a global scale?
What impact would legalisation have on public health, society and the economy? Would
cartels simply shift to another line of trafficking? Can a middle-ground be found through the
medicalization of drug use? The following sources will help you form an opinion on this
highly complex problem.
*
1. The War on Drugs
As an introduction to the topic, consult the takeaways from the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime:
https://www.unodc.org/res/wdr2021/field/WDR21_Booklet_1_takeaways.pdf
This TV report reflects on Rodrigo Duterte’s disastrous War on Drugs in the Philippines,
marred by extreme violence against the poor and extra-judicial killings:
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Should drugs be legalised?
“The Philippines' 'war on drugs': What will change after Duterte? | DW News”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tzFXunPgwI
For a measure of the seemingly boundless resources of the cartels, see this fascinating Vice
documentary on Colombian “narcosubs”: Motherboard / Colombian Narcosubs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rp-C1ph_g8
This Business Insider report shows how Cartels are diversifying their trade by tapping into the
booming avocado trade: “The True Cost of Avocadoes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPrUCcHd3mo
Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 Sicario is a gruesome illustration of the war on drugs on the US-
Mexico border and how it affects people and the rule of law. See also José Padila’s 2007
Tropa de Elite, which depicts the militarised fight against drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro’s
favelas.
2. Alternatives to the War on Drugs
Ben Smith, a professor of history at Warwick University, discusses “The Year Mexico
Legalised Drugs” here:
https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/1940-the-year-mexico-legalised-drugs/
See also “Professor Ben Smith on The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade” in
the following interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCnbfzgTABQ
Psychedelic drugs like LSD, MDMA and psilocybin are now part of a multi-billion dollar
industry and promise to treat conditions like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and
end-of-life anxiety. Listen to Imperial College researcher Robin Carhart-Harris speak at the
2019 Davos forum: Davos 2019 – The New Science of Psychedelics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijhdw5d-2pI
The following 2021 report discusses cannabis issues in Colorado, after it became the first US
state to fully legalise in 2014:
https://cdpsdocs.state.co.us › 2021-SB13-283_Rpt
The key findings are available in the executive summary at the beginning of the report.
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This article reflects on cannabis in Canada, three years after it was fully legalised and turned
into a commodity: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cannabis-changed-canada-
1.6219493#:~:text=Legalization%20has%20resulted%20in%20the,drug%20convictions
%20among%20young%20people.
This 2013 Guardian article looks at the radical transformations of the city of Medellin in
Columbia, once the epicentre of the global drug trade and one of the most violent places in the
world: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/medellin-colombia-worlds-most-
dangerous-city
A more recent article reveals that drug abuse continues to ravage Medellin:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220510-three-decades-after-pablo-escobar-s-
death-drugs-ravage-medellin
This article discusses how some European countries have created spaces for open drug use:
https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/02/04/the-streets-werent-safe-for-drug-users-
so-these-countries-created-spaces-for-them/
Here is a link to an article discussing how Switzerland has radically moved away from the
War on Drugs paradigm by medicalising heroin, following a devastating epidemic:
https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/01/28/switzerland-fights-heroin-with-heroin/
This Time article discusses the impact of drug decriminalization in Portugal:

https://time.com/longform/portugal-drug-use-decriminalization/
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Should Illicit Drugs Be Legalised?

2. Alternatives to the War on Drugs

This Time article discusses the impact of drug decriminalization in Portugal:

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