Drug policy reform
Encyclopedia
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Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s respond to the socio-cultural influence on perception of psychoactive substance use. Proponents of drug
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
policy reform believe that prohibition
Prohibition (drugs)
The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent drug use. Prohibition of drugs has existed at various levels of government or other authority from the Middle Ages to the present....
of drugs—such as cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
, opioid
Opioid
An opioid is a psychoactive chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central and peripheral nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract...
s, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, amphetamine
Amphetamine
Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...
s and hallucinogens—has been ineffectual and counterproductive. They argue that rather than using law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s and enforcement as the primary means to responding to substance use, governments and citizens would be better served by reducing harm
Harm reduction
Harm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
and regulating the production, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
and distribution of currently illegal drugs in a manner similar to (or some would say better than) how alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
are regulated.
Proponents of drug law reform argue that relative harm should be taken into account in the scheduling of controlled substances. Addictive drugs such as alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
and caffeine
Caffeine
Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a stimulant drug. Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruit of some plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects feeding on the plants...
have been a traditional part of Western culture for centuries and are legal, when in fact the first two are more harmful than some substances scheduled under Schedule I. The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is the United States’ federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the U.S...
, a branch of the U.S. Center for Disease Control, rated the hallucinogen psilocybin (Schedule I) less toxic than Aspirin
Aspirin
Aspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
. The Dutch government found this also to be true.
The addictive properties of the drug nicotine
Nicotine
Nicotine is an alkaloid found in the nightshade family of plants that constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco, with biosynthesis taking place in the roots and accumulation occurring in the leaves...
in tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
are often compared with heroin or cocaine, but tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
is legal, even though the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO) in the 2002 World Health Report estimates that in developed countries, 26% of male deaths and 9% of female deaths can be attributed to tobacco smoking. According to the American Heart Association
American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a non-profit organization in the United States that fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas...
, "Nicotine addiction
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break." The pharmacologic and behavioral characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to drugs such as heroin and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
.
History of drug policy reform
Initial attempts to change the punitive drug laws which were introduced all over the world from the late 1800s onwards were primarily based around recreational use. Timothy LearyTimothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
was one of the most prominent campaigners for the legal and recreational use of LSD. In 1967, a "Legalise pot" rally was held in Britain.
However, as death toll from the drug war rose, other organisations began to form to campaign on a more political and humanitarian basis. The Drug Policy Foundation formed in America and Release
Release (agency)
Release, founded in 1967 by Caroline Coon and the late Rufus Harris , is a UK agency that provides legal advice and arranges legal representation for people charged with the possession of drugs...
, a charity which gives free legal advice to drugs users and currently campaigns for drug decriminalization, also incorporated in the 1970s.
Today, the focus of the world's drug policy reform organisations is on the promotion of harm reduction
Harm reduction
Harm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
in the Western World, and attempting to prevent the catastrophic loss of human life in developing countries where much of the world's supply of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana are produced. Drug policy reform advocates points to efforts such as the Mexican Drug War
Mexican Drug War
The Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces who seek to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was...
, which has claimed some 36,000 lives, as signs that a new approach to drug policy is needed.
Harm reduction
Harm reduction refers to a range of public healthPublic health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
and other high risk activities. Harm reduction is put forward as a useful perspective alongside the more conventional approaches of demand
Demand reduction
Demand reduction refers to efforts aimed at reducing public desire for illegal and illicit drugs. This drug policy is in contrast to the reduction of drug supply, but the two policies are often implemented together...
and supply reduction
Supply reduction
Supply reduction is one approach to social problems such as drug addiction. Other approaches are demand reduction and harm reduction.In the case of illegal drugs, supply reduction efforts generally involves attempts to disrupt the manufacturing and distribution supply chains for these drugs, by...
.
Many advocates argue that prohibitionist laws criminalize people for suffering from a disease and cause harm, for example by obliging drug addicts to obtain drugs of unknown purity from unreliable criminal sources at high prices, increasing the risk of overdose and death. Its critics are concerned that tolerating risky or illegal behaviour sends a message to the community that these behaviours are acceptable.
Decriminalization
Drug decriminalization calls for reduced control and penalties compared to existing laws. Proponents of drug decriminalization generally support the use of fines or other punishment to replace prisonPrison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
terms, and often propose systems whereby illegal drug users who are caught would be fined, but would not receive a permanent criminal record as a result. A central feature of drug decriminalization is the concept of harm reduction
Harm reduction
Harm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
.
Drug decriminalization is in some ways an intermediate between prohibition and legalisation, and has been criticised as being "the worst of both worlds", in that drug sales would still be illegal, thus perpetuating the problems associated with leaving production and distribution of drugs to the criminal underworld, while also failing to discourage illegal drug use by removing the criminal penalties that might otherwise cause some people to choose not to use drugs.
Currently, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
is the only country in the world that has decriminalized the use of all drugs , meaning anyone caught with any type of drug, if its for consumption, will not be imprisoned. However, Mexico City has decriminalized certain drugs and Greece has just announced that it is going to do so.
Legalization
Drug legalization calls for the end of government-enforced prohibition on the distribution or sale and personal use of specified (or all) currently banned drugs. Proposed ideas range from full legalization which would completely remove all forms of government control, to various forms of regulated legalization, where drugs would be legally available, but under a system of government control which might mean for instance:- mandated labels with dosage and medical warnings,
- restrictions on advertising,
- age limitations,
- restrictions on amount purchased at one time,
- requirements on the form in which certain drugs would be supplied,
- ban on sale to intoxicated persons,
- special user licenses to purchase particular drugs.
The regulated legalization system would probably have a range of restrictions for different drugs, depending on their perceived risk, so while some drugs would be sold over the counter in pharmacies or other licensed establishments, drugs with greater risks of harm might only be available for sale on licensed premises where use could be monitored and emergency medical care made available. Examples of drugs with different levels of regulated distribution in most countries include: caffeine (coffee, tea), nicotine (tobacco), ethyl alcohol (beer, wine, spirits), and antibiotics.
Full legalization is often proposed by groups such as libertarians who object to drug laws on moral grounds, while regulated legalization is suggested by groups such as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is a non-profit, international, educational organization comprising former and current police officers, government agents and other law enforcement agents who oppose the current War on Drugs. LEAP was founded on March 16, 2002...
who object to the drug laws on the grounds that they fail to achieve their stated aims and instead greatly worsen the problems associated with use of prohibited drugs, but who acknowledge that there are harms associated with currently prohibited drugs which need to be minimized. Not all proponents of drug re-legalization necessarily share a common ethical framework, and people may adopt this viewpoint for a variety of reasons. In particular, favoring drug re-legalization does not imply approval of drug use.
Groups advocating change
The Senlis Council, a European development and policy thinktank, has, since it conception in 2002, advocated that drug addiction should be viewed as a public healthPublic health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
issue rather than a purely criminal matter. The group does not support the decriminalisation of illegal drugs. Since 2003, the Council has called for the licensing of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in order to manufacture poppy-based medicines, such as morphine and codeine, and to combat poverty in rural communities, breaking ties with the illicit drugs trade. The Senlis Council outlined proposals for the implementation of a village based poppy for medicine project and calls for a pilot project for Afghan morphine at the next planting season.
Europe
- European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD)ENCODThe European NGO Council on Drugs is a network of European non-governmental organisations and citizens concerned with the impact of current international drug policies on the lives of the most affected sectors in North and South...
(Branches in Austria, Germany and Norway) - Transform Drug Policy FoundationTransform Drug Policy FoundationThe Transform Drug Policy Foundation is a registered non-profit charity based in the United Kingdom working in the field of drug policy and law reform. TDPF began as an independent campaign group called 'Transform, the campaign for a just and effective drug policy', and was set up in 1996 by its...
- Drug Equality Alliance (DEA)Drug Equality Alliance (DEA)The ' is a not for profit organisation based in the United Kingdom whose mission statement is:[...] to transform the "War on Some People who use Some Drugs" from its subjective historical and cultural roots into a rational and objective legal regulatory framework that secures equal rights and equal...
- Release (agency)Release (agency)Release, founded in 1967 by Caroline Coon and the late Rufus Harris , is a UK agency that provides legal advice and arranges legal representation for people charged with the possession of drugs...
(United Kingdom) - Re:Vision Drug Policy Network (United Kingdom)
United States
- American Civil Liberties UnionAmerican Civil Liberties UnionThe American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
- Americans for Safe AccessAmericans for Safe AccessAmericans for Safe Access is based in Oakland, California and is the largest member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens working to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research...
- Drug Policy AllianceDrug Policy AllianceThe Drug Policy Alliance is a New York City-based non-profit organization, led by executive director Ethan Nadelmann, with the principal goal of ending the American "War on Drugs"...
- High Times
- High Times Freedom FightersHigh Times Freedom FightersThe High Times Freedom Fighters was a marijuana legalization group started by High Times Editor-in-Chief Steven Hager in 1987. The group was famous for marching into marijuana rallies dressed in psychedelic Colonial-style outfits while playing drums...
- Law Enforcement Against ProhibitionLaw Enforcement Against ProhibitionLaw Enforcement Against Prohibition is a non-profit, international, educational organization comprising former and current police officers, government agents and other law enforcement agents who oppose the current War on Drugs. LEAP was founded on March 16, 2002...
- Lindesmith CenterLindesmith CenterThe Lindesmith Center was an Open Society Institute project which has conducted research related to drug reform. It was founded in 1994 by Ethan Nadelmann with financial support from George Soros...
- Marijuana Policy ProjectMarijuana Policy ProjectThe Marijuana Policy Project, or MPP, is the largest organization working solely on marijuana policy reform in the United States in terms of its budget, number of members, and staff...
- MASS CANN/NORMLMASS CANN/NORMLThe ‘”Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition'" a state affiliate of the NationalOrganization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is a non-profit public education organization...
- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic StudiesMultidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic StudiesThe Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is a membership-based 501 non-profit research and educational organization working to develop psychedelics and marijuana into legal prescription drugs...
(MAPS) - National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
- Students for Sensible Drug PolicyStudents for Sensible Drug PolicyStudents for Sensible Drug Policy is an international non-profit advocacy and education organization based in Washington D.C., with offices in both Washington D.C. and San Francisco, CA...
- Veterans for Medical Marijuana AccessVeterans for Medical Marijuana AccessVeterans for Medical Marijuana Access , is a Kalamazoo, MI-based non-profit organization designed to assist veterans who wish to be able to use marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation...
- November CoalitionNovember CoalitionThe November Coalition is a non-profit grassroots organization, founded in 1997, which fights against the War on Drugs and for the rights of the prisoners incarcerated as the effect of that war. It publishes a bulletin called Razor Wire.-Tyrone Brown:...
(United States)
See also
- Cannabis Social ClubCannabis Social ClubA Cannabis Social Club is a concept of the pan-European non-government organization ENCOD conceived in 2005 as a way to enable legal production and distribution of cannabis for adults...
- Drug liberalizationDrug liberalizationDrug liberalization is the process of eliminating or reducing drug prohibition laws. Variations of drug liberalization include drug relegalization, drug legalization, and drug decriminalization -Policies:...
- Drug prohibition lawDrug prohibition lawDrug prohibition law is prohibition-based law by which governments prohibit, except under licence, the production, supply, and possession of many, but not all, substances which are recognised as drugs, and which corresponds to international treaty commitments in the Single Convention on Narcotic...
- DecriminalizationDecriminalizationDecriminalization or Decriminalisation is the abolition of criminal penalties in relation to certain acts, perhaps retroactively, though perhaps regulated permits or fines might still apply . The reverse process is criminalization.Decriminalization reflects changing social and moral views...
- Harm reductionHarm reductionHarm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
- LegalizationLegalizationLegalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one example is the consumption of illegal drugs .Those...
- School district drug policiesSchool district drug policiesSchool district drug policies are measures that administrators of a school district put into place to discourage drug use by students.-Background:...
- Students for Sensible Drug PolicyStudents for Sensible Drug PolicyStudents for Sensible Drug Policy is an international non-profit advocacy and education organization based in Washington D.C., with offices in both Washington D.C. and San Francisco, CA...
- Transform Drug Policy FoundationTransform Drug Policy FoundationThe Transform Drug Policy Foundation is a registered non-profit charity based in the United Kingdom working in the field of drug policy and law reform. TDPF began as an independent campaign group called 'Transform, the campaign for a just and effective drug policy', and was set up in 1996 by its...
- War on drugsWar on DrugsThe War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...