School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Mexico's Struggle for Public Security: Organized Crime and State ResponsesGeorge Philip, Susana Berruecos, eds.(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 204 pages.
Will Rio+20 just be a side show to the global scramble for resources or will it grasp the realities of the looming crisis and form a political agenda that can succeed?
Drug policy is a toxic issue for politicians, one that they usually want to avoid for fear of the political backlash. To highlight the dilemma between politics and policy in this field, drug policy expert Sanho Tree often quotes Jean-Claude Juncker on economic liberalisation: 'We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it'. In other words, calling for change often means political suicide.
The prohibition of drugs is blamed for creating the problem of drug abuse, but is that entirely fair? Before the 1960s, despite longstanding legislation in most countries prohibiting dangerous narcotics, drugs were not a major world issue.
The war on drugs has been bad for the world's health. Concentrating on criminalizing the producers, traffickers and consumers of narcotics, it has failed to reduce supply. UN figures show that drug consumption during the decade after 1998 rose, with a 34.5 per cent increase in the number of opiate users, 27 per cent rise in cocaine users, and 8.5 per cent rise in cannabis users.