Why Does The International Drug-Control System Fail?

Abstract

The international community has been building a drug-control system for overa century. The UN-led initiatives drafted very detailed conventions, politicaldeclarations, and plans of action. International institutions and governmentshave been allocating vast resources for national, regional, and global counternarcotics initiatives. Law-enforcement agents, judicial officers, diplomats,and demand-reduction experts devote enormous efforts to global drug-controlefforts. However, the latest field studies clearly indicate that the global waron drugs has been lost on virtually every front. Drug consumption and drugrelated deaths have increased over the past three decades. Every year, many new psychoactive substances appear on the market. Precursor chemicals are not efficiently controlled. The drug supply consistently shifts to areas wherelaw enforcement is weak and corrupt. Drug money has allowed the darknetworks to exert an increasing influence on the governments in Latin America,Southwest Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and West Africa. The drugtrade undermines global security by financing terrorism and insurgency. Inthis context, the United Nations’ goal of a “drug-free world” is far from beingreached. This paper provides an insight as to why the international efforts tocontrol the drug supply, drug demand, and drug-driven money have faileddramatically.