More harm than good? Cannabis, harm and the misuse of drugs act

Purpose This paper aims to consider the nature of cannabis-related harms under the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA). Written for the specific context of this four-paper special section on 50 years of the MDA, it argues that the MDA may cause more harm than it prevents. Design/methodology/approach An opinion piece offering a structured overview of cannabis-related harms under prohibition. It summarises existing evidence of the ways in which prohibition may exacerbate existing – and create new – harms related to the production, distribution, use and control of cannabis. Findings The paper argues that prohibition of cannabis under the MDA may cause more harm than it prevents. Originality/value It has long been argued that the MDA does not accurately or fairly reflect the harms of the substances it prohibits, and much existing research points to different ways in which drug prohibition can itself be harmful. The originality of this paper lies in bringing together these arguments and developing a framework for analysing the contribution of prohibition to drug-related harm.

Where Is the Fairness in Canadian Cannabis Legalization? Lessons to be Learned from the American Experience

Canada has received praise and international attention for its departure from strict cannabis prohibition and the introduction of a legal regulatory framework for adult use. In addition to the perceived public health and public safety benefits associated with legalization, reducing the burden placed on the individuals criminalized for cannabis use served as an impetus for change. In comparison to many jurisdictions in the United States, however, Canadian legalization efforts have done less to address the harms that drug law enforcement has inflicted on individuals and communities. This article documents the racialized nature of drug prohibition in Canada and the US and compares the stated aims of legalization in in both jurisdictions. The article outlines the various reparative measures being proposed and implemented in America and contrasts those with the situation in Canada, arguing, furthermore that the absence of social justice measures in Canadian legalization is an extension of the systemic racism perpetuated under prohibition.

The Trans-Asian Pathways of ‘Oriental Products’: Navigating the prohibition of narcotics between Turkey, China, and Japan, 1918–1938

Patterns of opium production and distribution shifted immensely over the course of the twentieth century, with output falling by three-quarters, almost nine-tenths of which now takes place in Afghanistan. Supporters of drug prohibition trumpet the success of this long-term decline and hail the withdrawal of the four largest opium producers—India, China, Iran, and the Ottoman empire—from the non-medical market, but this seemingly linear trend conceals numerous deviations of historic significance. Among the most notable and little known is Turkey's prolonged resistance to international restrictions on the narcotics trade and the efforts of state and non-state networks to substitute Turkish opium for the diminishing supply of once-dominant Indian exports to a still opium-hungry China in the first half of the twentieth century. This article uses neglected League of Nations and Turkish government sources alongside international newspapers and diplomatic reports to demonstrate the extent of connections forged by state and non-state actors between Turkey and East Asia, expanding on recent research on trans-Asian connections in commerce and political thought.

The cocaine-e-cigarette – A theoretical concept of a harm reduction device for current users of smokable cocaine forms

Although there are great regional differences, smokable forms of cocaine (crack, free-base, paco, etc.) are a drug complex associated with often harmful and problematic drug use patterns. While strategies based on drug prohibition did not eradicate the consumption of smokable cocaine forms, prohibition itself led to many harmful effects, such as criminalisation, stigmatisation, unpredictable smokable cocaine forms quality and hardly any safer-use education. While there are many positive insights from heroin-assisted treatment programs with regard to heroin users, there are no comparable programs for problematic users of smokable cocaine forms. Smokable cocaine forms are challenging due to their different pharmacology and particularly their short duration leading to often many administrations per day. In this manuscript a device for a heroin-assisted treatment-like program for problematic users of smokable cocaine forms is suggested. This device is a cocaine-e-cigarette which could be prescribed to problematic users of smokable cocaine forms to reduce the risk of lung damage, exclude potentially harmful adulterants, limit intake (by formulation and/or technical settings) and also to bring users of smokable cocaine forms into the medical system to address comorbidities and risk factors, for example cardiovascular conditions, insomnia, depression, etc. This manuscript describes basic functionality and general specifications of a cocaine-e-cigarette as a medical device treating people with respective cocaine use disorder when cessation and substitution are not considered an option.

Identifying New Approaches for U.S. Drug Policy using Ownership, Location, and Internalization Factors

Dunning’s Eclectic Paradigm is used to assess the effectiveness and impact of U.S. drug prohibition policy on economic growth and political stability in Latin American countries as well as the decision making of Latin American Transnational Criminal Enterprises (TCE) in the cocaine-coca market. Results showed U.S. drug prohibition policy reduces the on-site supply but does not significantly reduce the transportation of cocaine and coca. U.S. drug prohibition policy also generated political instability for the region, and revealed policy externalities that facilitated TCE expansion. Tougher U.S. drug prohibition policy advances TCE by amplifying the impact that unemployment and local wages have on increases in cocaine-coca production, and by limiting the impact of control of corruption and economic freedom on coca eradication. Our results signal that a site-specific approach accompanied with policies that improve the farmers’ economic freedom, such as land formalization rights, and policies that lower unemployment rate facilitate effective U.S. drug prohibition policy.

Illicit Drugs and Organized Crime in Latin America

Illicit drugs have long affected public security, social relations, and politics in Latin America. Until recently, the analysis of illicit drugs primarily focused on Colombia and, to some extent, Mexico, and most scholarship was policy-oriented, dealing with the influence of the US and the Global Drug Prohibition Regime. In recent years, the scholarship has expanded its theoretical and methodological approaches as well as its geographical scope. This chapter analyzes key contributions emerging from new research: the mapping of the political, social, and economic constellations of actors and discourses that sustain policies related to illicit drugs; the critical revision of certain assumptions, fostering a more nuanced understanding of the multiple social and political relations involved in illicit drug markets; and greater attention to how illicit and licit actors relate, including unpacking the links between state actors and criminal groups.

THE PERCEPTIONS OF INDONESIAN JUDGES IN SENTENCING MINOR DRUG OFFENDERS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

This paper presents the perceptions of Indonesian Judges in sentencing minor drug offenders. The judge holds a central role in the sentencing process, and because of the judicial discretion they can use it is essential to understand how judges come to their sentencing decisions. To develop an understanding of how judges perceive their actions in decision-making and sentencing of drug users, a total of 31 participants were interviewed. The data demonstrated that the majority of minor drug offenders are from poorer backgrounds. Poverty was found to lead people to the drug culture. Moreover, lack of understanding of the harm caused by taking drugs and living under drug prohibition were considered as contributing factors to people involved in minor drug offences. Thus, minor drug offenders are considered by judges as victims of their circumstances. Within structural inequality, the imposition of harsh sentencing to minor drug offenders who suffer from socio-economic problems raises issues surrounding justice. Within the current legal structure of Indonesian courts, which are primarily retributive and have drug prohibitionist policies, the majority of participating judges consider drug sentencing as reflecting those prohibitionist policies. However, a substantial minority of participating judges interpreted the form of the sentence within available limits. These findings will contribute to the sociological understanding of the context in which judicial culture shaped the formation of the judiciary as a group and the impact of Islamic culture on the participating judge’s positive preference for rehabilitative problem-solving in the Indonesian context.