Report 4 The drugs problem and drug policy: developments between 1998 and 2007

Franz Trautmann
Peter Reuter
André van Gageldonk
Daan van der Gouwe

Abstract

This report presents a comparative analysis of drug problems and drug policies in a sample of eighteen countries over the period 1998 to 2007. It describes major changes and trends in individual countries and provides a comparison of countries. Domains examined include drug supply (production and trafficking), drug demand (prevalence of use and problem use) and drug-related harm (deaths, HIV and crime). For each domain the report also provides data on programs and policies aimed at reducing drug problems. The analysis is limited to four drugs; cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS). The selected countries are all significantly affected by the drug problem but represent the different regions of the globe, varying nature of the drugs problem (production, trafficking and use), different drug policy choices and varying levels of development. The analysis is limited to available data from international sources such as the EMCDDA and UNODC and national sources, including expert judgment.

Though for reasons of comparability the project utilized standard indicators it was difficult to compare countries or even track changes in one country over time; this was true, even for those countries with most developed data collection. This problem reflects differences across countries in data collection techniques, underlying concepts and data availability.

Countries differ substantially with regards to the drug problem they are facing. Some countries are more affected by production or drug trafficking whereas others more by consumption. In some countries the prevalence of certain drugs used is rather stable in others it is increasing. Cannabis use prevalence dominates in Western countries. Drug use related adverse health consequences are fairly stable or even falling in Western and advanced transitional countries with good coverage of comprehensive harm reduction.

While drug problems differ substantially across countries drug supply and demand reduction policies and measures show considerable similarity in the majority of developed countries. Supply reduction accounts for the largest share of drug policy budget. The only controversial drug policy element is harm reduction. Still, in the past decade harm reduction programmes have been widely implemented in many countries.