Drug Wars And Coffee Houses

by Mares, David R.

• ISBN13: 9781568028620
• ISBN10: 1568028628
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-30
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

An international policy issue awash in myths, moral inconsistencies, social prejudices, and political rhetoric, it&BAD:rs"s no wonder students find the international drug trade an alluring topic to study and discuss. With his brief and engaging new book, David Mares explores the reasons why there is so much disagreement among nations about which policies are most appropriate to address drug production, distribution, and trade. From the more tolerant &BAD:"coffee house&BAD:" style policies of the Netherlands which focus on public health concerns, to the United States&BAD:rs" just-say-no &BAD:"drug war&BAD:" approach, nations frame and seek to resolve these issues in very different ways and with different levels of success. This variation creates a host of global cooperation and policy coordination problems, making Drug Wars and Coffee Houses an ideal supplement for giving students an opportunity to apply the larger themes of any political economy course to a substantive policy area.A compelling framework&BAD:-focusing on political economic ideas and analysis&BAD:-shows students how leaders and policymakers need to understand the drug trade as a full-blown commodity system if they are to impact its different segments. As he discusses drug production, consumption, distribution, and money laundering, Mares carefully shows what insights micro political economic, realist, constructivist, and social deviant perspectives each bring to bear on the problem. And, through the book&BAD:rs"s use of extended case studies, this text offers students an inside look at a complex and fascinating policy area, from Sweden&BAD:rs"s attempts to enforce drug-war style policies, to the UK&BAD:rs"s movement towards decriminalization, to the responses of such international organizations as the United Nations and the European Union. A comprehensive bibliography of websites, articles, and book length studies point to further research on the topic, while class-tested research and study questions for each chapter will jumpstart class discussions and projects.

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Boxes	ix
Preface	xi
Part I Thinking about Illicit Drugs
The Drug Trade as a Global and National Phenomenon	1	(18)
The Politics of Policy	5	(5)
Psychoactive Substances: What Are They and How Do They Work?	10	(3)
A Commodity Systems Framework	13	(4)
Summary	17	(2)
Analytical Perspectives for Explaining the Drug Trade	19	(16)
Four Analytical Perspectives	20	(8)
Combining Perspectives on Drug Policy	28	(3)
Explaining National Strategies	31	(3)
Summary	34	(1)
Part II The Phenomenon, Its Dynamics, and Policy Options
Conceptualizing Consumption: Drug Use and Drug Users	35	(26)
Thinking about the Data and the Questions We Want to Answer	36	(3)
The Illegal Use of Psychoactive Substances	39	(13)
Effects and Probabilities	52	(6)
Summary	58	(3)
The Production of Psychoactive Substances	61	(17)
The Role of Production in the Psychoactive Substance Commodity System	62	(4)
What Types of Psychoactive Substances Are Produced?	66	(3)
Where Does Production of Illegal Psychoactive Substances Occur?	69	(2)
Why Do People Produce Illegal Psychoactive Substances?	71	(3)
Summary	74	(4)
Distribution: Linking Producers and Consumers	78	(16)
The Role of Traffickers in the PASCS	79	(8)
Why Is Someone a Trafficker?	87	(4)
Summary	91	(3)
Money Laundering: Money Makes the World Go 'Round	94	(15)
The Role of Money Laundering in the PASCS	95	(1)
The Process of Money Laundering	96	(6)
Pursuing Money Launderers	102	(3)
Summary	105	(4)
The Political Economy of International Drug Strategies: Going It Alone or Working Together	109	(12)
Cooperation and Conflict	110	(1)
Unilateral International Policies	111	(5)
The International Politics of Plan Colombia	116	(3)
Summary	119	(2)
Part III National and International Experiences
The United States: From Crime Reduction to Drug War, 1968-1982	121	(14)
Summary	121	(1)
The Context for Modern U.S. Drug Policy	122	(2)
Crime Reduction: 1970--1974	124	(3)
Harm Reduction Stillborn: 1975--1980	127	(3)
The Road to the Drug War	130	(5)
The Netherlands: From Drug War to Dynamic Harm Reduction, 1960--2002	135	(12)
Summary	135	(1)
The Context for Modern Dutch Drug Policy	135	(2)
Drug War: 1960--1965	137	(1)
De Facto Harm Reduction: 1967--1976	138	(3)
Official Harm Reduction: 1976--1995	141	(2)
Dynamic Harm Reduction: 1995--2002	143	(4)
Sweden: From Harm Reduction to Drug War, 1965--1993	147	(12)
Summary	147	(1)
Background	147	(1)
The Context for Modern Swedish Drug Policy	148	(1)
Harm Reduction: 1965	149	(2)
Prohibition with Harm Reduction: 1968	151	(1)
Pursuing the Drug-Free Society: 1976	152	(2)
Pursuing the Drug War: The 1990s	154	(5)
Notes	159	(18)
For Further Research	177	(2)
Index	179