CONTROLLING AND POLICING SUBSTANCE USE(RS)*

Abstract

Controlling drug use—a dynamic, global, politicalized process—is reviewed in terms of selected types of drugs, “natural levels” of drug demand and use, drug markets and the drug market environment, types of traffickers, illicit drug trade profits, approaches to drug control (“War on Drugs”, “Zero Tolerance” programs and policies, “normalizing” and legalizing selected drugs), including UN's then relatively recent “Balanced Approach” and facets of drug law enforcement (drug prices and purity levels and values of drug seizures), including various rarely noted benefits to intervention programs and control agents. Unresolved issues and needed “tools” are noted while considering the implications of the first UN's World Drug Report data.

• Supply and demand reduction
• Illicit drug production
• Drug markets
• Drug market environment
• “Natural level” of demand
• Drug “demand”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tony White

Tony White is currently employed as European Union Pre-Accession Adviser to the Czech Government on measures to combat money laundering and associated financial crimes after having retired after three years as Chief of Supply Reduction and Law Enforcement for the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, based in Vienna. In that role, he held overall global responsibility not only for drug law enforcement, but also for alternative development and supply-related data collection and analysis. He at one time also held overall responsibility for the United Nations Global Money Laundering Programme. Prior to joining UNDCP, he was for 30 years a police officer in the United Kingdom, specializing in national security, anti-terrorism, drugs, money laundering and anti-corruption. He is the author of a number of technical articles and national policy documents, covering subjects such as drug testing, retail pharmacy inspection and case disposal guidelines for police services. Member of the editorial board of Substance Use and Misuse, he has been a MESIDU faculty member in Israel and in Italy.