European Drug Policies

The drug control regime established by the international community has not succeeded in curbing either the demand for, or the offer of, narcotics. But, despite a series of developments in the Americas – including the legalisation of cannabis in Uruguay and in several states in the United States of America – there is still little support in Europe for repealing drug-prohibition laws. Nevertheless, a gradual policy convergence reveals the emergence of a European model favouring public-health strategies over a strictly penal approach to combatting drugs, while growing transnational support for legalisation indicates the persistence of an alternative paradigm for drug policy. This book examines the various influences on drug policies in Europe, as grassroots movements, NGO networks, private foundations and academic research centres increasingly confront the prevailing discourses of drug prohibition. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach and bringing together legal scholars, social scientists and practitioners, it provides a comprehensive and critical assessment of drug policy reform in Europe.

Drug problems present sharp challenges for policing and democracy in the European Union. Harmonisation of anti-trafficking measures contrasts with diversity of local policies on drug users. 'Open drug scenes' trigger innovative but often volatile responses. This collection presents vivid experiences of drug policy-making at city, regional and higher levels. For the future, beyond 1996, EU 'confederal' and 'intergovernmental' scenarios have distinct implications for drugs. Finally, international dimensions are explored - drug control through money laundering countermeasures, trade and development policies, security and EU enlargement.

Exploring the illegal drug issue in international context, this book looks at why harmonization has not already taken place at the European level. It considers the desirability and viability of harmonization, examines the conflict between repressive and liberal drug policies and applies a multi-level governance lens to the issue.

Mathilde van den Brink.

National reports from many Western European Countries cover a variety of drug related topics in order to draw a realistic picture of available options to respond to drugs as well as different views of assessing and evaluating drug problems. The reports deal with topics such as the current state of criminal law provisions, procedural aspects of drug law enforcement, the role of private physicians in prescribing drugs, support and maintenance programs for drug addicts, the performance of the criminal justice system in the field of drug offences as well as current trends towards reforms of criminal law, especially legislation of drugs.

Mind-altering drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin and others are illegal in many parts of the world, but distinct approaches for dealing with the question of illegal drug use have been developed country by country. In this book Tim Boekhout van Solinge describes the different approaches that have been adopted to dealing with the problem, with particular reference to the experience of France, the Netherlands and Sweden. He explores the justifications and rationalizations for the divergent, often contradictory attitudes and systems that have been developed, and concludes that differing national cultural traditions for handling social problems have greatly influenced the ways in which illicit drug use have been dealt with.

Throughout Europe - from town halls and regional governments, through national Parliaments and ministries, to the high institutions of the European Union - there runs a vigorous debate on organised crime, municipal safety and private conduct. Drug problems and what to do about them often occupy center-stage at these debates. Throughout the 1990s the focus of legal attention has been primarily on the criminal law. New criminal offenses have been created, partly in response to influences 'from above' (from international and European agreements) and partly in response to pressure 'from below' (concerns of citizens at national and sub-national levels). But although criminal law certainly is important as far as the development of drug controls is concerned, it is by no means the whole story. There is a parallel history, a regulatory one, consisting of the increasing use of administrative measures, some of which are directly concerned with drugs while others are more general but equally applicable. These responses, together with civil law, variously function as adjuncts to criminal law or as alternatives to it, in relation to drug trafficking at European and national levels, drug-related public nuisance as it concerns citizens at municipal level, and drug users. After charting existing measures in the legal orders of Member states and of the Community, Regulating European Drug Problems looks at prospects for administrative drug controls after Amsterdam - in the context of the development of the Single Market, cooperation against crime and insecurity, subsidiarity, and human rights. At a practical level, the study offers provocative ideas to policy-makers and administrators working at the intersection of city-level, national, and European responses to drugs. For scholars and students, the book offers comparative legal research and European synthesis, and forges new links between fields of law, suppresion of organised crime, and economic and social regulation.