NCJ Number
146257
Date Published
1993
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Cross-national comparisons may provide useful information about the relationship between drug policies and drug problems; RAND has conducted a 3-year cross- national study of drug policies and problem indicators in several industrialized countries.
Abstract
The war on drugs in the United States has stimulated three policy debates: (1) debate between those who emphasize the supply side and aggressive law enforcement efforts versus those who support the demand side and more treatment and prevention resources; (2) debate between advocates of drug prohibition, decriminalization, or legalization; and (3) debate between use reduction and harm reduction. RAND's cross-national comparisons indicate that the United States and Western European countries have implemented varied drug control strategies. RAND researchers note that drug policy discussions tend to adopt a top-down perspective in which drug use and its consequences are governed largely by formal drug policies. A general analytic framework is presented that places drug policies and outcomes in a broader context, one that explicitly acknowledges interrelationships among drug policies, problems, other social policies, and nonpolicy social contextual factors. Efforts by RAND to develop a database that describes drug problems and related phenomena for a range of western countries are noted. This Drug Indicator Database focuses on prevalence and characteristics of drug users, drug-related morbidity and mortality, drug market data, drug law enforcement and treatment indicators, and sociodemographic data. Strengths and limitations of cross-national data analysis are considered. 21 references and 2 figures