NCJ Number
179902
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 4 Dated: November 1999 Pages: 328-351
Date Published
1999
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This analysis of drug policies and the role of governments and their agencies in controlling cross-border drug trafficking concludes that a unified strategy is needed that recognizes and rationally accepts the need for the control of demand and the containment of supply.
Abstract
Drug control efforts in recent years have emphasized drug law enforcement more than treatment and prevention. Government law enforcement stands as an intrusive middleman between suppliers and buyers. Developing effective partnerships against drug trafficking and drug abuse requires first-rate professional law enforcement, but it also needs remedies that other agencies and institutions can provide. Cooperation with other governments and their law enforcement apparatus is one approach. Another approach is the internal mobilization of the public to create a problem-solving strategy that neither the police nor the public can produce by themselves. Finally, it may be more appropriate to compare efforts against drugs analogous to those against cancer rather than to a war and thus to help those who relapse back into a treatment mode. Focusing on adolescent problems with drugs and developing means of discouraging drug use could also help society avoid the education, health, and criminal justice costs of adolescent drug abuse. Notes and 36 references (Author abstract modified)