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U.S. Drug Policy: Challenges, Alternatives, and Latin America Implications

Explore the history and implications of U.S. drug policy, the impact on Latin America, and alternative approaches like legalization and changing priorities. Learn about the marijuana muddle, arrests, and the evolving landscape of drug laws.

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U.S. Drug Policy: Challenges, Alternatives, and Latin America Implications

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  1. U.S. POLICY The Wars on Drugs

  2. 1. Participants and processes 2. Strategic content: Goal: Reduce illegal drug use and availability Enforcement > education, treatment, thus 2:1 ratio in federal budget Supply control > demand reduction, thus interdiction and eradication Assumption: One policy fits all…. Incarceration as deterrent

  3. Cocaine and Heroin Prices: 1981-2010

  4. Reasons for Drug Arrests, 2000 Source: Uniform Crime Reports, FBI.

  5. IMPLICATIONS FOR LATIN AMERICA 1. Economic costs and benefits 2. Violence (and “drug wars” in multiple forms) 3. Corruption 4. Growth in consumption 5. Threats to governability Challenges to sovereignty—e.g., invasion of Panama 1989 Process of “certification” (now modified)

  6. Cultivation (Mexico): 2000-2009

  7. QUESTIONS OF PUBLIC POLICY: WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES? INTRODUCTION 1. What might be desirable? Or feasible? 2.    What are the prospects?

  8. ARE THERE ALTERNATIVES? 1. Continuation (or acceleration) of current policy: ·        Increased budgets ·        Establish coherence ·        Long-term durability

  9. 2.      Legalization: ·        Regulation, not legalization ·        Decriminalization? ·        Partial or complete?

  10. 3. Changing priorities: ·        Demand reduction > law enforcement ·        Law enforcement = more on money laundering, less on retail pushers ·        Focus on governability as key issue in Latin America ·       Multilateral efforts against consumption and demand, rather than supply ·       Terminate/ignore certification?

  11. ENLIGHTENMENT IN LATIN AMERICA! • Marijuana personal use is decriminalized in : • Argentina • Brazil (depenalized) • Colombia • Costa Rica • Mexico • Peru • Uruguay (now broadly legalized) • Venezuela

  12. THE MARIJUANA MUDDLE • Arrests for marijuana law violations in 2014: 700,993 (one every 42 seconds) • 1930s: outlawed in 29 states • 1950s: sentencing 2-10 years, up to $20,000 in fines • 1960s: use increases in middle class • 1996: California passes Prop 215 (med use) • 2012: WA + CO legalize personal use • 2016: 24 states + DC have legalized marijuana laws, 4 + DC of for recreational personal use ($7.1 billion market)

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