Evaluation and prospects of international drug control
The Transnational Institute (TNI) and the International Drug Policy Consortium collaborated through a European Commission grant under the Drug Prevention and Information Programme (JUST/2010/DPIP/AG/0984). The project under the name Evaluation and Prospects of International Drug Control ran from January 2011 to August 2012.
The specific objectives of the project were :
- Exchange and development of best practices and innovation in drug policy making between civil society, national and international policy makers, the academic world and other relevant stakeholders;
- Promote public debate on region-wide drug control policy challenges;
- Increase and expand the knowledge base in order to develop and exchange best practices in policy evaluation;
- Investigate the issues, drivers and trends shaping drug control policy prospects;
- Formulate scenarios for development of international drug control policy beyond the year 2012;
- Link this work to other research projects in the fields of drug control development ongoing outside Europe;
- Propose concrete recommendations for further research and public policy planning and implementation in the context of European regional institutions and the UN drug control system;
- Facilitating civil society participation in the policy making process at the national and international level, through enhanced coordination of their activities, and the identification of key opportunities for action in Europe.
These objectives were met through a series of expert seminars and informal drug policy dialogues. The project also involved the publication of a number of briefing papers on drug policy reform.
This project was conceived as an in-depth and trans-disciplinary inquiry on the factors and tendencies likely to shape drug control strategies in the coming years, particularly around the 50th anniversary of the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 100th anniversary of the first international treaty on drug control, the 1912 Hague Convention.
Expert seminars and dialogues:
- In January 2011, the first seminar in the series was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on quantity thresholds. The event was co-hosted by the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Read the report of the meeting.
- In May 2011, IDPC organised a second expert seminar on proportionality in sentencing for drug-related offences, in collaboration with the UK Sentencing Council. Read the report of the meeting.
- In October 2011, IDPC and TNI organised a third expert seminar on mild plant stimulants. Read the report of the meeting.
- In January 2012, IDPC and TNI organised a fourth expert seminar on UN drug convention reform. Read the report of the meeting.
- In March 2012, IDPC and TNI organised a Side Event at the 55th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the future of the UN drug conventions.
Publications:
- Conviction by numbers: Threshold quantities for drug policy, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 14, May 2011
- How to determine personal use in drug legislation: The "threshold controversy" in the light of the Italian experience, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 15, August 2011
- 'Legal highs': The challenge of new psychoactive substances, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 16, October 2011
- Chewing over Khat prohibition: The globalisation of control and regulation of an ancient stimulant, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 17, January 2012
- The UN drug control conventions: The limits of latitude, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 18, March 2012
- Towards a revision of the UN drug control conventions: The logic and dilemmas of like-minded groups, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 19, March 2012
- Drugs, crime and punishment: Proportionality of sentencing for drug offences, Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 20, June 2012
This project has been executed with the financial assistance of the Drug Prevention and Information Programme (DPIP) of the European Union and the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
The contents of this project are the sole responsibility of TNI and GDPO and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the donors.
