(January 2017)
Pūras, D. and Hannah, J. BMJ 2017, 356
Drug Prohibition, including criminalisation to regulate the supply and demand of controlled substances, has had devastating effects on human rights and public health worldwide.
Prohibition as an international policy response gives rise to illicit drug markets governed by criminal networks and regulated by violence. The poor and marginalised communities in which illicit drugs are cultivated, transited, or sold are disproportionately affected. States have responded with increased law enforcement, escalating violence and further destabilising communities. Parallel violent pursuits both to protect and to topple illicit markets have been linked to large scale displacement, femicide, and an overall decrease in life expectancy, such as in Mexico.
Mass incarceration to enforce prohibition has overburdened criminal justice systems and left countless people languishing in deplorable facilities in inhumane conditions around the world.2 Criminalisation of possession means that a fifth of … Read more …