Beyond the drug war: A health-first approach to global drug policy

For over a century, U.S. drug policy has prioritized punitive approaches under the guise of stopping drug use and production. The results have been drugs becoming cheaper, more available, and potent, record-high overdose deaths, and increasing violence from drug trafficking organizations. The drug war is a failed strategy, one that has come with high human and financial costs after over a trillion dollars in spending. To save lives and promote healthy communities across the globe, it is urgent that the U.S. government shift its drug policy and funding towards health-focused strategies.

The U.S. has exported and sustained prohibitionist drug policies abroad.

U.S. drug policy has sought to stigmatize and punish those involved with illicit substances. This approach has extended abroad, where the U.S. has used its political muscle and leverage to create an international framework firmly rooted in prohibition and punishment. This approach demonizes drugs and the people who use them and aims to disrupt the supply of drugs. Despite record-high levels of funding for this approach, evidence today shows it has been a failure. Drugs are more available and potent than ever, and the U.S. continues to navigate an overdose crisis.

The three international drug control conventions championed by the U.S. are premised on:

• criminalizing drugs;
• eliminating the cultivation of marijuana, poppy, and coca (used to produce heroin and cocaine respectively); and,
• preventing the transit of drugs to countries where people use them.

The centrality of drug control in U.S. foreign policy was solidified during the Nixon administration when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established to wage an “all-out, global war on the drug menace.” The U.S. sought to deal with issues related to drug use at home by blaming countries where cocaine, heroin, and other drugs originated. They also adopted efforts to halt the flow of drugs deemed to be illicit into the United States. This approach was further entrenched during the Reagan administration, when drugs were declared a national security threat and U.S. foreign policy committed to the eradication of illegal drugs.

Legislative measures like the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, calling for a “drug free America,” codified drug control as a priority in foreign policy and beefed up overseas drug control efforts. In 1988, Congress made the Pentagon the “single lead agency” for detecting and monitoring illegal drugs coming into the United States. They leveraged foreign aid to enforce compliance with U.S. drug policies, mandating cooperation and adherence to UN conventions. Non-compliant countries faced the loss of U.S. aid and significant barriers to international financial assistance, extending the country’s punitive drug policy influence globally.

The consequences of prohibitionist drug policies have increased poverty, human rights violations, organized crime, and more potent drugs.