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Book Review
The Political Economy of Narcotics: Production, Consumption, and Global
Julia Buxton
ISBN: 1-552661-98-9 2006 246 pages Zed Books
Jocelyn Grace
As the title promises, this book tackles an enormous and complex subject, of which the author clearly has a commanding grasp. Buxton argues that international policies aimed at eliminating the production, trade and use of narcotics worldwide have not only failed, but are counter-productive and cause more harm than good. One of her key arguments in explaining why this is the case, is that:
... international drug control policies have been intertwined with US foreign policy goals since the launch of the control system nearly a century ago ... In promoting prohibition as the guiding principle of drug policy, the USA has moulded the control system to its own values, interests and aspirations and locked the international community into an arcane view of drugs and drug users (2006:2).
The first two chapters are a fascinating read. They cover an historical overview of intoxicating substances and their distribution globally, and how prohibition and the regulation of what are now illicit narcotics came about. In the third chapter Buxton describes how regulation began to give way to control around the turn of the last century. Britain had to extricate itself from a highly profitable trade in opium in Asia, while the US was dealing with the legacy of an opium retail system in the newly annexed Philippines. With pressure from Christian activists in both countries, drug controls were gradually introduced. International conventions on limiting the trade in narcotics were held during the pre-WWII decades, and in the immediate post-war era a succession of conventions were established, which emphasised law enforcement. At the turn of the twenty-first century, ‘a powerful critique of the drug control model and the underlying principle of prohibition has emerged' (2006:65).
Over the past decade and a half, drug production has increased, and drug markets expanded, with an estimated 200 million people (5% of the world's adult population) using illicit drugs (2006:71). Chapters Six and Seven present statistics and analyses on drug production and consumption trends for the 1990s and 2000s. Buxton argues that the interconnectedness facilitated by globalisation has created an ideal environment for the expansion of narcotics production and trade. Having established that international drug control policies have failed to reduce, let alone eliminate narcotics production and trade, Chapters Eight and Nine are devoted to examining why this is the case. In Chapter Ten Buxton pulls together her argument that the US is ‘the heart of the problem'.
The rest of the book is dedicated to the author's ‘more harm than good' thesis: that current control policies are not only ineffective, but actually exacerbate the problems associated with the narcotics industry. Chapter Eleven presents an epidemiological update and analysis of the trends in HIV/AIDS and intervenous drug use (IDU) globally, with particular attention being given to the dramatic rise of both in former Soviet Union countries. The next chapter addresses the issue of IDU and harm reduction in the context of drug control policies based on an ideology of prohibition. The strongest argument made against harm-reduction-policies is that they contradict the international drug conventions signed in 1961, 1971 and 1988. Many national governments in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have argued that to introduce harm reduction strategies would violate their commitment to INCB conventions. This is despite the fact that the success of harm-reduction initiatives in several countries, including Iran, Poland, Spain and Australia, has resulted in similar policies being strongly advocated by leading medical bodies worldwide, and the ten UN agencies that comprise the UN Commission on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
The environmental costs of controlling narcotic production is the subject of the next three chapters, including a discussion of the impact of fumigation strategies, and implications of bio-control efforts. Chapter Sixteen traces the history of the hemp industry worldwide, noting that current hemp control laws are very confusing and create marketing obstacles. In conclusion, Buxton restates her case that current narcotics control strategies are not working, and that unless ‘a change of revolutionary proportions' takes place, ‘the international community will continue to waste millions of dollars and ruin millions of lives in the pursuit of an unrealisable end' (2006:212).
Buxton has packed a great deal into 246 pages, and the numerous subheadings and the detailed index make it easy to find information and discussions on specific topics. It is, as the author intended it to be, a guide to the enormous literature on drugs. She has achieved her aim of ‘integrating the study of history, ideology, institutions and policy' (2006:3), and researchers and lecturers in a variety of disciplines will find it a valuable resource. Hopefully it will have a broader readership beyond the academy. Anyone interested in learning more about the political economy of narcotics and related topics, will find it highly informative, and very readable. There is a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data presented in a clear and concise way, drawn from a variety of credible sources. While conceding that ‘powerful political and financial vested interests' (2006:211) stand in the way of reform, Buxton argues convincingly that a paradigm change is urgently needed in order to reduce the damage being caused by the production, trade, use, and attempts to control narcotics production and distribution world-wide. No doubt a daunting challenge, but this book is an important step towards, and a valuable contribution to achieving that goal.
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