Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs

Drug use and abuse is one of the most difficult challenges facing the contemporary world. If it is true that there has always been consumption of different types of drugs in different societies, although not in all of them, it is no less true that...

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Main Authors: Keefer, Philip, Loayza, Norman
Format: Publication
Language:English
Published: Washington, DC: World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2420
id okr-10986-2420
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-24202017-12-14T08:55:47Z Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs Keefer, Philip Loayza, Norman DRUGS Drug use and abuse is one of the most difficult challenges facing the contemporary world. If it is true that there has always been consumption of different types of drugs in different societies, although not in all of them, it is no less true that it generally took place in restricted, socially regulated realms, especially in ritualistic ceremonies. This is not the case today. Drug use has spread to all segments of society, with hedonistic motivations; although it is often not socially sanctioned, users are at times, depending on the drug, treated with leniency. It is well-established that all drugs are harmful to the health, even the legal ones, such as alcohol and tobacco, and that some drugs are more harmful, such as heroin and crack. The discussion of 'gateway drugs' is a medical issue on which there is no consensus. For the purposes of public policy design, the important thing to keep in mind is that drugs produce negative consequences for both users and societies in general, and that minimizing their consumption should be the main goal. The salient discussion, therefore, is about choosing among different strategies to achieve the same goal. Most of all, this book contributes to the debate by shedding light on the understanding of the economics and logistics of the drug market. 2012-03-19T09:33:10Z 2012-03-19T09:33:10Z 2010 978-0-8213-8034-5 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2420 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research :: Publication
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution World Bank
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection Online Access
language English
topic DRUGS
spellingShingle DRUGS
Keefer, Philip
Loayza, Norman
Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs
description Drug use and abuse is one of the most difficult challenges facing the contemporary world. If it is true that there has always been consumption of different types of drugs in different societies, although not in all of them, it is no less true that it generally took place in restricted, socially regulated realms, especially in ritualistic ceremonies. This is not the case today. Drug use has spread to all segments of society, with hedonistic motivations; although it is often not socially sanctioned, users are at times, depending on the drug, treated with leniency. It is well-established that all drugs are harmful to the health, even the legal ones, such as alcohol and tobacco, and that some drugs are more harmful, such as heroin and crack. The discussion of 'gateway drugs' is a medical issue on which there is no consensus. For the purposes of public policy design, the important thing to keep in mind is that drugs produce negative consequences for both users and societies in general, and that minimizing their consumption should be the main goal. The salient discussion, therefore, is about choosing among different strategies to achieve the same goal. Most of all, this book contributes to the debate by shedding light on the understanding of the economics and logistics of the drug market.
format Publications & Research :: Publication
author Keefer, Philip
Loayza, Norman
author_facet Keefer, Philip
Loayza, Norman
author_sort Keefer, Philip
title Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs
title_short Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs
title_full Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs
title_fullStr Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs
title_full_unstemmed Innocent Bystanders : Developing Countries and the War on Drugs
title_sort innocent bystanders : developing countries and the war on drugs
publisher Washington, DC: World Bank and Palgrave Macmillan
publishDate 2012
url http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2420
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