The U.S. has promoted drug prohibition globally. This increases violence, poverty, and human rights violations – while drugs become cheaper, more potent, and available. The Drug Policy Alliance advocates for an approach to drugs grounded in global health and human rights.
“ Punishment [is] a shortsighted response to the drug trade. Addiction creates demand, and demand creates profits... which gives global players more incentive to continue selling. [To reduce drug harms,] invest in public health solutions that stabilize lives and reduce addiction.”
Captain Michael Harvey (Fmr.)
Law Enforcement Action Partnership
As long as demand for drugs exists, cartels will adjust the supply to meet it, and crackdowns will be short-lived. Address root causes of drug use and overdose instead. Meet people’s basic needs with housing, treatment, social support services, and healthcare.
Use foreign assistance to help address the reasons people get involved in the drug trade, like poverty and lack of job opportunities. Stop using it to support harsh drug laws in other countries.
Right now, the illegal drug market has no rules. This lets dangerous groups take control and use violence to protect their profits. It’s time to take back control by creating rules that focus on health and human rights and helping communities most harmed by harsh drug laws.
The U.S. has a critical opportunity to shift its foreign drug policy from punishment to public health. A health-first approach can reduce overdose deaths, end wasteful spending, and build stronger, safer communities—at home and around the world.
For over a century, U.S. drug policy has prioritized punishment. The U.S. has exported its approach and enforced prohibition as the norm abroad. It has used its influence and funding to pressure other countries to adopt punishment-first responses. This often means jailing people and complying with supply reduction efforts to seize drugs and stop their production.
This approach has failed. Despite record-high spending to stop drug use, production, and trafficking- drugs are now more available, potent, and affordable than ever. The U.S. has long dealt with an overdose crisis as a result. Rather than preventing harm, these policies have diverted resources away from addressing root causes and investing in health services that save lives.
U.S.-driven drug prohibition has contributed to poverty, violence, human rights violations, and poor health outcomes around the world. One stark example is the U.S.-funded crop eradication strategies in Colombia. This tactic failed to curb cocaine production. Instead, it fueled violence and caused severe health and environmental damage. This has led to increased rates of cancer, miscarriages, contaminated water and soil, destroyed food crops, and mass displacement.
Crackdowns on drug production and trafficking often provoke violent responses from cartels determined to maintain control. They also incentivize the development of stronger, more dangerous substances that are easier to conceal and transport. It’s a dangerous cycle where enforcement leads to more violence and deadlier drugs. Yet the U.S. continues to invest billions in these failed strategies at the expense of global health and safety.
To reduce overdose and drug-related harm domestically, the U.S. must shift its global drug policy focus from reducing the supply to addressing the drivers of U.S. drug demand. This includes shifting from punishment to health and investing in evidence-based solutions like housing, treatment, and overdose prevention. We must address the social and economic conditions that drive drug involvement in areas impacted by prohibition. We must explore legal regulation models that center health and human rights.
The Drug Policy Alliance believes the U.S. should fund health and community programs that focus on care, not punishment. By ending wasteful spending on the failed global drug war, we can use those resources to improve the health and well-being of people in the U.S. and around the world.
This report demonstrates how U.S. assistance has supported and expanded destructive and deadly anti-drug responses in low- and middle- income countries around the world.
Global prohibition of drugs has been a failure. The world must continue to shift towards health and human rights-based approaches.
The Cross-Border Working Group on Synthetic Drugs brings evidence-based analysis and policy proposals grounded in science, health, compassion, social justice, and human rights to decision-makers.
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