Unintended Consequences of Drug Policies: Exploring the Mechanisms

• In Event: Unintended Consequences of Supply-Side Drug Policies

Abstract

Many of the negative consequences of drug prohibition itself and of the implementing policies, particularly enforcement, play a major role in the discussion of drug policy.
This paper is a first effort to provide systematic analysis of the unintended consequences as a group. It distinguishes between those consequences that arise from prohibition per se, such as the lack of quality control, and those that are a function of the intensity and characteristics of enforcement. It identifies seven mechanisms that can generate unintended consequences: behavioral responses of participants (users, dealers and producers), behavioral responses of non-participants, market forces, program characteristics, program management, the inevitable effects of intended consequences and technological adaptation. The paper relates this analysis to a discussion of the same phenomenon by the former Executive Director of UNODC, showing the complementarity of the two approaches for thinking about consequences. This analysis has implications both for policy making and for assessment of policies.

Author

• Peter Reuter, University of Maryland