What Is Drug Policy For?

Julia Buxton is Professor of Justice at John Moores University in Liverpool and British Academy Global Professor. Her research, teaching and supervision focus on illicit drug markets and the impact of counter narcotics policies on development, gender equality and security. She has experience of applied and practice focused research in policy design and evaluation, including conflict, rights based and gender sensitive processes. She has geographical expertise on Latin America and is a specialist on Venezuela.Julia was previously Professor of Comparative Politics, Associate Dean and Acting Dean at the School of Public Policy, Central European University in Budapest where she managed awards from Open Society Foundations Global Drug Policy Programme on drug policy analysis, drug policy enforcement, and an annual drug policy reform summer school. She previously held positions in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, Georgetown University and Kingston University.

• Introduction1 Drug Criminalization: Is it Working? 2 Building an International Drug Prohibition3 The Persistence of the Drug User 4 The Problem of Endless Supply5 What Chance of Drug Policy Reform?

“In no health domain is the gap between what policies are and what the evidence says they should be as huge as in drug policies. Julia Buxton is one of the most respected scientists to discuss this.” Michel Kazatchkine, Special Advisor to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe