After the Grand Fracture: Scenarios for the Collapse of the International Drug Control Regime

In: Journal of drug policy analysis: JDPA ; a journal of substance abuse control policy, Band 10, Heft 2

Abstract

AbstractInternational prohibitions create asymmetries; production and transshipment concentrate in relatively few places that bear the bulk of the negative externalities created by the illegal trade. These externalities fuel calls for altering the United Nations treaty framework and for individual nations to legalize outside of the framework. Analyses of the pros and cons of legalization usually adopt the perspective of a single nation acting in isolation. However, one nation's legalization alters incentives for others to act, and not always in obvious ways. So the proper perspective is that of a dynamic game.The primary contribution of this paper is to make the case for analyzing legalization as a strategic game, but it also offers preliminary analysis for the case of cocaine. Tentative conclusions include: