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"Cannabis, marijuana, pot, ganja - it goes by many names -- is by far the most widely used illegal substance, and accounts for more arrests than any other drug. Barely a week goes by without this drug appearing in the newpapers, and politicians have famously tied themselve in knots, trying to decide just how to deal with this recreational drug. While there have been many drug policy books on other substances - both legal and illegal, few have focused on this drug. Cannabis Policy: Moving beyond Stalemate is unique in providing the materials needed for deciding on policy about cannabis in its various forms. It reviews the state of knowledge on the health and psychological effects of cannabis, and its dangerousness relative to other drugs. It considers patterns and trends in use, the size and character of illicit markets, and the administration of current policies, including arrests and diversion to treatment, under the global prohibition regime. It looks at the experience of a number of countries which have tried reforming their regimes and softening prohibition, exploring the kinds of changes or penalties for use for possession: including depenalization, decriminalization, medical control, and different types of legalization. It evaluates such changes and draws on them to assess the effects on levels and patterns of use, on the market, and on adverse consequences of prohibition. For policymakers willing to look outside the box of the global prohibition regime, the book examines the options and possibilities for a country or group of countries to bring about change in, or opt out of, the global control system. Throughout, the book examines cannabis within a global frame, and provides in accessible form information which anyone considering reform will need in order to make decisions on cannabis policy (much of which is new or has not been readily available). This book will be essential for those involved in policymaking and be of interest to a wide range of readers interested in drugs and drug policy, as well as being an excellent supplementary text for university courses in criminology, policy science, social science, or public health"--Provided by publisher

While, historically, alcohol production and sale were local matters, commercialised and industrialised alcohol has supervened, globalised initially through European empires, transforming alcohol's place in everyday life. But alcohol was not included in the current international drug control system, initiated in 1912. In the current "UN system" of 35 intergovernmental agencies, alcohol has been a recurrent concern in the work only of the World Health Organization (WHO). Examples are given of the sporadic involvement in alcohol issues of other agencies, and the history of WHO's involvement between 1950 and early 2020 is briefly described. At WHO, the place of alcohol programming in its structure and which other topics it is linked with have been recurrent issues. Civil society support for alcohol initiatives has been comparatively weak, and alcohol industry counter-pressure has been strong. Alcohol issues have thus received less attention at the intergovernmental level than the harm would justify. Constraining factors have included not only lobbying by industry interests, but also the multi-sectoral nature of alcohol problems and the international cultural position of alcohol as a luxury good served at gatherings of political and media elites.

The distinction between dry and wet cultures seems to be out-of-date. The case of the European youth is emblematic. The factors which falsificated this distinction are the changements occured in drinking practices due to the globalization of youth culture and the communicative power of alcohol industries.

La distinzione tra culture asciutte e culture bagnate appare oggi poco al passo con i tempi, in special modo per quel che riguarda i giovani europei. I principali fattori che hanno messo in crisi questa distinzione sono i cambiamenti negli stili del bere dovuti alla globalizzazione della cultura giovanile e all'influenza pubblicitaria delle industrie degli alcolici.

Social drinking problems can be viewed as deviations from behavior norms which are "noticed" and defined as alcohol-related. Drinking norms can enforce heavy drinking as well as restrain It. Many drinking norms are directed at behavior during or after drinking rather than at the amount of drinking. U.S. drinking norms are highly differentiated by social situation and social category of the drinker. But there is no common situation in which it is "OK to be high." Nevertheless, heavy drinking is not rare In the U.S. We may speak of a loose social world of heavy drinking whose norms are at odds with general norms. This world coexists with the culture by an implicit policy of enclaving. Besides Individual deviant acts, drinking problems can result from transitional problems between drinking and nondrinking situations; from boundary problems where the enclaving breaks down; and from conflicts over norms. In "dryer" locales, the heavy drinking world becomes an outlawed "contraculture" and social problems with drinking change character and may increase, although consumption and physiological problems decrease. A normative analysis points to the role of social reaction as well as Individual behavior In defining social problems with drinking.