Drug policy dilemma: ban or tolerance
Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanitiesgrant № 16-03-00616
How to Cite
Rybakova L.N. 2016. Drug policy dilemma: ban or tolerance — Sociologicheskaja nauka i social’naja praktika. Vol. 4. No. 4. P. 89-105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/snsp.2016.4.4.4764
Abstract
Due to the significant change in drug situation in Russia and in the world, certain means of social control over distribution of drug consumption are analyzed. The existing drug policy provides for restrictions in the sphere of drug trafficking both at the macro-social and individual behavioral level. The main contradiction of the drug policy is that distribution of drugs and expansion of the drug market and geography contribute to the preservation of the prohibitive character of the international drug legislation, while at the national level the processes of mitigation of repressive measures are observed with regard toconsumers of psychoactive substances that affect relevant social norms. In fact, we can see the process of transformation of the social norm “society without drugs” and increased tolerance to drug consumption. Against this background, the public discussion about decriminalization (cancellation of sanctions) and legalization (cancellation of restrictions) of drug circulation is unfolding under the motto “the war against drugs is lost”. The article mentions “replacement therapy”, “clubs of marijuana fans”, and “rooms for consumption (bring your own drugs)” as attempts of fragmentary violation of the legislation in a number of countries which can be perceived by the other countries as mitigation of the abstention norm regarding the use of psychoactive substances. The described examples give an idea of two important features social control over drug distribution: changes start from the top, from individual needs through group activity and public organizations; they do not follow a strict vertical flow of decision-making, but rather horizontally through exchange of experience and cooperation, as soon as the novelty develops a mass effect.
Keywords:
social innovation, anti-drug legislation, drug policy, drug service, drug addicts, “great marijuana”, substitution treatment, alternative treatment, “the room for the use of the drug, ” the social norm
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Rybakova L. N. Social’naja terapija narkozavisimyh v Germanii. [Social therapy to drug addicts in Germany]. J. Voprosy narkologii. — 2013. — № 3. — S. 100—112. (In Russ.).
Vojna s narkotikami. Doklad Global’noj komissii po voprosam narkopolitiki. [Война с наркотиками. Доклад Глобальной комиссии по вопросам наркополитики]. Ijun’ 2011. [Elektronnyj resurs]: Global Commission on Drug Policy URL: http://www. globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GCDP_WaronDrugs_RU.pdf (data obrashhenija: 11.11.2016). (In Russ.).
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Birdwell J., Chapman J., Singleton N. Taking drugs seriously. A demos and UK drug policy commission report on legal highs. [Electronic resource]: URL: https://www.tni.org/files/publication- downloads/taking_drugs_seriously_report.pdf (date of access: 14.05.2014).
Cohen P. Shifting the main purposes of drug control: From suppression to regulation of use. Reduction of risks as the new focus for drug policy. Paper presented at the Euro-Ibero-American Seminar, 8-9 October 1998, PaMcia da Bolsa, Porto, Portugal, promoted by the President of Portugal. // International Journal of Drug Policy. - 1999.- № 10. - P. 223-234.
Drug Consumption Rooms in Germany. A Situational Assessment by the AK Konsumraum. - Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe. Akzept e.V., Berlin, 2011. [Electronic resource]: URL: http: //www.akzept.org/ pdf/aktuel pdf/DKR07af1Eng.pdf (date of access: 27.10.2016)
Drug consumption rooms: an overview of provision and evidence (Perspectives on drugs). - EMCDDA, Lisbon, May 2016. [Electronic resource]: URL: http://www.emcdda.europa. eu/publications/pods/drug-consumption-rooms (date of access: 27.10.2016).
Eisenbach-Stangl I., Moskalewicz J., Thom B. Two Worlds of Drug Consumption in Late Modern Societies. [Electronic resource]: European Centre. URL: www.euro.centre.org/ data/1263572258 23948.pdf (date of access: 14.05.2014).
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
Harvard
Rybakova, L. N. (2016) ’Drug policy dilemma: ban or tolerance’, Sociologicheskaja nauka i social’naja praktika, 4(4), pp. 89-105. doi: https://doi.org/10.19181/snsp.2016.4.4.4764.
Section
SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR
Publisher: Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FCTAS RAS)