Slides by Aram Barra on the chat "Drug policy reform: How did we get here and what is next" at NYU Robert F. Wagner school of public service on October 7, 2014.

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Drug policy reform: How did we get here
and what is next?
@AramBarra
#DrugPolicy

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Overview
 Drugs and prevalence of use
 Public health tools around drug use
 History of drug policy and political context
 “Unintended consequences” of drug policies
 Drug policy reform: Legal regulation
 Q&A

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#MyDrugPolicyLife

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Drugs and prevalence of use

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Drugs and prevalence of use

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Drugs and prevalence of use

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Drugs and prevalence of use

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Public health tools around drug use

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Public health tools around drug use
Public health approaches to the drugs phenomenon:
- Prevention of use: Delay of age of first use
- Community interventions and screening
- Harm reduction programs
* Needle Syringe Programs (NSP)
* Opiate Substitution Therapy (OST)
- Treatment (residential or ambulatory)

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Public health tools around drug use

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Public health tools around drug use

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History of drug policy

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History of drug policy

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“Unintended consequences”
1. Development and international security: Fueling conflict and
violence
2. Public health: in form of diseases and preventable deaths
3. Criminalising poverty & hindering human rights: violations,
stigma and discrimination
4. Environmental sustainability
5. Not a real fight against organized crime
6. Efficiency of public spending: huge economic and opportunity
costs
7. Increasing corruption and undermining governance and State
stability.

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Spectrum of policy models

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Drug policy reform: What can we
regulate?
 Production and transit
 Products: dosage, preparation, price and packaging
 Vendors: licensing, training requirements
 Outlets: location, appearance, hours of opening
 Marketing: advertising, branding, promotions
 Buyers/Users: Who has access? - age controls, licensed buyer
models
 A flexible menu of options – applied to different products in different
environments

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Drug policy reform
 Learn the lessons – successes and failures - from alcohol and
tobacco regulation
 There is no one size fits all solution
 It is important to acknowledge the limits of what regulation can
achieve – it is not a silver bullet or panacea
 Regulation is the pragmatic middle ground between free
markets and the war ion drugs

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Drug policy reform

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Thanks!