Legal highs offer lessons for global drug control

Subject

Legal highs.

Significance

The international narcotic drug control system is facing pressure for reform, as global indicators demonstrate negligible progress in the ‘war on drugs’ and significant harm caused by criminalisation. Initially established over a century ago, the system is under scrutiny for its inability to anticipate and respond to innovation in the illicit drug trade. New psychoactive substances (NPS) or ‘legal highs’ epitomise the challenges faced internationally.

Impacts

• Continual ad hoc tweaking of NPS to circumvent legal regulations will make such substances increasingly dangerous.
• With no geographical constraints on NPS manufacture, state crackdown efforts will merely shift production elsewhere.
• Differences in drug stances could foster wider tensions between neighbours such as Mexico and the United States.