ASSESSING ALTERNATIVE DRUG-CONTROL REGIMES

The debate over alternative regimes for currently illicit psychoactive substances focuses on polar alternatives: harsh prohibition and sweep ing legalization. This study presents an away of alternatives that lie s between these extremes. The current debate lacks an explicit and inc lusive framework for making comparative judgments. In this study, we s ketch out such a framework, as a reminder of possible policy levers an d their costs and benefits that might otherwise be neglected or go unr ecognized. The framework identifies a range of pharmacological and eco nomic characteristics of substances, potential harms and their bearers , and the sources of those harms, including drug use, trafficking, law enforcement, and illegal status per se. The framework highlights the difficulty of making objective, rigorous comparisons among regimes, bu t we believe that it can serve a useful heuristic role in promoting mo re constructive debate and identifying fruitful questions for research .