We proudly present our new IGCSE Global Perspectives Individual Report. It was written using our IR template, closely following the requirements set out in the syllabus and mark scheme. Members can access a version of this IR with detailed annotation and content analysis here.

Caveats
This report advocates against drug prohibition, but absolutely does not endorse drug abuse.
Respect the laws of your country even if you advocate for changing them.
Do not take drugs. Addiction is miserable, and drugs cut short many lives. Paying for illegal drugs is immoral because it fuels violence.
Legalisation or decriminalisation would never apply to minors. As with alcohol and tobacco, giving drugs to children would remain a serious crime.

Apart from the infographic Fig.1, none of the visuals on this page or their accompanying captions would be included in a coursework submission. The IGCSE Global Perspectives syllabus does not encourage the use of visuals unless required to convey important information in the report. This web page is illustrated in journalistic style to help students to key into the topic more easily.

Is prohibition the best way to deal with drugs?

Introduction

According to the World Health Organisation, psychoactive drugs cause 600,000 deaths a year¹ yet they remain very popular. Figure 1 shows how cocaine, just one of several problem drugs, is used heavily around the globe.

Fig.1 – Cocaine usage by subregion, 2021²

Most of the world officially believes that the best way to deal with drugs is to make them illegal to possess and supply, and to fight producers and traffickers fiercely.

However, some think that policies which drive drug production and supply into the hands of ruthless criminals do more harm than good, and a few countries are experimenting with policies of legalisation and control.

This report will explore whether legalising and controlling narcotic drugs might be a better approach to the world’s drug problem than prohibition.

Consequences of the illegal drug trade

Drug users become ill or die not so much because of the health effects of the drugs themselves,³ but mostly because of the dangerous ways they take them. Illegally made and distributed drugs have no quality control, so they can have wildly unreliable doses or be mixed with other substances, creating a high risk of overdose.⁴ Moreover, when drugs are illegal, sterile syringes are harder to get, so users often contract HIV by sharing syringes.⁵

The harm done by the illegal drug trade extends much further than addiction and overdose. Because drugs can only be made and smuggled in bulk by crime networks, criminal organisations grow rich and powerful. These “cartels” rule by fear and cruelty, pressuring people to cooperate, and traumatising whole communities.⁶ Drug-related violence killed 8500 people in Mexico alone in 2015.⁷ Heavy-handed law enforcement also kills thousands of people in some countries, such as the Philippines.⁸

Moreover, the money and power of drug cartels damages the rule of law and governance in countries like Mexico. “Drug money keeps the economy going, as the gang bosses buy off judges, politicians and businesses,” reports a Mexican journalist.⁹

Causes of the illegal drug trade

Supply

It is very difficult to prevent the supply of drugs. For decades, countries such as the US have made the market illegal and tried to prevent drug smuggling, but have failed to cut off supply. The global market is huge – $88 billion for cocaine alone.¹⁰ This makes smugglers motivated and resourceful.  The popular new drug Fentanyl is making the problem worse because it is easy to manufacture and transport.¹¹

Demand

The reasons people use drugs are “a complex interaction between a multitude of factors”, according to a meta study of adolescent drug use in 2021. They include rebelliousness, peer influence, socioeconomic inequality, and trauma or maltreatment.¹² This suggests there is no simple solution to reducing demand.

Global perspectives

UN treaties commit most countries of the world to prohibit drugs. According to the 1961 treaty, “addiction to narcotic drugs constitutes a serious evil for the individual and is fraught with social and economic danger to mankind.”¹³ Characterising drug addiction as an “evil” which nations have a duty to “combat”¹⁴ frames it as criminal behaviour (not a matter of personal choice or a health problem). It implies that risking one’s health and becoming less economically productive is a moral failing that deserves punishment. The United Nations agreed to cut off supply for any use except medical treatment or scientific research. The reasoning is that international cooperation to keep drugs away from people will solve the problem. This perspective is appealing to people who trust in the righteous use of force and are confident they can succeed. However, the language of “evil” and “combat” justifies harsh treatment of addicts and suppliers if drugs cannot be kept out.

In recent years, some globally influential voices have been calling this inhumane. For example, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a group which includes several heads of state, says that countries should reject “drug policies and strategies driven by ideology and political convenience” and instead “experiment” with more “humane and evidence-based” policies despite “restrictive” UN conventions. This perspective appeals to people who value harm reduction, and treating root causes rather than symptoms.

Local/national perspective(s)

Uruguay is one of the few places to officially defy the global prohibition, fully legalising cannabis in 2013. The law states its aim as protecting inhabitants from “risks arising from the illegal sale and trafficking of drugs”¹⁶ (emphasis added).

José Mujica, then President of Uruguay, explained he is not in favour of drug use, saying “addictions are a plague, whose harm has varying degrees”, however, he claims his government’s approach is “intellectually honest”, framing it as a reversible “experiment”.¹⁷ He reasons about overall harm, saying “We had 80 deaths from drug-related violence last year, and only 3 or 4 deaths from drug overdoses… so what is worse: drug trafficking, or drug consumption?”¹⁸ He believes his new policy enables the country to take responsibility for the welfare of citizens: “If we identify consumers, we can help them. If we criminalize them and keep them underground, we steer them towards drug dealers and wash our hands of responsibility.”¹⁹

Uruguay was able to adopt this national perspective because of a “window of opportunity” when public opinion supported action on increasing drug violence and pro-legalisation leaders like Mujica were in power.²⁰

Courses of action

Option 1: Intensify the “War on Drugs”

Implementation

This approach involves criminalisation policies, stricter border controls, harsher penalties for drug offences, and increased funding for military-style operations against suppliers.

Practicality

It remains practical for many countries, being popular with people who put heavy trust in law enforcement to keep them safe. Moreover, as we saw earlier, countries are already committed to this approach by international treaties.

Impact

Unfortunately, this approach will intensify all the bad effects reported above. Innovative criminals will evade enforcement with drugs that are easier to produce and smuggle, and leaving drug quality control to criminals massively increases the hazard to users. Addicts will fear to seek help and HIV transmission will rise. By making the drug slightly scarcer, street prices will rise, making the most efficient criminal gangs more profitable. Moreover, more enforcement costs more money, leaving less to spend on the root causes of drug abuse.

Option 2: Legalise and Regulate

Implementation

Legalisation would follow the example of tobacco and alcohol. The government appoints agencies or companies to produce and supply drugs to the public, enforcing strict quality controls. Taxes on the product are spent helping people avoid addiction, helping addicts to stay safe and healthy, enforcing a ban on giving drugs to children, and educating people to discourage drug abuse.

Impact

The drug policy foundation Transform uses the example of Portugal’s decriminalisation of drugs in 2001 to show the great benefits this policy can bring. “Engagement with treatment rose, high-risk use and use among the youngest fell. Deaths fell. HIV infections fell. Numbers in prison for drug offences fell. Overall, costs to society fell. Trends in adult drug use mirrored those elsewhere in the EU.”²¹

Moreover, billions of dollars of drug money will stop flowing to criminal cartels, reducing gang violence, terror and corruption.

Practicality

The challenge is to give this policy a fair trial, because conservatives will be quick to use any shortcomings to justify reverting to prohibition, as happened in Oregon, US.²² To avoid this, properly funded systems to support drug abusers are essential, and public spaces need to be carefully planned and managed to mimimise a backlash from increased visibility of drug use.

Judgement

Legalisation and regulation is clearly the better choice, but collecting the political will to implement it is hard. Therefore, I think the best pathway to Option 2 is to support think tanks like Reform and conventions like the Global Commission on Drug Policy mentioned above. By sharing information comparing these two approaches they can make it easier for countries to justify trying new policies.

Evaluation of sources

Frontline reporting

Stacey Dooley’s book On the Frontline with the Women who Fight Back was my starting point. It opened my eyes to the wide range of harm done by the illegal drugs trade. This prevented me from focusing narrowly on the issue of drug overdoses, by showing the bigger picture of violence and corruption. The reliability of Dooley’s findings comes from her extensive primary research, interviewing people “on the front line”. The backing of a large production company gives her great resources, access and assistance to research stories thoroughly. Her perspective is also informed by speaking to experts in Canada, America, Europe and Asia. However, her citations are journalistic, not of academic standard, so we sometimes have to trust her journalistic integrity. I think this is acceptable since she received an MBE²³ for services to broadcasting in 2018,²⁴ showing that she is highly respected.

AI helped to find credible, relevant sources

While constructing my argument I frequently needed to check things I thought I knew. I used an AI-powered web search engine called Perplexity which helped me find more relevant sources by understanding my needs and combing the web intelligently. AI can “hallucinate”, but Perplexity counters this risk by providing citations to sources, which I followed up to check the claims in their original context. I ensured such sources were credible, such as authoritative intergovernmental organisations WHO and UNODC (to establish the scale of the global problem) and peer-reviewed scientific papers (to understand the causes of drug abuse and their physical effects).

Think tanks

NGOs such as Transform and Amnesty International provided very useful collections of information about the issue. For example, Transform provided information about the benefits that Portugal’s decriminalisation of drugs has yielded, which helped me make plausible predictions of the likely impact of my proposed actions. Since pressure groups have a strong stance on the issue we need to be cautious that bias doesn’t distort the truth. However, these organisations are transparent about their funding and staffing to show that they are motivated by harm reduction not vested interests. Their factual claims seem solid, backed up with detailed reports that are written to academic standards.

Sources for the Uruguayan perspective

Uruguay’s drug policy is controversial, so to represent it reliably I quoted the actual wording of Uruguayan law. I considered that the best source for an explanation of their cannabis legalisation is Pepe Mujica, who as president was ultimately responsible for it. To ensure accuracy, I quoted his own words from his personal website and interviews in a reputable news channel. Mujica’s argument about harm, welfare and responsibility showed that the policy is rational and founded on good principles, giving me confidence to present legalisation as a favourable option in this report.

Reflections and conclusion

Before this project I had heard claims that the “War on Drugs” is a failed policy but I didn’t know whether to believe it.  I read perspectives of conservatives who favour a hardline prohibitionist approach, and I found I could empathise with people who assume that law enforcement can protect them and their families, since it protects us from other things such as robbery.

However, my research findings about the many harms caused by pushing the drug trade underground taught me that prohibition does more harm than it prevents. This has not shifted my view that doing drugs is stupid, and in fact, learning that drug money supports horrendous violence made me realise that purchasing illegal drugs is immoral.

Stacey Dooley’s perspective impacted my view strongly. She started out with a simple rejection of drugs, and shifted to a belief that some degree of legalisation is necessary. I found this open-minded change persuasive because it arises from the huge amount of observation she has done “on the front line” around the world. 

From researching the UN treaties from the 1960s-80s, I started to understand that countries are committed to prohibition, and I came to believe they need the courage to follow Uruguay and Portugal in experimenting with alternative drug policies.

Therefore, I conclude that prohibition is not the best way to deal with drugs.

1995 words

Endnotes

1. World Health Organization. “Health Topics, Drugs (Psychoactive), Impact.” Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.who.int/health-topics/drugs-psychoactive#tab=tab_2.
2. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report 2023. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wdr-2023-online-segment.html.
3. RIVM, “Physical damage due to drug dependence,” accessed May 2, 2025, https://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/340041001.pdf
4. Dooley, Stacey. On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back. London: BBC Books, 2018.
5. Amnesty International. “Drug Policy Reform.” Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/drug-policy-reform/.
6. Dooley, On the Front Line, Ch.3
7. Dooley, On the Front Line, Ch.3
8. Amnesty International, “Drug Policy Reform.”
9. Dooley, On the Front Line, Ch.3
10. Dooley, On the Front Line, Ch.3
11. “Fentanyl Driving Overdoses.” Yale Medicine. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/fentanyl-driving-overdoses.
12. “Risk and Protective Factors of Drug Abuse among Adolescents: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice 12, no. 4 (2021). Accessed May 1, 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8590764/.
13. United Nations, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 (New York: United Nations, 1961), preamble, accessed May 5, 2025, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1961_en.pdf.
14. United Nations, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, preamble.
15. Global Commission on Drug Policy, Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, 2011, accessed May 6, 2025, https://ycsg.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/WaronDrugs_EN.pdf
16. Fiore, Marco. “The Politics of Evaluating Cannabis Regulation Policies.” Necropsia (2021). Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.scielo.br/j/nec/a/9MsB6QhX6Q6yGrVstRgLfVL/.
17. “Legalization of Marijuana in Uruguay.” Pepe Mujica. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://pepemujica.com/en/interest/legalization-of-marijuana-in-uruguay/.
18. “Uruguayan President: Yes, We’ll Have Legal Weed, But Love Is All You Need.” ABC News, August 15, 2013. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/uruguayan-president-legal-weed-love/story?id=19972551.
19. “Uruguayan President: Legal Weed,” ABC News.
20. Queirolo et al., “Why Uruguay legalized marijuana? The open window of public insecurity,” Addiction 114, no. 7 (2019): 1185–1193, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30536953/.
21. “Portugal Drug Decriminalisation: The Facts.” Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://transformdrugs.org/blog/portugal-drug-decriminalisation-the-facts.
22. Nazaryan, Alexander, “Why Portland failed where Portugal succeeded in decriminalizing drugs,” Politico, March 28, 2024, accessed May 2, 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/28/oregon-drug-criminalization-portugal-00148872.
23. [MBE means Member of the Order of the British Empire]
24. “Stacey Dooley,” Wikipedia, last modified March 27, 2025, accessed May 1, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Dooley

Bibliography

Amnesty International. “Drug Policy Reform.” Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/drug-policy-reform/.

Dooley, Stacey. On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back. London: BBC Books, 2018.

Fiore, Marco. “The Politics of Evaluating Cannabis Regulation Policies.” Necropsia (2021). Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.scielo.br/j/nec/a/9MsB6QhX6Q6yGrVstRgLfVL/.

“Fentanyl Driving Overdoses.” Yale Medicine. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/fentanyl-driving-overdoses.

Global Commission on Drug Policy, Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, 2011, accessed May 6, 2025, https://ycsg.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/WaronDrugs_EN.pdf

“Global Drug Policy.” Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://transformdrugs.org/drug-policy/global-drug-policy.

“Legalization of Marijuana in Uruguay.” Pepe Mujica. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://pepemujica.com/en/interest/legalization-of-marijuana-in-uruguay/.

Nazaryan, Alexander. “Why Portland failed where Portugal succeeded in decriminalizing drugs.” Politico, March 28, 2024. Accessed May 2, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/28/oregon-drug-criminalization-portugal-00148872.

“Portugal Drug Decriminalisation: The Facts.” Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://transformdrugs.org/blog/portugal-drug-decriminalisation-the-facts.

Queirolo, Rosario et al. “Why Uruguay legalized marijuana? The open window of public insecurity.” Addiction 114, no. 7 (2019): 1185–1193. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30536953/.

RIVM, “Physical damage due to drug dependence,” accessed May 2, 2025, https://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/rapporten/340041001.pdf.

“Risk and Protective Factors of Drug Abuse among Adolescents: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Neurosciences in Rural Practice 12, no. 4 (2021). Accessed May 1, 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8590764/.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report 2023. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wdr-2023-online-segment.html.

United Nations, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 (New York: United Nations, 1961), preamble, accessed May 5, 2025, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1961_en.pdf.

“Uruguayan President: Yes, We’ll Have Legal Weed, But Love Is All You Need.” ABC News, August 15, 2013. Accessed May 1, 2025. https://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/uruguayan-president-legal-weed-love/story?id=19972551.

World Health Organization. “Health Topics, Drugs (Psychoactive), Impact.” Accessed May 1, 2025. https://www.who.int/health-topics/drugs-psychoactive#tab=tab_2.