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The Palgrave Handbook of International Development pp 399–413Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

International Development and the Global Drugs Trade

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Abstract

This chapter assesses the links between illicit drugs and development, focussing on cannabis and khat in African countries. We suggest that a received wisdom that ascribes a negative effect to all such substances and their trade should be critiqued. While highlighting the very real threat these substances can have, we argue that based on the available empirical evidence, the causalities between drugs and underdevelopment are not always apparent. We propose a more nuanced understanding of the economic impact of drugs showing how—in certain contexts—drugs have provided farmers and entrepreneurs with opportunities not readily available in difficult economic environments. Finally, we question whether the drugs themselves or the policy designed to stop them are most harmful.

Drug abuse furthers socio-economic and political instability, it undermines sustainable development, and it hampers efforts to reduce poverty and crime

(Jan Kavan, President of the United Nations General Assembly, 2003 (Quoted in: Singer, M. 2008. ‘Drugs and Development: The global impact of drug use and trafficking on social and economic development’, International Journal of Drug Policy 19, pg. 468))

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cable from Freetown US Embassy to Washington, ID no. #09FREETOWN135, 14 April 2009. Available at: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09FREETOWN135 (accessed February 2015).

  2. 2.

    As paraphrased on the UNODC website: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption/index.html (accessed February 2015).

  3. 3.

    Wikileaks Nairobi Cable No. 8, ‘International Drug Trafficking Ring Enjoys Impunity’, January 2006. Available at: http://kenyastockholm.com/2010/12/09/wikileaks-releases-nairobi-cable-no-8/ (accessed February 2015).

  4. 4.

    For example, see the following report on drug use by ex-combatants in Liberia: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81910 (accessed February 2015).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. African Studies Centre, University of Oxford, ■, UK

    Neil Carrier

  2. Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, ■, UK

    Gernot Klantschnig

Authors
  1. Neil Carrier
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  2. Gernot Klantschnig
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Politics, University of York, Heslington, United Kingdom

    Jean Grugel

  2. Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Daniel Hammett

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Carrier, N., Klantschnig, G. (2016). International Development and the Global Drugs Trade. In: Grugel, J., Hammett, D. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of International Development. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-42724-3_23

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