Latest Expert Group Report: After the Drug Wars
The War on Drugs is over. In this report, the LSE Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy sets out a framework for the future of international drug policy based on the Sustainable Development Goals. To build the drugs peace we must replace prohibition based policies with a 'development first, drug control second' approach built upon principles of harm reduction and human rights. This report has been endorsed by the President of Colombia and 5 Nobel Prize Winners. Read now
The International Drug Policy Project (IDPP) is a cross-regional and multidisciplinary project, designed to establish a global centre for excellence in the study of international drug policy.
By utilising LSE's academic expertise and networks, IDPP fosters new research, analysis and debate of global drug policies as well as training of LSE’s world-class students. Further, through developing innovative social science research methods and evidence analysis, it helps design and implement new policies at local, national, regional and international levels.
In 2012, IDEAS released the Governing the Global Drug Wars Report. It represented a far reaching examination of the historical evolution of the international drug control system and discussed potential options for reform.
Following this report, the Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy was created to produce a thorough and independent economic analysis of the current international drug control strategy. It aims to provide the hard economic evidence required by policy makers to make sound tactical and strategic decisions as they pursue a more effective approach to the managing global drug issue.
The Expert Group's ground-breaking study, Ending the Drugs Wars, was published in 2014. This hugely influential report was named one of the one of the top ten policy studies by a think-tank worldwide.
The IDPP expanded, developing Policy Initiatives with governments around the world and hosting Policy Planning Workshops to research and examine the economic and social scientific evidence on global drug policy.
In 2016 the Expert Group published After the Drug Wars, ahead of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS). The report was presented before its release to Colombian President Santos and members of his government at a packed event in Bogota and at an UN meeting in Vienna.
Find out more about the International Drug Policy Project's Expert Group on the Economics of Drug Policy.