Is it time to call off the failed war on drugs?

Illegal drug trafficking is a multibillion euro business and business is growing fast. The facts are startling. According to a March 2017 Global Financial Integrity report, titled ‘Transnational Crime in the Developing World’, drug trafficking is worth between €360 billion and €551.9 billion annually. That is 1% of the world’s GDP.

In comparison, the International Federation of Phonographic Industry’s latest global music report confirmed worldwide recorded music revenues totalled €17.7 billion last year. In other words, the illegal drug trade is over 20 times more valuable that the music industry.

Ireland is not immune to this international trade. Irish criminal gangs are significant players in the business of smuggling drugs from around the world into Europe. This was confirmed in a recent interview by former Assistant Garda Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan with the Journal.ie. “Irish criminals are an integral part of organised crime in Europe and they all know one another and they all do business with one another,” he said. 

This term ‘war on drugs’ was first used by US President Richard Nixon. He declared a war on drugs at a press conference in June 1971. He proclaimed that ‘drug abuse’ was ‘public enemy number one’. 

• Former US president Richard Nixon and Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón

Nixon’s war on drugs was a campaign of prohibition of illicit drugs, military aid, and intervention with the aim being to reduce the illegal drug trade. Currently, the Drug Policy Alliance estimates that the United States spends $51 billion per year on these initiatives.

But this ‘war’ was of course not just confined to the US. It impacted on government polices around the world. There was greater emphasis on the law and order approach to tackling drugs, rather than resourcing a public health response. This in turn has had a very negative impact on those who are addicted to drugs, their families, and the communities they live in.

There are few families who have not been affected by addiction. It is very likely that you or someone you know has had their lives turned upside down by drug addiction, gambling or alcoholism. But most people get the help they need and life moves on.

• The drug trade is hugely lucrative and those involved will protect that market by any means necessary

Addiction and the drugs crisis are two very different parts of the global drug trade. A lecturer once informed our college class that there were 80 different definitions of addiction. From my own professional experience as a key worker, addiction is a self-medicated response to unresolved trauma. That trauma can be caused by any number of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention defines ACEs as “potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood. ACEs can include violence, abuse, and growing up in a family with mental health or substance use problems”.

Unfortunately, for some families living with addiction, the very fabric of their community is deeply affected by the drugs crisis. For these communities, it is not just the addiction is a challenge but the drugs crisis becomes an everyday challenge and is a very real threat to themselves and their community.  

The CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign outline the impact of the drugs crisis. They state that: “In many communities, play grounds, parks, and recreational areas are taken over by the drugs trade and can become no-go areas. National and International studies indicate that high levels of unemployment, lower levels of secondary school completion and a high concentration of social housing can leave communities inadequately resourced to deal with these problems”.

• 30 countries have already started the process by decriminalising drugs

Basically, it is a drugs crisis when there is widespread drug dealing in a community and the consequences of this are seen and felt right across that community. This activity is not spread evenly across our cities or towns. It is mainly confined to certain areas or post codes. These communities are the focus of the original Local Drug Task Forces (LDTFs). Twelve LDTFs were established in 1997 to develop a more effective response to the drug crisis that was devastating many communities. The focus was on communities that were most effected by heroin epidemic.

These are the same communities that continue to suffer the worst effects of the ongoing drugs crisis. This includes drug related intimidation, criminal gangs terrorising neighbours, open-air drug dealing, a lack of response from the Gardaí, government and other state agencies. Another sinister development has been crime gangs targeting young and vulnerable people. This was clearly shown in the 2021 Dublin City Council report on ‘cuckooing’ in Ballymun. Cuckooing is where crime gangs take over the homes of vulnerable council tenants and use their home as a base for dealing and drug distribution. 

This regime of terror and intimidation is underpinned by the two important factors. Firstly, the drug trade is hugely lucrative. And those involved in the importation and distribution have billions invested in it and they will protect that market by any means necessary. 

In Europe, the drugs market is growing rapidly. An increased demand for cocaine has driven the EU drugs market up to a staggering €30bn. The EU Drug Market Report 2019 showed that the cocaine use has increased by 60% on the previous three years, while cannabis consumption had increased by 25% to a total of €11.6bn. 

This market is protected and defended by criminal gangs in Ireland. The influence of the drug gangs permeates right down to local level. The money made from the drug trade employs young people as ‘runners’, funds drug-related intimidation and creates micro-economies in pockets of our towns and cities. 

The second factor is that the drug trade is illegal. This ensures that a reign of terror is enforced across the same communities that are struggling with addiction, unemployment, trauma, poor housing, and poverty. If the local crime gang leader is challenged, swift retribution will be sought. That action sends out a clear message to the wider community. Crime gangs and their activities are not to be challenged. If you dare challenge the drug dealing, you could be subjected to violence, threats, intimidation or sexual violence.

The Family Support Network highlighted this in their 2009 research, 'Intimidation of Families'. It confirmed that intimidation has been used as a mechanism to exert social control over communities and individuals affected by drug use. Intimidation of drug users, their families, and communities by various criminal groups has been an enduring factor since the re-emergence of the drugs crisis in the 1990s.

To break the stranglehold that criminal gangs have on our communities, their power must be challenged and ultimately taken off them. This can be down either of two ways. The state and all its resources go head to head with the drugs cartels and defeat them. This has not happened despite the ‘war on drugs’ now entering its sixth decade. During the intervening fifty years since Nixon made addiction public enemy number one, the drug market has grown and become more lucrative, the violence has increased and the drug lords have deepened their control on communities. 

This is most clearly seen in Mexico. By the end of President Felipe Calderón’s administration in 2012, the official death toll of the Mexican drug war was at least 60,000. However, later revelations showed that 120,000 people died as a result of Calderón’s militaristic response to drug trafficking.

I would argue a new approach is urgently needed because the evidence points to the fact that the current ‘war on drugs’ has failed us.

Imagine if the drugs that give gangs their power were to be legalised. The drug gangs could no longer control and intimidate neighbourhoods because the basis of their power would be gone. Drugs would be legalised and strictly controlled by the State, similar to how prescription drugs are controlled. This would ensure that transparency, accountability and standards would be central to the distribution of drugs. It would also give the opportunity for drug services to engage with addicts offering treatment options rather than criminalising them.

30 countries have already started the process by decriminalising drugs. The approach is varied. But one thing is clear, a new approach is gaining momentum. This new approach would also help shake off the shackle of criminality that is preventing our communities from reaching their full potential. According to the UN, “Punitive drug policies impact disproportionately on communities that are already vulnerable.” 

The money used in the failed war on drugs could be better invested in treatment and rehabilitation services in the very communities being destroyed by these drug gangs. I do not claim that this article has all the answers. But what I do hope is that it raises important questions about the global war on drugs and prompts a debate on this important issue. 

Daithí Doolan is a Dublin City Councilor for Ballyfermot-Drimnagh, and works in a community based drug project in Dublin’s south inner city.