The Caribbean poses a significant drugs problem for the UK and the US, as the recent phenomenon of yardie gangs in British cities graphically illustrates. But in the islands themselves ganja, crack cocaine and the policies to control them have become, as this book demonstrates, a veritable social disaster. The authors, who are among the leading local researchers and engaged professionals in the region as well as the former regional head of the UN Drugs Control Programme, bring together new research investigations, insightful policy analysis and practical experience of on-the-ground interventions putting demand reduction into practice. The dimensions of the illicit drugs market in the Caribbean are made clear. The origins of the problem lie in part, it is argued, with the impact of neoliberal economic policies that have opened up the region's borders and gravely undermined its traditional sources of employment and exports, like bananas and sugar. The islands, in part under external US pressure, have adopted a region-wide policy of criminalization This has involved the creation of specialized drug courts and serious human and social consequences as a result of criminalizing traditional cultural practices around ganja consumption. Fascinating light is thrown on the difficulties facing drug abuse and rehabilitation centres and the dilemmas they throw up. Harm reduction as a fundamentally alternative approach to the drugs problem is also explored. This is the first book to examine the experiences of Caribbean countries since they adopted a coordinated approach to the drugs problem. There are valuable lessons to be learned at both policy and practical levels for other countries, and in particular those like the UK and US with large Caribbean populations.

This volume does four things. Firstly it examines the nexus between the illegal narcotics enterprise as a social phenomenon and political economy as a scholarly issue area. Secondly it explores the regional and global contexts of the political economy of illegal narcotics operations in the Caribbean. Thirdly it assesses some of the political economy connections and consequences of the enterprise in the region. Finally, it discusses some of the measures adopted to contend with the illegal drug challenge in the area.

Volume 1 outlines the nature and structures of illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean. It discusses the escalating levels of social violence, crime and grinding poverty all linked to the illicit drug trade.

This book deals with threats to the sustainability of specific Caribbean states in the face of the concerted threats posed by the illicit drug trade, the illicit gun trade, human smuggling and the sex trade. These concerted threats have impacted the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean creating a conjunction of forces that is now the single most potent threat to Caribbean state survival and sustainability.

Contents: (1) An Overview of Illicit Drugs in Latin America and the Caribbean (LA&C): Drug Traffickers and Related Criminal-Terrorist Actors; (2) U.S. Antidrug Assistance Programs in LA&C: Plan Colombia: Mérida Initiative for Mexico and Central America: U.S. Assistance to Mexico Beyond Mérida; Central American Regional Security Initiative; Caribbean Basin Security Initiative; DoD Counternarcotics Assistance Programs; (3) Foreign Assistance Prohibitions and Conditions: Annual Drug Certification Process; Conditions on Counternarcotics Assistance: Human Rights Prohibitions on Assistance to Security Forces; Country-Specific Prohibitions on Certain Counterdrug Assistance; Drug Eradication-Related Conditions; (4) Issues for Congress. Illus.

This book deals with three major developments within the illicit drug trade of the Caribbean Basin that not only changed the nature of the illicit trade but has expanded the expanse of the trade as it now impacts Africa and Asia making it truly globalised. The three major developments dealt with are: the trafficking jump to West Africa by Caribbean Basin drug trafficking organisations, the rise to dominance of the Mexican cartels in the illicit trade of the Caribbean Basin and the evolution and nature of Caribbean gangland and its organic links to the illicit drug trade.

To penetrate the United States and Britain's markets with illicit drugs, Jamaican traffickers employed diverse and novel transportation methods and techniques in the post-1990 era that were more sophisticated than the trafficking of the 1980's. This transformation was particularly due to traffickers exploiting global processes to enhance their illegal drug industry. In response, Jamaica, America, and Britain have continuously established state-oriented actions aimed at curtailing the cross-border drug trade, thereby reflecting their resilience in combating this problem. This book explores past and present drug trafficking within the context of globalisation and examines state instituted responses to curb this problem. It demystifies the Jamaican, British, and American states' roles in the face of global security threats, such as drug trafficking, arguing that both developed and developing states pursue their national interests and maximize their goals through the exercise of state-power in controlling their territories and protecting their nationals from harm posed by traffickers.

While the U.S. has failed to reduce the supply of cocaine and heroin entering its borders, it has, however, succeeded in generating widespread, often profoundly damaging, consequences on democracy and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This report is one of several studies conducted by UNODC on organized crime threats around the world. These studies describe what is known about the mechanics of contraband trafficking - the what, who, how, and how much of illicit flows - and discuss their potential impact on governance and development. Their primary role is diagnostic, but they also explore the implications of these findings for policy. Publisher's note.