Effective Drug Control: Toward A New Legal Framework

ALTERNATIVE MODELS OF DRUG CONTROL
The public debate around drug “legalization” has generally assumed that there are
only two policy options: criminalization or legalization. However, there is a wide
spectrum of options available for systems of regulation beyond mere criminalization.
Many ideas have been already been proposed for alternative models to the current system
of drug control. Some are simply general frameworks of how drugs should be regulated
or provided in an effort to undercut the black market. Others have been proposed in the
form of legislation. Some countries have already implemented some alternatives to
prohibition in the attempt to combat more effectively the harms linked to drug abuse.
General Frameworks
Leading drug policy researchers, Peter Reuter and Robert MacCoun, have
outlined the spectrum of possible drug control regimes. 470 Such regimes include pure
prohibition, prohibitory prescription, maintenance, regulatory prescription, positive
license, negative license, adult market, and the free market:
REGIME
PROHIBITORY
PRESCRIPTION
REGULATORY
The Spectrum of Drug Control Regimes 471
MODEL
Pure Prohibition: Full prohibition, with no allowed use for
any purpose whatever (e.g., heroin, marijuana).
Prohibitory Prescription: Prohibited except for narrow
therapeutic purposes unrelated to addiction; administered by a
doctor or other health professional (e.g., cocaine).
Maintenance: Prescribed for relief of addiction; otherwise
prohibited (e.g., methadone). Administered by an authorized
agent, or for some patients, self-administered under tight
supervision.
Regulatory Prescription: Self-administered, under
prescription, for relief of psychiatric problems (e.g., anxiety,
depression); otherwise prohibited (e.g., current U.S. regime for
Valium, Prozac).
Positive License: Available for any reason to any adult in
possession of an appropriate license, gained by demonstrated
capacity for safe use (theoretical regime).
Negative License: Available for any reason to any adult who
has not forfeited the right by violating conditions of eligibility
(theoretical regime).
Adult Market: Available to any adult (e.g., alcohol).
Free Market: Available to any individual (e.g., caffeine).
← DECREASING RESTRICTIVENESS