The Incarceration of Drug Offenders - The Beckley Foundation

Report 161THE INCARCERATION OF DRUG OFFENDERS:An OverviewDave Bewley-Taylor, Chris Hallam, Rob Allen 1The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme (BFDPP) is an initiative dedicated to providing a rigorous, independent reviewof the effectiveness of national and international drug policies. The aim of this programme of research and analysis is to assembleand disseminate material that supports the rational consideration of complex drug policy issues, and leads to a more effectivemanagement of the widespread use of psychoactive substances in the future. The BFDPP currently chairs the InternationalDrug Policy Consortium (www.idpc.info), a global network of NGOs and professional networks who work together to promoteobjective debate around national and international drug policies, and provide advice and support to governments in the searchfor effective policies and programmes.SUMMARYIn 2005, the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme (BFDPP)published Incarceration of drug offenders: costs and impacts. In thisbriefing paper, we argued that most governments make strong statementsabout the need to maintain, and often increase, police activity andpenal sanctions for drug users. This approach, it was claimed, is basedon the idea that strong enforcement, and widespread incarceration,will deter potential users and dealers from becoming involved in theillegal drug market. Now as then, relatively few countries actuallyfollow through on such rhetoric – arrest and incarceration rates fordrug users are comparatively low in many countries in relation to thetotal number of users, and the often quoted maximum sentences arerarely, if ever, used. Nonetheless, penal institutions around the worldare becoming increasingly populated by drug offenders. The fact thatthis has had only a marginal and/or temporary impact upon the scaleof the illicit drug market, and also generates many significant financialand collateral costs, has led increasing numbers of observers to regardthe situation as constituting a global prison crisis. In its 2007 AnnualReport the International Narcotics Control Board felt it necessary todevote a chapter to “The Principle of proportionality and drug-relatedoffences.” Among other things, the Board concluded that governmentsshould consider widening the range of non-custodial options for drugrelated offences by illicit drug users. While this intervention from theBoard is most welcome, it should be recalled that the recommendationwas made within an international legal framework where a penalapproach is strongly encouraged, particularly by the 1988 Conventionagainst Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.The UN drug control system remains ambivalent in its attitude topunitive measures for drugs offences, and continues to invest rhetoricalresources in viewing the issue primarily in terms of crime ratherthan public health. In this year when the High Level Segment to theCommission on Narcotic Drugs will set the course of internationaldrug policy for at least the next decade, the BFDPP, in partnership withthe International Centre for Prison Studies at Kings College London,revisits the topic of the incarceration of drug offenders. Here weprovide an overview of some of the available incarceration data fromaround the world and bring together much contemporary research onthe topic. A great deal of the discussion concerns one of the mostenthusiastic supporters of incarceration as a drug prevention measure.However, we suggest that the results of policy within the United Statesshould be used as evidence to encourage other member states not tofollow this route, and we call for an adjustment of the UN system tomake it easier for them to find other ways of managing the problem.INTRODUCTIONIn attempting to reduce the availability of illicit drugs and the levelsof use of such drugs, some governments have chosen to pursue lawenforcement oriented domestic drug control policies that rely heavilyupon incarceration. Such a policy choice is influenced by the desireto incapacitate, provide an element of retribution to and sometimesattempt to rehabilitate offenders. It is also largely underpinned bythe concept of deterrence. Consequently, irrespective of its other1 Dave Bewley-Taylor is a Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities, Swansea University, UK , associateconsultant Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme. Chris Hallam is an International Drug PolicyConsortium Consultant. Rob Allen is the Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS)at Kings College London http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/law/research/icps