Book Review: Segre, Controlling Illegal Drugs

Sandro Segre.
Controlling Illegal Drugs: A Comparative Study.
Aldine de Gruyter, 2003, 238 pp.
$US 26.95 paper (0-202-30717-4), $US 53.95 hardcover (0-202-30716-6)

For many years it has been argued by researchers in the drug field that waging 'war on drugs' is not only ineffective; more perversely, it creates and propels the very problems prohibition is intended to repress. Debates on policy, however, have been overly simplistic, hindered as they are by an impasse that derives from basic contradicting moral views. Segre transcends the debate by assuming illicit drug suppression is a laudable objective and proceeding to assess it at face value. His work compares America's crime and justice-based response with drug policies in Italy and Sweden.

Suppression of drug use and addiction in Sweden is pursued within a schema of redistributive programs (employment, education, healthcare, housing, etc.) that target inequality and social deprivation. Less developed welfare systems, as in Italy and elsewhere, suffer fewer perverse effects of prohibition than the US, but have not had success like Sweden in implementing programs that treat addiction as belonging to a larger social problem. Segre well documents how progressive drug reform might coexist with prohibition, although such progress seems unlikely without dramatic system changes. For Canada the lesson is an old one worth repeating; look to America and learn to back away from its mistakes.

Andy Hathaway
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Andy Hathaway is a scientist at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and teaches sociology part-time at McMaster University. He has several publications on Canadian drug policy and is currently conducting a SSHRC funded study of cannabis use patterns, perceived benefits and problems.


	Canadian Journal of Sociology Online May-June 2004 Sandro Segre. Controlling Illegal Drugs: A Comparative Study. Aldine de Gruyter, 2003, 238 pp. $US 26.95 paper (0-202-30717-4), $US 53.95 hardcover (0-202-30716-6) For many years it has been argued by researchers in the drug field that waging 'war on drugs' is not only ineffective; more perversely, it creates and propels the very problems prohibition is intended to repress. Debates on policy, however, have been overly simplistic, hindered as they are by an impasse that derives from basic contradicting moral views. Segre transcends the debate by assuming illicit drug suppression is a laudable objective and proceeding to assess it at face value. His work compares America's crime and justice-based response with drug policies in Italy and Sweden. Suppression of drug use and addiction in Sweden is pursued within a schema of redistributive programs (employment, education, healthcare, housing, etc.) that target inequality and social deprivation. Less developed welfare systems, as in Italy and elsewhere, suffer fewer perverse effects of prohibition than the US, but have not had success like Sweden in implementing programs that treat addiction as belonging to a larger social problem. Segre well documents how progressive drug reform might coexist with prohibition, although such progress seems unlikely without dramatic system changes. For Canada the lesson is an old one worth repeating; look to America and learn to back away from its mistakes. Andy Hathaway Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Andy Hathaway is a scientist at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and teaches sociology part-time at McMaster University. He has several publications on Canadian drug policy and is currently conducting a SSHRC funded study of cannabis use patterns, perceived benefits and problems. http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/cjscopy/reviews/illegaldrugs.html May 2004 © CJS Online Click here to download PDF file < Back to Current Table of Contents