Course: Drugs, Peace, and Development: Rethinking Policy

The complex connections and continuities between war and peace are mirrored in equally complex connections between both these states, and drugs. Much writing about the connection between drugs and conflict …

Few peace agreements have dealt directly with the role of illicit economies. The Colombian peace agreement is the exception, with its strong focus on tackling the drug economy. Peace agreements …

Drugs have often been treated as a ‘taboo’ subject. This has created a significant blind spot for those working to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal mission of addressing the …

The relationship between illicit drug cultivation and development is complex and sometimes contradictory. Development does not always lead to progressive change. Development processes can sometimes have long-lasting detrimental consequences, generating …

Watch the video of policy makers and practitioners reflecting on their work in drug- and conflict-affected environments. Consider the following questions: What are the challenges and trade-offs surrounding drugs, development …

Alternative development (AD) approaches aim to reduce and eliminate illicit drug cultivation by reducing the livelihood vulnerabilities that cause farmers to become involved in illegal economies, usually by supporting them …

Not all harmful substances are classified as illegal. And arguably some illegal substances are less harmful than common legal ones. Alcohol and tobacco cause significant harm but are not criminalised. …

Much drug harm is caused not by any inherent properties of the drugs themselves, but by the contexts in which they are used, and responses to them. Understandings of drug …

Drugs are substances that alter the ways our bodies or minds work. They can be natural or synthetic, legal or illegal, more or less risky, and with greater and less …

Drugs, conflict and development are closely related in ways that can sometimes be surprising. The borderland regions of Colombia, Myanmar and Afghanistan are major producers of illicit drugs. These regions …