A New Language for the Children of the Drug Wars

Date: 30 November 2011

For decades, governments have used the rhetoric of war to describe their drug control efforts and rally their populations behind hard-line policies they say will help protect children. Nayeli Urquiza, Research Fellow at the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, argues it’s this very terminology that encourages the abuse of children by turning them into enemies of the state.

This guest editorial was originally published in the November issue of Matters of Substance, a publication of the New Zealand Drug Foundation.

For more information on this issue, read the book "Children of the Drug War: Perspectives on the Impact of Drug Policies on Young People". Available online or download the PDF at www.childrenofthedrugwar.org