Date: 01 November 2013
The emergence of significant drug trafficking routes in West Africa, particularly of cocaine from Latin America to European markets, has drawn a great deal of attention from global drug authorities, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the government of the United States. Both see West Africa as a setting for replicating drug-control interventions used in Latin America. While the region faces significant drug-related problems that merit an energetic response, it is legitimate to question the hyped-up narrative currently justifying the placement of military, surveillance and anti-terrorism responses in the region. Rather than replicating an ineffective and harmful policy intervention, West Africa should benefit from careful reflection about what has and has not worked in other parts of the world.
Citation: Csete, Joanne (with Constanza Sánchez) 'Telling the story of drugs in West Africa: The newest front in a losing war?' Global Drug Policy Observatory Policy Brief 1 (2013)
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