Material Support: Counternarcotics vs. Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan

Microeconomic analysis of counternarcotics strategies in Afghanistan suggests that current policies lend material support to the enemy. Vigorous enforcement can increase the flow of funds to insurgents and other parties that profit from trafficking. Rural-development programs, promoted as elements of a counternarcotics strategy, are open to some of the same objections. The benefits of drug-fighting in Afghanistan for consumer countries in Europe and North America are likely to be modest. Anti-corruption efforts in Afghanistan and demand-reduction programs both in Afghanistan and in consumer countries, insofar as they are feasible, could serve both counternarcotics and counterinsurgency objectives

Book Review. Caulkins Jonathan P., Hawken Angela, Kilmer Beau and Kleiman Mark A. R. Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know

The book Marijuana Legalization: What everyone needs to know discusses whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The book deals with a topic which is relevant in the United States, especially after California\u2019s Proposition 19 nearly passed in 2010 and Colorado andWashington voters approved to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana in 2012. Further, recent publications witness how much the general public, academics and policy makers are sensible to the issue (Caulkins et al. 2012a; Kilmer et al. 2010; Room et al. 2008). The aim of the book is not to advocate for legalization neither prohibition, but to provide \u201cthe material needed to develop informed opinion [\u2026] and to sweep away some of the myths and fallacious arguments that have been offered on both sides of the debate\u201