Book reviews

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

The suppression of illicit opium production in Viet Nam: an introductory narrative

Between 1990 and 2001, Vietnamese opium production declined by 98%: the causes of this reduction have received minimal academic attention. As Viet Nam is one of only a handful of states which have successfully suppressed illicit opium production, the somewhat surprising lack of scholarly attention represents an underutilised opportunity. As such, this paper represents the first step towards rectifying this gap in the knowledge base. The available evidence suggests that a number of components converged to permit suppression: (1) The state possessed authority over the majority of its territory; (2) The state placed opium farmers under extensive surveillance; (3) The state possessed leverage (rural development and law enforcement) in negotiations for ‘voluntary’ eradication; (4) The elite perceived suppression as in their best interest. Additionally, while the state pledged support to develop alternative livelihoods, few farmers received state assistance. This would suggest that disentives, rather than the establishment of alternative incomes, were the primary motivation for the cessation of opium production. While Viet Nam was successful in suppressing illicit opium production, the negative impact of the intervention on (ex)-opium farmers and their communities demonstrate the limitation of the Vietnamese approach

Harms caused by China's 1906–17 opium suppression intervention

Between 1906 and 1917 China (under the Imperial and then Republican regimes) enacted a highly effective intervention to suppress the production of opium. Evidence from British Foreign Office records suggest that the intervention was centred, in many areas, upon a highly repressive incarnation of law enforcement in which rural populations had their property destroyed, their land confiscated and/or were publically tortured, humiliated and executed. Crops were forcefully eradicated and resistance was often brutally suppressed by the military. As few farmers received compensation or support for alternative livelihood creation the intervention pushed many deeper into poverty. Importantly, the repressive nature of the opium ban appears to have been a contributing factor to the fragmentation of China, highlighting the counter-productivity of repressive interventions to reduce drug crop production

Tuckers firm: a case study of British organised crime

This article provides a single case study of a British organised crime network operational from the late-1980s to 1996. The network centred around three security firms which spanned the ‘spectrum of legitimacy’ by legally providing security for licensed venues, whilst taxing and protecting drug dealers, and/or selling drugs in the nightclubs they protected. All three firms employed violence to prevent the encroachment of competitors and extort licensed businesses. Debt collection services were also used as a front for extortion. Actors were individually or collaboratively engaged in: the running of brothels and extortion of sex workers, robbery of drug dealers, burglary, the importation of drugs, and unlawful influence. At least three of the activities (robber, violence and unlawful influence) served a dual purpose: (1) To achieve immediate and tangible goals, such as preventing the encroachment of competing security firms, avoiding prosecution, and material gain; (2) To achieve more distant and abstract goal of creating, maintaining or inflating violent reputations

Afghanistan, Narcotics and the International Criminal Court: From Port of Spain to Kabul, via Rome.

This article investigates the potential impact of inclusion of narcotic trafficking under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Analysis uses the single case study of Afghanistan: the world’s largest source of illicit opiates. To establish a foundation section one will discuss the four main objections to the inclusion of narcotics trafficking presented during the primary negotiations for the ICC. The article then moves beyond legal arguments by assessing the potential effects of the inclusion of narcotic trafficking by applying concepts and evidence from the drug control, policing and crime prevention literature. The conclusion weighs up a number of arguments for and against the inclusion of narcotic trafficking in the Rome Statute of the ICC

A very gradual suppression: A history of Turkish opium controls, 1933-1974

Before 1974 controls over Turkey's opium production were ineffective and provided opportunities for large-scale diversion, making it one of the world's largest sources of illicit opium. The state monopoly was limited by a lack of authority over opium producing areas, laissez faire controls and poor state procurement practices. Policies administered between 1933 and 1971 did, however, represent a period of organisational learning which led to the establishment of a highly successful drug control policy. A secondary finding of this paper, revealed whilst analysing diversion estimates, suggests that there may be inaccuracies in assumptions of geographical displacement from Turkey. While these assumptions have been reproduced in much of the literature, the data suggests that the Turkish opium ban of 1971 had either minimal impact on global, or regional production levels, or that displacement occurred during the 1960s rather than the mid-1970

Insights for Contemporary Drug Policy: A Historical Account of Opium Control in India and Pakistan

Opium, as a tradable commodity, has a long history in the Indian sub-continent. This article offers a history of the production and distribution of both licit and illicit opium from 1773 to the present day in order to explore the lessons that Indian and Pakistani experiences can offer to contemporary drug policy. Four insights for contemporary drug control policy are developed from the historical analysis: (1) Post-independence Pakistan and India illustrate the difficulties of controlling a regulated, licit, opium industry; (2) The relationship between Chinese and Indian opium production and exports may suggest that competition can be an effective impetus to production suppression; (3) Developmental approaches to reducing production can limit the damages caused by opium suppression; (4) Effective suppression requires alterations to institutional and structural conditions which facilitate production (i.e. reducing violent conflict, improving civil and criminal justice institutions efficiency or extending transport infrastructures)

Poppies for Medicine in Afghanistan: Lessons from India and Turkey

This study examines India and Turkey as case studies relevant to the Senlis Council’s ‘poppies for medicine’ proposal. The proposal is that Afghan farmers are licensed to produce opium for medical and scientific purposes. Here it is posited that the Senlis proposal neglects at least three key lessons from the Turkish and Indian experiences. First, not enough weight has been given to diversion from licit markets, as experienced in India. Second, both India and Turkey had significantly more efficient state institutions with authority over the licensed growing areas. Third, the proposal appears to overlook the fact that Turkey’s successful transition was largely due to the use of the poppy straw method of opium production. It is concluded that, while innovative and creative policy proposals such as that of the Senlis proposal are required if Afghanistan is to move beyond its present problems, ‘poppies for medicine’ does not withstand evidence-based scrutiny

Ominous Parallels and Optimistic Differences: Opium in China and Afghanistan

This paper compares two of history's largest producers of opium - Afghanistan (2000-11) and China (1917-35) - to suggest that in both cases production was facilitated by: (1) A lack of central control over the national territory; (2) The existence of local power-holders; (3) Internal violent conflict; (4) The existence of a significant domestic opium consuming population. The initial analysis is extended by introducing a successful opium production suppression intervention, The People's Republic of China (1950s/1960s), to suggest that the control of opium in contemporary Afghanistan requires the Government to: (1) Extend the state into isolated and hostile areas; (2) Facilitate a sense of self-interest in the Afghan Government and political elite towards opium suppression; (3) Facilitate a perception that suppression benefits opium farmers; (4) Strengthen the capacity to monitor opium farmers and enforce the law

How the East Influenced Drug Prohibition

In much of the academic literature drug prohibition is often described as an American, or at least a Western, construct. This paper shows how prohibitions were enforced in Asian countries while the United States and Western Europe were routinely trading opium. The concept of prohibition being a distinctly American construct is, therefore, flawed. Furthermore, Western missionaries to China are often credited as important actors in the formulation of Western prohibitions. These missionaries may, however, have been influenced by the prohibitionist ideals of the peoples they were trying to convert to Christianity. This paper does not dispute the importance of American pressure on the global spread of prohibition but rather seeks to add balance to its historiography, by elucidating how Western prohibitions were pre-dated, and possibly influenced, by Eastern prohibitions