Selected issues: Drug policy
Inhoudsopgave
Inhoudsopgave .................................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction: practical information ....................................................................................................................... 4
1. Guest lecture ‘For Profit Legalization in America: the case of Washington State’ – Beatriz Carlini ...................... 4
1.1. Legalization in the US and Washington state (WA) ........................................................................................... 5
1.1.1. Cannabis policies as of Dec 2025 .......................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2. Drug policies continuum ....................................................................................................................... 5
1.2. Legalization discrouse................................................................................................................................... 6
1.2.1. Popular initiative – popular vote ............................................................................................................. 6
1.2.2. Legalization in WA ................................................................................................................................. 7
1.3. Cannabis legalization reality .......................................................................................................................... 7
1.3.1. Profit-driven industry: loyal and expanded consumer base ...................................................................... 8
1.3.2. THC % in cannabis flower in WA state, 2014-2016 ................................................................................... 8
2. Introduction drug policy .............................................................................................................................. 15
2.1. Drug policy vs drug law ................................................................................................................................ 15
2.1.1. Belgian policy ..................................................................................................................................... 15
2.1.2. Belgian drug laws ................................................................................................................................ 16
2.1.3. International framework: UN Conventions and Guidelines ..................................................................... 16
2.1.4. European drug policy and laws............................................................................................................. 16
3. (Colman) Pharmacrime in Europe ................................................................................................................ 16
3.1. What is the GI-TOC? .................................................................................................................................... 16
3.1.1. Observatories of illicit economies ........................................................................................................ 17
3.1.2. Europe observatory ............................................................................................................................. 17
3.2. The European Drug Trends Monitor .............................................................................................................. 17
3.2.1. Why do we need an EDTM? .................................................................................................................. 17
3.2.2. An independent source of information .................................................................................................. 17
3.3. Pharmacrime ............................................................................................................................................. 17
3.3.1. Online vs offline markets ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.3.2. Low risk for retailers, high risk for users ................................................................................................ 18
3.3.3. The unexpected back door for opioids .................................................................................................. 18
3.3.4. Pharmaceutical drugs are trendy .......................................................................................................... 18
3.3.5. Online markets go beyond psychoactive drugs ...................................................................................... 18
3.3.6. Traditional drug market interventions fall short ...................................................................................... 19
3.3.7. Dark web marketplaces vs social media ............................................................................................... 19
3.3.8. All roads lead to Asia ........................................................................................................................... 19
3.3.9. A new form of organised crime has emerged ......................................................................................... 20
3.3.10. Major challenges ................................................................................................................................. 20
3.3.11. What can be done? ............................................................................................................................. 20
4. Guest Lecture: ‘A complex and rapidly changing European drug situation: new challenges for policy and
practice’ – Liesbeth Vandam ............................................................................................................................... 20
4.1. About the EUDA .......................................................................................................................................... 20
4.1.1. 3.1.1. Building on 25 years of monitoring the drug situation .................................................................... 21
4.1.2. 3.1.2. From EMCDDA to EUDA: meeting the challenges of a changing drug scene ................................... 21
4.1.3. 3.1.3. Key EUDA publications ............................................................................................................... 22
4.2. The drug situation in Europe in 2025: an overview.......................................................................................... 22
4.2.1. Resilient illicit drug flows ensure high availability in Europe ................................................................... 22
4.2.2. Commercial cross-border trade exploited by drug trafficking networks ................................................... 22
4.2.3. Policy concerns grow about drug-related violence and the exploitation of minors ................................ 22
4.2.4. Responding to complex patterns of polysubstance consumption remains challenging .......................... 23
, 4.2.5. Unprecedented cocaine availability ..................................................................................................... 23
4.2.6. Increasing risk of harms from wider ketamine availability...................................................................... 23
4.2.7. Sings of increasing synthetic drug production in Europe ........................................................................ 23
4.2.8. Polysubstance use is linked to most opioid-related deaths .................................................................... 24
4.2.9. Nitazene opioids increase poisoning risk ............................................................................................. 24
4.2.10. Impact of heroin production and trafficking – shifts remain unclear but preparedness is key .................... 25
4.2.11. Potential therapeutic uses of psychedelics bring policy questions.......................................................... 25
4.2.12. Responding to drug problems in Europe’s prisons remains a challenge .................................................. 25
4.2.13. KEY POINTS ........................................................................................................................................ 26
4.3. The EU Policy framework ............................................................................................................................. 26
4.3.1. Cannabis policy in EU countries ........................................................................................................... 26
4.3.2. The EU approach to drugs: key instruments .......................................................................................... 26
4.3.3. The new EU Drug Strategy (adopted 2025) ............................................................................................. 27
4.3.4. The EU Action Plan against drug trafficking ........................................................................................... 28
4.3.5. EMPACT .............................................................................................................................................. 28
4.4. In the spotlight: an increasingly complex cannabis market: new developments creating new policy changes ... 28
4.4.1. Cannabis policies increasingly complex in Europe ................................................................................ 28
4.4.2. Cannabis product diversity & potency on the increase ........................................................................... 29
4.4.3. Changing views on cannabis and regulation in the EU ............................................................................ 29
4.4.4. Cannabis regulation in EU to date ........................................................................................................ 29
4.4.5. Recreational cannabis policies ............................................................................................................ 29
4.4.6. The importance of monitoring and evaluation ....................................................................................... 30
4.4.7. Medical cannabis policies ................................................................................................................... 30
4.4.8. Commercial sales of (low THC) cannabis products ............................................................................... 31
5. The nexus between (illicit) drugs and conflicts ............................................................................................. 31
5.1. Casestudies ............................................................................................................................................... 31
5.1.1. Mexico & Venezuela ............................................................................................................................ 31
5.2. The political economy of war and ‘greed’ ...................................................................................................... 31
5.3. Organised Crime......................................................................................................................................... 31
5.4. Crime-terror nexus...................................................................................................................................... 32
5.5. The crime-conflict nexus ............................................................................................................................. 32
5.6. Illicit drugs and war ..................................................................................................................................... 32
5.6.1. Example 1 Captagon in the Middle East ................................................................................................ 32
5.6.2. Mexican drug wars .............................................................................................................................. 33
5.7. A critical perspective… ................................................................................................................................ 33
5.8. The implications for ending war and building peace ...................................................................................... 33
6. County lines ............................................................................................................................................... 34
6.1. Overview of County lines ............................................................................................................................. 34
6.1.1. What is County Lines? ......................................................................................................................... 34
6.1.2. An import Retail Market? ..................................................................................................................... 34
6.1.3. Operation & structure .......................................................................................................................... 34
6.1.4. Why has this occured? ........................................................................................................................ 35
6.1.5. The harms of county lines .................................................................................................................... 35
6.2. Critical Discourse analysis of Scapegoating ................................................................................................. 35
6.2.1. The ‘gang talk’ of county lines ............................................................................................................... 35
6.2.2. Middle class cocaine users .................................................................................................................. 36
6.2.3. Drug prohibition .................................................................................................................................. 36
6.2.4. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 37
6.3. ‘Cuckooing’ and responses ......................................................................................................................... 37
6.3.1. Etnographic work ................................................................................................................................ 37
6.3.2. Cuckooing: a varied model .................................................................................................................. 37
6.3.3. An amplification spiral ......................................................................................................................... 37
6.3.4. A cuckooing ‘risk environment’............................................................................................................. 37
,7. Governance of drug trafficking in port cities: developments in and around Rotterdam ................................... 38
7.1. Introduction about organised crime in de NL ................................................................................................ 38
7.2. Research approach & methods (2018 – now) ................................................................................................ 38
How infrastructure provides opportunities for drug trafficking in Rotterdam ........................................................... 39
Understanding the logistical model for cocaine trafficking .................................................................................... 39
Ports as bottlenecks ........................................................................................................................................... 40
7.3. Social embeddedness ................................................................................................................................ 40
7.4. Governance of ports ................................................................................................................................... 41
Framework to OC in the Netherlands ................................................................................................................... 41
Ports as locations of governance ......................................................................................................................... 41
Developments in the Dutch approach .................................................................................................................. 41
Learning from the public/private approach: .......................................................................................................... 42
Unintended facilitation by government policy ....................................................................................................... 42
Mainport programme .......................................................................................................................................... 42
Approach in Rotterdam (20&8) ............................................................................................................................ 43
Implementation agenda in Rotterdam (2023) ....................................................................................................... 43
Information Sharing Centres ............................................................................................................................... 44
7.5. Conclusion................................................................................................................................................. 44
8. Drug policy in Belgium: debate en reflection ................................................................................................ 46
8.1. Why is regulating drugs a valuable path to follow? ......................................................................................... 46
8.1.1. Objectives/assessment criteria of the Belgian drug policy ...................................................................... 46
8.1.2. Critical evaluation of drug policy .......................................................................................................... 48
8.2. Barriers to debate ....................................................................................................................................... 48
8.2.1. Barriers to a debate on alternative drug policies .................................................................................... 48
8.2.2. Clear definitions and terminology! ....................................................................................................... 48
8.3. Drug regulation: a range of options ............................................................................................................... 48
8.3.1. Regulation of production .................................................................................................................... 48
8.3.2. Regulating the product........................................................................................................................ 48
8.3.3. Price regulation: valuation and minimum prices ................................................................................... 49
8.3.4. Regulation of points of distribution or sale .......................................................................................... 49
8.3.5. Regulation of users ............................................................................................................................. 49
9. Cannabis: the plant, its cultivation, use and cannabis control regime ........................................................... 49
9.1. Cannabis and cannabis-based products ...................................................................................................... 49
9.1.1. The plant: cannabis sativa L. ................................................................................................................ 49
9.1.2. The botanical debate: one vs multiple cannabis species? ...................................................................... 49
9.1.3. A long list of strains and varieties ......................................................................................................... 50
9.1.4. Diversification of products ................................................................................................................... 50
9.1.5. Main message ..................................................................................................................................... 50
9.2. Cannabis use ............................................................................................................................................. 50
9.2.1. Estimates of cannabis use ................................................................................................................... 50
9.2.2. Frequency of cannabis use .................................................................................................................. 51
9.2.3. Treatment for cannabis-related disorders ............................................................................................. 51
9.2.4. Adverse health effects of cannabis use................................................................................................. 52
9.2.5. Main message ..................................................................................................................................... 52
9.3. Cannabis production and market ................................................................................................................. 52
9.3.1. Cannabis cultivation worldwide ........................................................................................................... 52
9.3.2. Countries with probably sizeable cannabis cultivation .......................................................................... 53
9.3.3. The European cannabis market ............................................................................................................ 53
9.3.4. Increasing potency of cannabis in Europe ............................................................................................. 53
9.3.5. Price potency ...................................................................................................................................... 53
9.3.6. Increase in the interception of large quantities of cannabis resin ............................................................ 54
9.3.7. Who grows cannabis and why? ............................................................................................................ 54
9.3.8. Main message ..................................................................................................................................... 54
9.4. History of cannabis and its control ............................................................................................................... 54
, 10. Cannabis: regulatory models ................................................................................................................... 56
10.1. Prohibition vs legalization ........................................................................................................................ 56
10.2. Where is cannabis legislation going in Europe? ......................................................................................... 56
10.3. Support for legalization of cannabis in EU ................................................................................................. 57
10.4. The effects of cannabis legalization .............................................................................................................. 58
10.4.1. General use deterrence ....................................................................................................................... 58
10.4.2. Illicit production and supply................................................................................................................. 58
10.5. Elements to keep in mind ........................................................................................................................ 58
11. “Cannabis prohibition has failed” – UNODC World Drug Report, 2016 ........................................................ 58
11.1. Selected key features of cannabis supply models ..................................................................................... 59
11.2. THE ‘COMMERCIAL’ MODEL ........................................................................................................................ 60
11.2.1. Key concepts of the consumer-industrial complex ................................................................................ 60
11.3. ‘GROW YOUR OWN’ MODEL........................................................................................................................ 60
11.4. The ‘Dutch coffeeshop’ model ..................................................................................................................... 61
11.5. Medicinal marihuana models .................................................................................................................. 61
11.6. Cannabis social clubs (CSC’s) ................................................................................................................. 61
11.7. Non-profit scenario’s ............................................................................................................................... 61
11.8. Some of the key arguments in the debate ................................................................................................. 62
11.8.1. Crime and public safety ....................................................................................................................... 62
11.8.2. On public health ................................................................................................................................. 62
11.8.3. On prevention ..................................................................................................................................... 62
11.8.4. On economic impact ........................................................................................................................... 63
11.8.5. Other normative considerations ........................................................................................................... 63
12. Cannabis Social Clubs and variants ......................................................................................................... 63
12.1. CSCs in the broader cannabis policy debate ............................................................................................. 63
12.2. Introducing the Cannabis Social Club ...................................................................................................... 63
12.2.1. The drug user movement ..................................................................................................................... 63
12.2.2. Methodological insights and unresolved issues from the study of cannabis social clubs ......................... 64
12.3. The legal frameworks for CSC ...................................................................................................................... 64
12.3.1. The international legal frame ................................................................................................................ 64
12.3.2. CSC self-regulation ............................................................................................................................. 64
12.3.3. CSC within a legal and regulated framework ......................................................................................... 65
12.4. An update on CSC ................................................................................................................................... 67
12.4.1. What do we know about CSC today? .................................................................................................... 67
12.4.2. Presence in EU .................................................................................................................................... 68
12.5. Concluding thoughts ............................................................................................................................... 68
12.5.1. One ‘CSC model’? ............................................................................................................................... 68
Introduction: practical information
Assignment: DEADLINE 21/04, 25% van totaal score
Exam: written, 2-4 questions, helft Decorte helft Colman
1. Guest lecture ‘For Profit Legalization in America: the case of Washington
State’ – Beatriz Carlini
Legalization = process where society decides that we are going to legalize it, to start to think in a different way,
creating a regular framework --> NOT EASY: how are we going to make it legal, who is going to produce,
distribute, who will have access...
Inhoudsopgave
Inhoudsopgave .................................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction: practical information ....................................................................................................................... 4
1. Guest lecture ‘For Profit Legalization in America: the case of Washington State’ – Beatriz Carlini ...................... 4
1.1. Legalization in the US and Washington state (WA) ........................................................................................... 5
1.1.1. Cannabis policies as of Dec 2025 .......................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2. Drug policies continuum ....................................................................................................................... 5
1.2. Legalization discrouse................................................................................................................................... 6
1.2.1. Popular initiative – popular vote ............................................................................................................. 6
1.2.2. Legalization in WA ................................................................................................................................. 7
1.3. Cannabis legalization reality .......................................................................................................................... 7
1.3.1. Profit-driven industry: loyal and expanded consumer base ...................................................................... 8
1.3.2. THC % in cannabis flower in WA state, 2014-2016 ................................................................................... 8
2. Introduction drug policy .............................................................................................................................. 15
2.1. Drug policy vs drug law ................................................................................................................................ 15
2.1.1. Belgian policy ..................................................................................................................................... 15
2.1.2. Belgian drug laws ................................................................................................................................ 16
2.1.3. International framework: UN Conventions and Guidelines ..................................................................... 16
2.1.4. European drug policy and laws............................................................................................................. 16
3. (Colman) Pharmacrime in Europe ................................................................................................................ 16
3.1. What is the GI-TOC? .................................................................................................................................... 16
3.1.1. Observatories of illicit economies ........................................................................................................ 17
3.1.2. Europe observatory ............................................................................................................................. 17
3.2. The European Drug Trends Monitor .............................................................................................................. 17
3.2.1. Why do we need an EDTM? .................................................................................................................. 17
3.2.2. An independent source of information .................................................................................................. 17
3.3. Pharmacrime ............................................................................................................................................. 17
3.3.1. Online vs offline markets ..................................................................................................................... 17
3.3.2. Low risk for retailers, high risk for users ................................................................................................ 18
3.3.3. The unexpected back door for opioids .................................................................................................. 18
3.3.4. Pharmaceutical drugs are trendy .......................................................................................................... 18
3.3.5. Online markets go beyond psychoactive drugs ...................................................................................... 18
3.3.6. Traditional drug market interventions fall short ...................................................................................... 19
3.3.7. Dark web marketplaces vs social media ............................................................................................... 19
3.3.8. All roads lead to Asia ........................................................................................................................... 19
3.3.9. A new form of organised crime has emerged ......................................................................................... 20
3.3.10. Major challenges ................................................................................................................................. 20
3.3.11. What can be done? ............................................................................................................................. 20
4. Guest Lecture: ‘A complex and rapidly changing European drug situation: new challenges for policy and
practice’ – Liesbeth Vandam ............................................................................................................................... 20
4.1. About the EUDA .......................................................................................................................................... 20
4.1.1. 3.1.1. Building on 25 years of monitoring the drug situation .................................................................... 21
4.1.2. 3.1.2. From EMCDDA to EUDA: meeting the challenges of a changing drug scene ................................... 21
4.1.3. 3.1.3. Key EUDA publications ............................................................................................................... 22
4.2. The drug situation in Europe in 2025: an overview.......................................................................................... 22
4.2.1. Resilient illicit drug flows ensure high availability in Europe ................................................................... 22
4.2.2. Commercial cross-border trade exploited by drug trafficking networks ................................................... 22
4.2.3. Policy concerns grow about drug-related violence and the exploitation of minors ................................ 22
4.2.4. Responding to complex patterns of polysubstance consumption remains challenging .......................... 23
, 4.2.5. Unprecedented cocaine availability ..................................................................................................... 23
4.2.6. Increasing risk of harms from wider ketamine availability...................................................................... 23
4.2.7. Sings of increasing synthetic drug production in Europe ........................................................................ 23
4.2.8. Polysubstance use is linked to most opioid-related deaths .................................................................... 24
4.2.9. Nitazene opioids increase poisoning risk ............................................................................................. 24
4.2.10. Impact of heroin production and trafficking – shifts remain unclear but preparedness is key .................... 25
4.2.11. Potential therapeutic uses of psychedelics bring policy questions.......................................................... 25
4.2.12. Responding to drug problems in Europe’s prisons remains a challenge .................................................. 25
4.2.13. KEY POINTS ........................................................................................................................................ 26
4.3. The EU Policy framework ............................................................................................................................. 26
4.3.1. Cannabis policy in EU countries ........................................................................................................... 26
4.3.2. The EU approach to drugs: key instruments .......................................................................................... 26
4.3.3. The new EU Drug Strategy (adopted 2025) ............................................................................................. 27
4.3.4. The EU Action Plan against drug trafficking ........................................................................................... 28
4.3.5. EMPACT .............................................................................................................................................. 28
4.4. In the spotlight: an increasingly complex cannabis market: new developments creating new policy changes ... 28
4.4.1. Cannabis policies increasingly complex in Europe ................................................................................ 28
4.4.2. Cannabis product diversity & potency on the increase ........................................................................... 29
4.4.3. Changing views on cannabis and regulation in the EU ............................................................................ 29
4.4.4. Cannabis regulation in EU to date ........................................................................................................ 29
4.4.5. Recreational cannabis policies ............................................................................................................ 29
4.4.6. The importance of monitoring and evaluation ....................................................................................... 30
4.4.7. Medical cannabis policies ................................................................................................................... 30
4.4.8. Commercial sales of (low THC) cannabis products ............................................................................... 31
5. The nexus between (illicit) drugs and conflicts ............................................................................................. 31
5.1. Casestudies ............................................................................................................................................... 31
5.1.1. Mexico & Venezuela ............................................................................................................................ 31
5.2. The political economy of war and ‘greed’ ...................................................................................................... 31
5.3. Organised Crime......................................................................................................................................... 31
5.4. Crime-terror nexus...................................................................................................................................... 32
5.5. The crime-conflict nexus ............................................................................................................................. 32
5.6. Illicit drugs and war ..................................................................................................................................... 32
5.6.1. Example 1 Captagon in the Middle East ................................................................................................ 32
5.6.2. Mexican drug wars .............................................................................................................................. 33
5.7. A critical perspective… ................................................................................................................................ 33
5.8. The implications for ending war and building peace ...................................................................................... 33
6. County lines ............................................................................................................................................... 34
6.1. Overview of County lines ............................................................................................................................. 34
6.1.1. What is County Lines? ......................................................................................................................... 34
6.1.2. An import Retail Market? ..................................................................................................................... 34
6.1.3. Operation & structure .......................................................................................................................... 34
6.1.4. Why has this occured? ........................................................................................................................ 35
6.1.5. The harms of county lines .................................................................................................................... 35
6.2. Critical Discourse analysis of Scapegoating ................................................................................................. 35
6.2.1. The ‘gang talk’ of county lines ............................................................................................................... 35
6.2.2. Middle class cocaine users .................................................................................................................. 36
6.2.3. Drug prohibition .................................................................................................................................. 36
6.2.4. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 37
6.3. ‘Cuckooing’ and responses ......................................................................................................................... 37
6.3.1. Etnographic work ................................................................................................................................ 37
6.3.2. Cuckooing: a varied model .................................................................................................................. 37
6.3.3. An amplification spiral ......................................................................................................................... 37
6.3.4. A cuckooing ‘risk environment’............................................................................................................. 37
,7. Governance of drug trafficking in port cities: developments in and around Rotterdam ................................... 38
7.1. Introduction about organised crime in de NL ................................................................................................ 38
7.2. Research approach & methods (2018 – now) ................................................................................................ 38
How infrastructure provides opportunities for drug trafficking in Rotterdam ........................................................... 39
Understanding the logistical model for cocaine trafficking .................................................................................... 39
Ports as bottlenecks ........................................................................................................................................... 40
7.3. Social embeddedness ................................................................................................................................ 40
7.4. Governance of ports ................................................................................................................................... 41
Framework to OC in the Netherlands ................................................................................................................... 41
Ports as locations of governance ......................................................................................................................... 41
Developments in the Dutch approach .................................................................................................................. 41
Learning from the public/private approach: .......................................................................................................... 42
Unintended facilitation by government policy ....................................................................................................... 42
Mainport programme .......................................................................................................................................... 42
Approach in Rotterdam (20&8) ............................................................................................................................ 43
Implementation agenda in Rotterdam (2023) ....................................................................................................... 43
Information Sharing Centres ............................................................................................................................... 44
7.5. Conclusion................................................................................................................................................. 44
8. Drug policy in Belgium: debate en reflection ................................................................................................ 46
8.1. Why is regulating drugs a valuable path to follow? ......................................................................................... 46
8.1.1. Objectives/assessment criteria of the Belgian drug policy ...................................................................... 46
8.1.2. Critical evaluation of drug policy .......................................................................................................... 48
8.2. Barriers to debate ....................................................................................................................................... 48
8.2.1. Barriers to a debate on alternative drug policies .................................................................................... 48
8.2.2. Clear definitions and terminology! ....................................................................................................... 48
8.3. Drug regulation: a range of options ............................................................................................................... 48
8.3.1. Regulation of production .................................................................................................................... 48
8.3.2. Regulating the product........................................................................................................................ 48
8.3.3. Price regulation: valuation and minimum prices ................................................................................... 49
8.3.4. Regulation of points of distribution or sale .......................................................................................... 49
8.3.5. Regulation of users ............................................................................................................................. 49
9. Cannabis: the plant, its cultivation, use and cannabis control regime ........................................................... 49
9.1. Cannabis and cannabis-based products ...................................................................................................... 49
9.1.1. The plant: cannabis sativa L. ................................................................................................................ 49
9.1.2. The botanical debate: one vs multiple cannabis species? ...................................................................... 49
9.1.3. A long list of strains and varieties ......................................................................................................... 50
9.1.4. Diversification of products ................................................................................................................... 50
9.1.5. Main message ..................................................................................................................................... 50
9.2. Cannabis use ............................................................................................................................................. 50
9.2.1. Estimates of cannabis use ................................................................................................................... 50
9.2.2. Frequency of cannabis use .................................................................................................................. 51
9.2.3. Treatment for cannabis-related disorders ............................................................................................. 51
9.2.4. Adverse health effects of cannabis use................................................................................................. 52
9.2.5. Main message ..................................................................................................................................... 52
9.3. Cannabis production and market ................................................................................................................. 52
9.3.1. Cannabis cultivation worldwide ........................................................................................................... 52
9.3.2. Countries with probably sizeable cannabis cultivation .......................................................................... 53
9.3.3. The European cannabis market ............................................................................................................ 53
9.3.4. Increasing potency of cannabis in Europe ............................................................................................. 53
9.3.5. Price potency ...................................................................................................................................... 53
9.3.6. Increase in the interception of large quantities of cannabis resin ............................................................ 54
9.3.7. Who grows cannabis and why? ............................................................................................................ 54
9.3.8. Main message ..................................................................................................................................... 54
9.4. History of cannabis and its control ............................................................................................................... 54
, 10. Cannabis: regulatory models ................................................................................................................... 56
10.1. Prohibition vs legalization ........................................................................................................................ 56
10.2. Where is cannabis legislation going in Europe? ......................................................................................... 56
10.3. Support for legalization of cannabis in EU ................................................................................................. 57
10.4. The effects of cannabis legalization .............................................................................................................. 58
10.4.1. General use deterrence ....................................................................................................................... 58
10.4.2. Illicit production and supply................................................................................................................. 58
10.5. Elements to keep in mind ........................................................................................................................ 58
11. “Cannabis prohibition has failed” – UNODC World Drug Report, 2016 ........................................................ 58
11.1. Selected key features of cannabis supply models ..................................................................................... 59
11.2. THE ‘COMMERCIAL’ MODEL ........................................................................................................................ 60
11.2.1. Key concepts of the consumer-industrial complex ................................................................................ 60
11.3. ‘GROW YOUR OWN’ MODEL........................................................................................................................ 60
11.4. The ‘Dutch coffeeshop’ model ..................................................................................................................... 61
11.5. Medicinal marihuana models .................................................................................................................. 61
11.6. Cannabis social clubs (CSC’s) ................................................................................................................. 61
11.7. Non-profit scenario’s ............................................................................................................................... 61
11.8. Some of the key arguments in the debate ................................................................................................. 62
11.8.1. Crime and public safety ....................................................................................................................... 62
11.8.2. On public health ................................................................................................................................. 62
11.8.3. On prevention ..................................................................................................................................... 62
11.8.4. On economic impact ........................................................................................................................... 63
11.8.5. Other normative considerations ........................................................................................................... 63
12. Cannabis Social Clubs and variants ......................................................................................................... 63
12.1. CSCs in the broader cannabis policy debate ............................................................................................. 63
12.2. Introducing the Cannabis Social Club ...................................................................................................... 63
12.2.1. The drug user movement ..................................................................................................................... 63
12.2.2. Methodological insights and unresolved issues from the study of cannabis social clubs ......................... 64
12.3. The legal frameworks for CSC ...................................................................................................................... 64
12.3.1. The international legal frame ................................................................................................................ 64
12.3.2. CSC self-regulation ............................................................................................................................. 64
12.3.3. CSC within a legal and regulated framework ......................................................................................... 65
12.4. An update on CSC ................................................................................................................................... 67
12.4.1. What do we know about CSC today? .................................................................................................... 67
12.4.2. Presence in EU .................................................................................................................................... 68
12.5. Concluding thoughts ............................................................................................................................... 68
12.5.1. One ‘CSC model’? ............................................................................................................................... 68
Introduction: practical information
Assignment: DEADLINE 21/04, 25% van totaal score
Exam: written, 2-4 questions, helft Decorte helft Colman
1. Guest lecture ‘For Profit Legalization in America: the case of Washington
State’ – Beatriz Carlini
Legalization = process where society decides that we are going to legalize it, to start to think in a different way,
creating a regular framework --> NOT EASY: how are we going to make it legal, who is going to produce,
distribute, who will have access...
