The arbitrariness of the drug war

Which drugs are legal and which are prohibited has changed again and again in the course of time: depending on the cultural context, moral ideas and financial as well as power-political interests of the rulers.

Drug policy was - and is - always an instrument of social control and exclusion: prohibitions were often explicitly directed against socially weaker population groups, while well-off circles were not prosecuted. Health considerations played a subordinate role in the design of drug policy or were often merely a pretext for a policy aimed at discrimination.

Our review of the year shows how the ban on drugs came about.

Further information on arud.ch/stoppdrogenkrieg