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Africa Germany's Federal Government Wants to Boost Private DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION D+C ENTWICKLUNG UND ZUSAMMENARBEIT E+Z International Journal ISSN 2366-7257 D +C MONTHLY E-PAPER December 2018 AFRICA PAKISTAN WTO Germany’s Federal Only 3,000 people Developing countries Government wants to still speak the ancient should join forces to boost private investment Kalash language promote their interests Drugs policy Title: Afghan policeman destroys poppy fields in Badakhshan province. Photo: picture-alliance/NurPhoto D+C DECEMBER 2018 In German in E+Z Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit. Both language versions FOCUS at www.DandC.eu Drugs policy Monitor Latin American perspectives Limiting global warming | Insights into the war in Syria | How financial analysts work | In the past 12 years, some 240,000 people have African debt crisis | Nowadays: Online stalking in Uganda | Imprint 4 died in Mexico’s “war on drugs”. Andres Manuel Lopéz Obrador, the new president, has promised change in the election campaign, writes Virginia Debate Mercado of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado Comments on Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s new president, and Germany’s innovative de México. By contrast, Uruguay’s experience of Development Investment Fund, which is designed to promote Africa’s private sector 11 legalising cannabis has been mostly good, accord- ing to Sebastián Artigas of the Montevideo-based Universidad de la República. Colombian civil- Tribune socity organisations, in turn, worry that their new MAHWISH GUL government will prove to be more repressive again. Activist Julian Quintero assesses matters. In the Hindukush mountains, an ancient language is at risk of extinction 13 PAGES 18, 20, 22 FABIAN BOHNENBERGER AND CLARA WEINHARDT Ground-breaking WTO reform is not in sight yet 15 Time to regulate In the eyes of the Bristol-based Transform Drugs Focus: Drugs policy Policy Foundation, prohibition has failed. In an interview, Steve Rolles, a policy adviser with VIRGINIA MERCADO Transform, discusses the alternative of responsi- Security and drug cartels in Mexico 18 bly regulating production, distribution and con- sumption. PAGE 24 SEBASTIÁN ARTIGAS Uruguay’s experience with legal marihuana 20 Prohibition in Asia INTERVIEW WITH JULIAN QUINTERO In spite of NATO support after US-led liberation Drugs permeate all social strata in Colombia 22 from the Taliban regime, Afghanistan is largely a narco-state today. Janet Kursawe, professor at a INTERVIEW WITH STEVE ROLLES college in Bochum, has kept track of develop- Different substances require different relations 24 ments for many years. Iran’s fundamentalist regime is trying to repress the consumption of JANET KURSAWE alcohol and drugs, but even the death penality Afghanistan’s illegal opium economy 27 does not seem to make much difference. Mitra Shahrani, a student, reports that the regime is gradually loosening its stance. By contrast, the MITRA SHAHRANI government of Bangladesh is tightening the Iran’s escalating drug crisis 29 screws. Ridwanul Hoque and Sharowat Shamin of Dhaka University argue that the poor are affected RIDWANUL HOQUE AND SHAROWAT SHAMIN most. Journalist Emmalyn Liwag Kotte spells out In Bangladesh, enforcement of drug and alcohol prohibition mostly hurts the poor 30 why the churches criticise the bloody anti-drugs campaign that President Rodrigo Duterte has EMMALYN LIWAG KOTTE launched in the Philippines, and her colleague Churches oppose “war on drugs” in the Philippines 32 Edith Koesoemawiria takes account of prohibition in Indonesia. PAGES 27, 29, 30, 32, 33 EDITH KOESOEMAWIRIA Though Indonesia is tough on drug crime, consumption is not in decline 33 African worries ASSANE DIAGNE Pharma regulation is ineffective in many sub- Saharan countries. One consequence is a growing West Africa is an epicentre of fake pharma 35 informal market for tramadol, an opioid. Assane Diagne, a fact checker based in Dakar, describes JEFFREY MOYO West Africa’s fake-pharma scenario. In the south- Why alcohol and drug abuse are spreading in Zimbabwe 36 ern African country of Zimbabwe, many people lack hope for a better future and resort to various HANS DEMBOWSKI intoxicants, writes Jeffrey Moyo, a journalist. Relevant reading on the economics and history of the drug trade 38 PAGES 35, 36 D+C e-Paper December 2018 OUR VIEW Try regulation Deba(SW-Thema) te Throughout history, human beings have used mind-altering substances. Discomfort with drugs was expressed too. Alcohol is taboo in Islam, whereas European cultures historically ostracised the use of cannabis and opium and its derivatives (with exceptions made for medical painkillers). In the 1960s, the UN adopted an international drugs policy that declared illegal all the drugs not traditionally used in Europe. Alcohol and tobacco are addictive too, but they are internationally seen as health hazards rather than issues of criminal law. In many predominantly Muslim countries, however, alcoholic beverages remain forbidden. In the early 1970s, US President Richard Nixon prominently declared a war on drugs. His example was followed around the world. The results are depressing. The production and use of opioids, coca derivatives, cannabis and various synthetic substances has only increased. Illegal drugs are widely used. At the same time, repression is causing massive suff ering, especially where Destroying the global commons the word “war” did not stay a metaphor. In Mexico alone, some 240,000 peo- The international rise of authoritarian populists is ple are reckoned to have died in drugs-related violence in the past 12 years. linked to vested interests’ opposition to the neces- Afghanistan was liberated from the Taliban by US troops and then “stabilised” sary transformation toward sustainability. As with NATO troops, but it must largely be considered a narco-state today. Hans Dembowski, the editor-in-chief of D+C/D+Z, By the way, alcohol prohibition has not succeeded either. Even where points out, Brazil’s new President Jair Bolsonaro despotic regimes exert brutal repression, some people drink in secret – in Iran considers forest protection an unnecessary bur- or Saudi Arabia, for example. When alcohol was made illegal in the USA in the den. In truth, the earth’s ecological balance 1920s, organised crime became deeply entrenched – and the gangs peddled depends on his country’s rainforests. PAGE 11 other drugs along with booze. To a large extent, European nations have been backing off from repression at home. The idea is to prevent harm. In Germany, for example, heroin addicts are provided with safe spaces and sterile syringes, and though cannabis is illegal, processing small amounts for personal use is Trib une no longer punished. Germany’s constitutional court ruled two decades ago that sentencing people to prison for these off ences is disproportionate. In le- gal terms, the situation is unsatisfying however. Forbidding something, but not sanctioning transgressions leads to ambiguity. Repression has generally been much harsher in developing countries and emerging markets. Some countries resort to capital punishment, but extra-judicial killings are far more common. Prisons are full of drug users, and many are recruited into criminal networks after release. It is true that addic- tion is spreading diseases, petty crime and prostitution, but prohibition is not preventing that. All too often poverty and a lack of prospects motivates people to take intoxicants – or to fi nd a black-market livelihood. Typically, there is a lack of rehabilitation facilities. The International Commission on Drugs Policy, which is led by Ruth Dreifuss, a former Swiss president, deserves attention. It argues that regulat- ing drug markets is better than prohibition. Obviously, diff erent rules should apply to diff erent drugs, depending on how harmful they are. In any case, the Endangered culture best way to fi ght organised crime is certainly to thwart its business model. Today, a mere 3,000 people still speak Kalash, the Huge profi ts empower the cartels to corrupt institutions of governance and to language of Pakistan’s smallest ethnic group. Mahwish Gul, a student from Islamabad, assesses pay the perpetrators of horrifi c violence. The global community needs a better why this culture is at risk of extinction. PAGE 13 approach. Regulation could allow state agencies to tax drugs, ensure quality and have some impact on where, when and how people use them. There is no lack of good ideas, and the time has come to test them. Groundbreaking reform not in sight The World Trade Organization (WTO) must be You’ll fi nd all contributions reformed urgently. What has been proposed so far, of our focus section plus HANS DEMBOWSKI however, basically serves the interests of the related ones on is editor in chief of D+C Development advanced economies, as the scholars Fabian our website – they’ll be and Cooperation / E+Z Entwicklung und Bohnenberger and Clara Weinhardt write. In their compiled in next month’s Zusammenarbeit. eyes, developing countries should join forces and otos: Faga/picture-alliance/Zuma Press; Martin Wright/Lineair otos: briefi ng section. [email protected] Ph promote proposals of their own. PAGE 15 D+C e-Paper December 2018 MONITOR: CONFERENCES AND STUDIES GLOBAL WARMING Development and Humanitarian Aid NGOs (VENRO). All experts agree that, to reach climate A Herculean task goals, the global community must cooperate fast and closely. Action must follow words, demands Hans-Christoph Boppel of VEN- RO. The Paris Agreement of 2015 made it Climate experts disagree about the extent to dividuals will have to change
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