“The toughest laws created the toughest criminals. The only thing we’re doing is increasing the violence. And at this point, where we are now, only the most violent will survive. We have to ask about political will here. What are the interests of the countries and other major players involved?” — Karina Garcia-Reyes

The US government has spent an estimated $1 trillion on their ‘war on drugs.’ But, over 50 years later, the cross-border flows of illegal drugs, arms and money have increased. In the second part of a two part series (part 1 available here) we look at the failed ‘war on drugs,’ the movement to decriminalise, regulate and tax, opportunities and challenges for lower income nations, and the role of tax justice.

Featuring:

• Associate Professor of International and Organised Crime at Bristol Law School, Dr Mary Young
• Zara Snapp, co-founder of Instituto RIA
• Sergio Chaparro Hernandez of the Tax Justice Network
• Martin Drewry of Health Poverty Action
• Max Gallien of the International Centre for Tax and Development and the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex
• Eric Gutierrez, of the International Centre of Human Rights and Drug Policy
• Taxcast host Naomi Fowler, co-produced with Jo Barratt of the Tax Justice Network

Resources:

• Invest in Justice, Jamaica Case Study
• Cannabis taxation – A new revenue source for development? Max Gallien and Giovanni Occhiali
• Diverse models of legalisation, Max Gallien and Giovanni Occhiali
• Tax Justice and the Legal Regulation of Drugs (video)
• A quiet revolution across the globe: drug decriminalisation across the globe
• Inside Mexico’s war on drugs: Conversations with ‘el narco’
• Poverty, gender and violence in the narratives of former narcos: accounting for drug trafficking violence in Mexico Karina Garcia-Reyes https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/193726176/Final_Copy_2018_11_06_Garcia_K_G_PhD_Redacted.pdf
• Debunking the Narco Myth, Karina Garcia-Reyes
• A world fit for money laundering: The Atlantic alliance’s undermining of organised crime control: Young, Mary Alice; Woodiwiss, Michael
• Organised crime and security threats in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: A Critical analysis of US assumptions and policies: Young, Mary; Woodiwiss, Michael

“It was always about the US and the UK in particular, protecting and leveraging their own national trading interests on both sides of the Atlantic. Western countries were never going to put the trillions used on the war on drugs into combating financial secrecy havens.” ~ Dr Mary Young

“The tools of tax avoidance are the same tools that enable the illicit drug trade’s extraordinary resilience to prohibition.”  ~ Eric Gutierrez

Further Reading:

• Inside Mexico’s war on drugs: Conversations with ‘el narco’ 
• Poverty, gender and violence in the narratives of former narcos: accounting for drug trafficking violence in Mexico (Karina Garcia-Reyes)
• Debunking the Narco Myth
• A world fit for money laundering: The Atlantic alliance’s undermining of organised crime control: Young, Mary Alice; Woodiwiss, Michael
• Organised crime and security threats in Caribbean Small Island Developing States: A Critical analysis of US assumptions and policies: Young, Mary; Woodiwiss, Michael