It’s well documented that banning drugs leads to violence. But a new paper, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, argues that the predictable proliferation of this violence—and its effect on people around the globe—could be considered a violation of the fundamental right to life and safety, as defined by the United Nations.
The United States’ alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s is often cited as an example of what happens when you remove regulation from a lucrative market. Groups operating outside the law are heavily incentivized to participate in the trade and to protect their market shares—by whatever means they can, in the absence of a rules-based system.