Handbook of Research on the Illicit Drug Traffic

Focusing on a highly controversial and fiercely debated subject, this survey tracks the social and economic consequences of the production, trafficking, and consumption of cocaine, heroin, and cannabis. From a growing body of literature, LaMond Tullis has extracted the most salient economic, social, and political themes currently under discussion in both scholarly publications and in the responsible press. The two-part volume consisting of a lengthy review of relevant literature and an annotated bibliography helps its users understand the major issues: Can and should consumption be curtailed, supplies suppressed, and traffickers eliminated? Can the unintended economic, social, and political consequences of curtailing, suppressing, and eliminating somehow be mitigated? Should these drugs be legalized? Would legalization produce its own array of unintended and largely unacceptable consequences? Although tentative answers to these questions abound, this excellent resource is testimony to the fact that there is still little agreement on how to deal with these powerful substances and the problems they generate. Tullis's compilation presents the best overview of this complex subject to date.The first half of this two-part reference consists of a survey of the published literature on the production and consumption of the three illicit drugs. Chapters are devoted to the global patterns of production and consumption of cocaine, heroin, and cannabis, to the consequences, both positive and negative, of drug consumption and production, and to the policy measures that have been adopted (or are under consideration) in both consuming and producing countries. These chapters will be of interest to those wishing to obtain an overall view of the subject and to specialists seeking a guide to the literature outside their particular area of knowledge. The second half of the book contains an annotated bibliography of about 2,000 items covering works published in English--plus a few in Spanish--as books, articles, or press reports. This section will be invaluable to researchers working on the frontiers of the subject and to general readers who wish to pursue particular topics in greater depth. The volume should be at the fingertips of policy makers, legislators, law enforcement officials, judges, and social workers, as well as students and teachers.

?The Handbook's vast annotated bibliography, containing more than 2,000 items, offers a valuable guide for researchers.?-Foreign Policy Research Inst., ?This thorough and informative guide . . . is a useful source and is appropriate for college and university reference collections.?-ARBA, ?Written in cooperation with the UN Research Institute for Social Development, this book is a scholarly survey of a controversial subject in the context of its socioeconomic and political significance. In the first half of the work, Tullis reviews the published literature on the production and consumption of illicit drugs in three parts: first, the global patterns of the creation, manufacture, and use of cannabis, cocaine, and heroin; second, demand, and the positive and negative consequences, including the rise of organized traffickers and counteracting steps; third, activities designed to reduce criminality, demand, the spread of AIDS, and the supply. Each chapter is followed by a lengthy section of notes and cross-references to further information sources. In the final, summary chapter, Tullis concludes that the drug war outcome is uncertain because of the complexity of the only two solutions: the decline of demand, and the rebuilding of producer countries' economies. The second half of the handbook is a descriptively annotated bibliography of drug and drug-related literature. It consists of articles, books, and government reports arranged alphabetically by author. Although a few are in Spanish, the majority are in English, and most were published in the 1980s. One index serves both literature review and bibliography, distinguishing bibliography item numbers from page numbers with a caret. There are numerous flow charts, e.g., "How Traffickers Facilitate Their Work," and tables, e.g., "Comparative Law Enforcement Policies." The book was written for law enforcement officials, judges, legislators, policymakers, social workers, students, and teachers. In an academic setting, it willbest serve upper-level and graduate social science researchers.?-Choice, "The Handbook's vast annotated bibliography, containing more than 2,000 items, offers a valuable guide for researchers."-Foreign Policy Research Inst., "This thorough and informative guide . . . is a useful source and is appropriate for college and university reference collections."-ARBA

LAMOND TULLIS is a Professor of Political Science and research fellow at the David M. Kennedy Center for International and Area Studies at Brigham Young University. His previous books include Lord and Peasant in Peru: A Paradigm of Political and Social Change, Politics and Social Change in Third World Countries, Modernization in Brazil and Mormons in Mexico: Dynamics of Faith and Culture.