In-depth analysis’ is a strategic and action-oriented analysis of the information available on Europe’s illicit drug markets. It takes a broad view of these markets from production and trafficking, to distribution and use. It provides a holistic and systemic perspective, capturing key aspects of the wider security and public health consequences of drug markets, as well as the main factors driving change and new threats (EMCDDA)
Bibliography: Economics
Focused Policy Assessment of Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery
An analysis of expenditure and performance in the area of drug and alcohol misuse (Government of Ireland)
BC legal cannabis sales grow briskly: report
Cannabis products in BC are getting cheaper and more potent, and its year-over-year sales have doubled between 2019 and 2020, according to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR)
Parents with alcohol and drug problems: using case studies to estimate the cost-benefit of interventions
This guidance supports local areas, organisations and providers that have collected, or intend to collect, case studies to estimate how much social and economic cost they can avoid by supporting families experiencing alcohol and drug problems (Public Health England)
Low-THC cannabis products in Europe
An increase in the open sale of cannabis products in Europe has raised questions around the possible legal and commercial status of these products – download (EMCDDA)
Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission report
The Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission is an independent, bipartisan entity with a two-fold mission: evaluate a range of US counternarcotics programs in the Americas and then make recommendations to improve them
Seizures of drugs in England and Wales, financial year ending 2020
Contains figures for seizures of drugs made by local police forces and the UK Border Force (Home Office)
Notes on Criminal Economics
Addresses an important but often overlooked issue: the way the proceeds from criminal activity interact with the national economic model, and vice versa (GDPO)
Drug Policy and the Development Fallacy
Contemporary debates surrounding drug policy and illicit cultivation have adopted a modern and flawed interpretation of ‘development’ (GDPO)
Recreational cannabis regulation and harm reduction
BERL advice to the Ministry of Justice (New Zealand)
Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms (2015-2017)
This report provides a summary of key findings about the costs and harms of substance use in Canada from 2015 to 2017 (CCSA)
Highlights from the EU Drug Markets Report for policy and practice
This short publication presents the main highlights from the EU Drug Markets Report 2019, targeting policy and practice (EMCDDA)
EU Drug Markets Report 2019
The EU Drug Markets Report 2019 is the third comprehensive overview of illicit drug markets in the European Union by the EMCDDA and Europol.
Economic Impact of Non-Medical Opioid Use in the United States
This study estimates the total economic burden of the opioid crisis in the United States from 2015 through 2018 and projects future costs of the opioid epidemic for 2019 (Society of Actuaries)
Road to Recovery (PDF)
Addiction in our society – the case for reform (Centre for Social Justice)
What America’s Users Spend on Illegal Drugs, 2006–2016
This report updates and extends estimates of the number of users, retail expenditures, and amount consumed from 2006 to 2016 for cocaine (including crack), heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine in the United States, based on a methodology developed by the RAND Corporation for the Office of National Drug Control Policy
The cost and consequences of the war on drugs (PDF)
The report’s findings suggest that, from a human rights perspective, there must be a shift from international drug policies that focus on criminalization and supply reduction, to ones that have human rights and health at their core (Human Rights Foundation)
Denying Revenue or Wasting Money?
Assessing the Impact of the Air Campaign Against ‘Drugs Labs’ in Afghanistan (LSE)
EMCDDA Budget 2019
The EMCDDA receives stable funding under Commission budget line B3-441 of the general budget of the European Union. Each year, a preliminary draft budget is presented by the Centre’s Director to the Management Board, which may modify the draft before adopting it and submitting it to the European Commission. The Commission, in turn, makes its recommendations (which may again alter the draft) and presents the result to the European Council and Parliament. Download
The European Cannabis Report™ 4th Edition
examines: Commercial and business opportunities in 33 European markets – Changing legislation and new regulatory guidelines across the region – Emerging trends, market forecasts and industry insights (Prohibition Partners)
Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms in the Provinces and Territories (2007–2014) PDF
In June 2018, the Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms Scientific Working Group released the results of a significant new study in a comprehensive technical report, Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms (2007–2014). The report presents estimates of the economic costs and harms of substance use in Canada for the years 2007 to 2014
Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms in the Provinces and Territories (2007–2014) PDF
The aim of this document is to provide these detailed costs so that researchers, decision makers and others can use them to inform policies and programs at the provincial and territorial levels (CCSA)
The lost decade
Neglect for harm reduction funding and the health crisis among people who use drugs (Harm Reduction International)
Europe’s legal cannabis market set to become worth more than €115 billion
A new report “European Cannabis Report” from industry advisors, Prohibition Partners, suggests that Europe will become the largest legal cannabis market in the world once all countries have introduced legislation and regulation during the next 10 years (Manufacturing Chemist)
How illegal drugs sustain organised crime in the EU (PDF)
Drug markets remain the largest criminal markets in the EU. More than one third of the criminal groups active in the EU are involved in the production, trafficking or distribution of various types of drugs (Europol, Belgium)
The human and financial costs of drug addiction
This is an expansive subject, with a huge number of facets, and is covered by a huge amount of UK and international data. Transcript of debate (House of Commons, UK)
Global Synthetic Drugs Assessment (PDF)
Amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances (UNODC)
Evaluation of the Drugs and Alcohol Recovery Payment by Results Pilot Programme Final Report (PDF)
Findings in this report from the process evaluation have been subject to RAND Europe’s interim quality assurance review. The report was completed in September 2015 and is based on data collected up to March 2014 (National Drug Evidence Centre)
Financial case for action on liver disease (PDF)
Escalating costs of alcohol misuse, obesity and viral hepatitis (Foundation for Liver Research)
EMCDDA Budget 2017
The EMCDDA receives stable funding under Commission budget line B3-441 of the general budget of the European Union. Each year, a preliminary draft budget is presented by the Centre’s Director to the Management Board, which may modify the draft before adopting it and submitting it to the European Commission. The Commission, in turn, makes its recommendations (which may again alter the draft) and presents the result to the European Council and Parliament
Public expenditure on supply reduction policies
This report takes a first step towards a systematic analysis, by examining a set of representative attempts to estimate public expenditure on supply reduction interventions (EMCDDA)
Public expenditure on supply reduction policies
Although it is mainly confined to supply reduction expenditures, in order to set the context, it describes the proportion that total drug-related expenditure represents of national public spending and; presents the balance between demand and supply reduction spending for a number of European countries (EMCDDA)
Police diversion for cannabis offences: Assessing outcomes and cost-effectiveness
This study compared the cost-effectiveness and outcomes of three kinds of diversions—cautions, expiation and warnings—with the traditional criminal justice system response of charging the offender (AIC)
Australian methamphetamine user outcomes (PDF)
This paper examines the demographics of methamphetamine users and their employment, education and health outcomes using data from the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program, the Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services data collection and the National Prisoner Health Data Collection (Australian Institute of Criminology)
Design of optimal corrective taxes in the alcohol market (PDF)
We estimate a model of demand in the UK alcohol market and numerically solve for the optimal tax rates. Moving to an optimal system that taxes alcohol types at different rates would close half of the welfare gap between the current UK system and the first best (Institute for Fiscal Studies)
Splitting the bill: alcohol’s impact on the economy (PDF)
Economic questions are central to the formation of alcohol policies, such as the setting of alcohol taxes, licensing requirements and marketing regulations (Institute of S Alcohol Studies)
The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control
This monograph, a collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and WHO, examines the current research and evidence base surrounding the economics of tobacco control—including tobacco use, tobacco growing, manufacturing and trade, tobacco product taxes and prices, and tobacco control policies and other interventions to reduce tobacco use and its consequences (WHO)
DrugScope library archive
Wellcome Institute
Cheap alcohol: the price we pay (PDF)
Research released today shows there is an abundance of high strength alcohol sold for pocket money prices in shops and supermarkets across the UK. Press Release (Alcohol Health Alliance, UK)
Colombia: Drugs and the Peace Agreement
On August 24th, after more than four years of negotiations, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace agreement that will, pending a referendum on October 2nd, bring to an end more than sixty years of armed conflict (Global Drug Policy Observatory)
