WHY IS THE CONSUMPTION OF ILLEGAL DRUGS SO HARD TO REGULATE?

Resumo

This article reflects on the efficacy of regulation as a tool of government for tackling illicit drug consumption. In so doing seeks to contribute to the debate about how to make policy work and asks whether better outcomes can be achieved by making other approaches such as behavioural science central to the project. It explores a number of normative and policy reasons why regulation might fall short in this context. Thus, a complementary framework and a combined strategy between traditional and soft tools of governments are proposed to achieve better results.