HaCKeRz KrOnIcKLeZ 3/HaCKeRz_KrOnIcKLeZ.iso/drugs/review.drugs.law.and.the.state

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                THE LAW AND POLITICS BOOK REVIEW
                         ISSN 1062-7421

                    An Electronic Periodical
                          Published by
                   The Law and Courts Section
           The American Political Science Association
                 Vol. 3 No. 6 (June, 1993) pp. 57-59

                      Herbert Jacob, Editor
                 Department of Political Science
          Northwestern University, Evanston, Il. 60208
                      E-mail: [e-mail]

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DRUGS, LAW AND THE STATE by Harold H. Traver and Mark S. Gaylord
(Editors).  New Brunswick, N. J.:  Transaction Press.  1992. 176
pp.  Cloth $32.95.

Reviewed by Dean G. Rojek, Department of Sociology, University of
Georgia.

       This slender work is comprised of nine essays on drug control
policy from a cross- cultural perspective.  These essays were
originally prepared for a conference on crime, drugs and social
control held at the University of Hong Kong in 1988.  The nine
essays presented in this volume are divided into three sections.
Part I is entitled "Drug Control Policy and the State;" Part II is
entitled "The Political Economy of Drugs;"  and Part III is
entitled "Future Directions."  Collectively this book purports to
represent an analysis of drug policy in the United States,
Scandinavia, Spain, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, and one essay
focuses on the international character of drugs and organized
crime.  Because of the disparate nature of the topic and the
unconnected nature of the individual essays, a summary review is
difficult to formulate but an attempt will be made to assess the
merits of the individual essays.

       In Part I, "Drug Control Policy and the State," four papers
examine drug control policy in relation to the interests of the
state.  In the first  essay by William J. Chambliss, entitled "The
Consequences of Prohibition:  Crime, Corruption, and International
Narcotics Control," the argument is set forth that the failures of
the prohibition era have become institutionalized in drug
legislation enacted since the 1930s.  International cartels have
emerged and the economies of entire nation-states have become
dependent on illicit drugs.  Drug profits have risen to the point
that the illicit drug enterprise has become on the most important
industries in the world.  Chambliss presents an intriguing argument
that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has long been implicated
in drug smuggling in order to finance the purchase of military
weapons that have been clandestinely shipped to insurgent groups in
Nicaragua and Iran.  He suggests that the only way to attack the
issue of corruption and the rampant use of drugs is to have some
form of legalization.  Chambliss acknowledges that this will not
solve the problem but it will cut back on corruption and allow the
medical community to become more involved in drug treatment.

       The next three essays in Part I are less stimulating than
Chambliss' discussion but still provide an informative examination
of the drug problem from a European perspective.  The essay by
Jergen Jepsen is entitled "Drugs and Social Control in Scandinavia:
A Case Study in International Moral Entrepreneurship."  Scandinavia
is being subjected to significant international pressure to mount
a "war on drugs" and see drug use as a social problem.  In the
1960s the Scandinavian countries took a tolerant position regarding
drug involvement but in 1968 legislation began to emerge and
criminal penalties for the use of illicit drugs became
progressively more severe.  Concerted international pressure
calling for a "drug-free Scandinavia" has led to a progressive
increase in prison sentences for drug trafficking.  Jepsen suggests
a certain moral panic regarding the use of drugs and a growing
sense of international solidarity.  For countries that have a more
liberal tradition in the area of drug control, an international
moral imperialism is threatening the hegemony of those countries
that do not share the tough-minded, "crime fighting" approach
toward drug use.  Jepsen concludes with admonition of the dangers
of a "storm trooper" mentality that is becoming to be the hallmark
of the international community in the area of drug control.

       Axel Reeg in his essay "Drugs and the Law in Post-Franco
Spain" gives a glimpse of the extent of drug use in Spain.  With
strong ties to Latin America and its close proximity to North
Africa, Spain has become a major market in drug trafficking.
Stiffer penalties for drug trafficking have been added to the
criminal code in response to the perception of a growing drug
problem.  Surprisingly, there is increasing discussion of
legalization in Spain but Reeg does not give a clear indication
where Spain is headed in the matter of drug control.  Reeg's essay
is far too

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cryptic and does not add any new insights to the overall theme of
the book.  Similarly, the fourth essay in Part I by Ahti Laitinen
entitled "Finnish Drug Control:  Change and Accommodation" is quite
descriptive but does not add intellectual weight to the book.
Finland does not seem to have a major problem with illicit drugs,
and Laitinen states that the harm caused by drug use is relatively
small.  As with the previous essay, few new insights emerge other
than descriptive information on drug legislation and drug use in
Finland.

       Part II of this volume in entitled "The Political Economy of
Drugs" and contains four papers that examine the political-economic
nexus of the drug trade industry.  Mark S. Gaylord in his essay,
The Chinese Laundry:  International Drug Trafficking and Hong
Kong's Banking Industry" asserts that Hong Kong is the source of
much of the world's supply of heroin.  Chinese triads or secret
societies play a central role in narcotics trade as skilled
chemists.  Hong Kong's banking industry serves as a major conduit
for drug money and according to Gaylord has become the "Switzerland
of Asia."   This financial industry is augmented by a vast army of
attorneys who specialize in international business and finance.
Hong Kong's banking laws ensure that records and accounts are
confidential complicating any "paper trail" in switching funds from
one account to another.  Gaylord describes many ingenious aspects
of money laundering in Hong Kong that gives drug traffickers almost
complete safety.  One wonders what will happen to this vast drug
industry in 1997 when the Chinese take over control of Hong Kong,
but Gaylord does not speculate on this point.

       Masayuki Tamura's essay on "The Yakuza and Amphetamine Abuse
in Japan" is enlightening if for no other reason than so little is
discussed about drug problems in Japan.  The Yakuza is something of
a nationwide crime syndicate.  Japan's drug problem is primarily in
the area of stimulant abuse and the Yakuza are at the center of a
highly-organized stimulant distribution system.  The second half of
Tamura's discussion entails several interviews with dealers but
little insight is gained from these interviews.  In a concluding
section, Tamura briefly discusses the low probability that drug
abuse will be decriminalized.  First, the Yakuza stand at the
center of Japan's drug network and seem to effectively police the
use and distribution of drugs.  Secondly, the Japanese themselves
do not see drug abuse as a major problem and are reasonably content
to leave the law enforcement system alone.  Finally, the average
Japanese citizen fears and respects the power of the Yakuza and any
police action against this entrenched crime syndicate is not
likely.

       The third essay in this section by Ernesto Ugo Savona is
entitled "The Organized Crime/Drug Connection:  National and
International Perspectives."   The main thesis of this presentation
is that drug trafficking operates on an international level and
surpasses the policing capabilities of individuals countries.
Traditional approaches to combat organized crime have not worked
because of a lack of international cooperation.  Savona's comments
are hardly original and fail to add anything new to a complex
phenomenon of global social control.

       The fourth and last essay in this section is by Harold Traver
entitled "Colonial Relations and Opium Control Policy in Hong Kong,
1841-1945."  The  focus of this discussion is how the Hong Kong
government initially developed a strong dependence on the sale of
opium and then after 1945 suddenly developed a punitive stand on
drug trafficking.  Initially  the sale and distribution of opium
became a government monopoly after the Second Opium War (1856-58).
However, an anti-opium movement began in the late nineteenth
century and international pressure was brought to bear on the Hong
Kong government.  In 1943 the Hong Kong government re-classified
opium as a dangerous drug and restricted its sales and
distribution.  Unfortunately Traver does not spell out in any great
detail precisely how opium was transformed from a revenue-producing
substance to a dangerous drug.  The reader will hunger for more
information than the glib response that "colonies are especially
sensitive to outside

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pressures."

       The final section of the book is entitled "Future Directions"
but contains only one brief essay. John Galliher in a concluding
chapter "Illegal Drugs:  Where We Stand and What We Can Do"
proposes several practical and gradual steps that the U.S.
government could take in addressing the drug problem.  Alcohol and
tobacco are serious drugs but yet are relatively immune from any
concerted law enforcement policy.  Similarly, powerful drug lobbies
have protected amphetamines and barbiturates from effective legal
control.  Marijuana on the other hand has been traditionally a
target for drug enforcement.  Galliher asserts that continued
prohibition of marijuana results in the loss of tax revenues and
the potential use of this drug in medical research.  Heroin use is
decreasing possibly because of increased use of cocaine but
Galliher does not elaborate to any great extent what implications
are to be drawn from this.  No sooner does Galliher wet the
appetite of the reader but then he concludes.  In his conclusion he
argues that "many drug control policies have been irrational and
counterproductive."  He suggests that gradual decriminalization
might be the only logical avenue, followed by gradual legalization.

       Overall the contribution of this volume to the understanding
of the drug problem worldwide is mixed.  Some of the essays are
intellectually stimulating and present new and innovative
approaches to the drug phenomenon.  Other essays are far too
underdeveloped or reiterate what is already known.  The volume
itself is far too brief to adequately address the drug problem but
is further hindered by the uneven quality of the individual essays.
This is not to infer that these essays are to be dismissed but
rather that they do open some new areas in the general topic of
drug control.  However, the book barely dents where it should
provide breakthroughs in addressing this topic.