Measuring drug policy evolution: a cross-country analysis

Gonçalves, Ricardo; Lourenço. Ana; Marreiros, Helia

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/52794

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Authors

Gonçalves, Ricardo

Lourenço. Ana

Marreiros, Helia

Abstract(s)

Drug policies significantly impact public health and criminal justice outcomes, yet quantitative tools for systematically comparing approaches across jurisdictions remain limited. This paper uses a state-of-the-art comparative law method – leximetrics – to construct the Illicit Drugs Policy Indexes (IDPI), a valuable resource for assessing the evolution of drug policies over time within a specific country as well as across countries. The IDPI consists of a set of indexes corresponding to multiple dimensions of drug policy, including laws around consumption, possession and traffic. These indexes examine illicit drug laws and policies across seven countries: Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom, over a timeframe of twenty years from 1996 to 2016. Our results identify significant turning points in the evolution of laws regarding drugs, often indicating a shift towards less criminal-oriented approaches. Moreover, the paper identifies the countries which progressed more in that direction, over time. The underlying IDPI methodology provides policymakers and researchers with a standardized framework for evidence-based drug policy evaluation and reform, adaptable across jurisdictions.