Barriers to Reform of International Drug Policy: A Study of the UNODC
Author
Reynoso Mazoy, Pablo
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-05-28
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, hvorfor skadesreduktionsstrategier har haft svært ved at vinde indpas i international narkotikapolitik, ved at analysere FN's Kontor for Narkotika og Kriminalitet (UNODC) som et kritisk casestudie. Med en konstruktivistisk tilgang kombineret med teori om organisatorisk sti-afhængighed analyseres, hvordan indlejrede normer, bureaukratiske identiteter og historiske processer former institutionelle valg og hæmmer politikudvikling. Studiet bygger på kvalitativ dokument- og policyanalyse af centrale FN-rapporter, traktater, konventioner og konferencetekster for at afdække de idégrundlag, der præger det globale narkotikakontrolregime. Analysen peger på, at straffende, kontrolorienterede tilgange, som blev institutionaliseret gennem tidlige traktater, har skabt historisk inerti, der prioriterer kontrol over sundhedsorienterede indsatser og fortrænger folkesundhed og skadesreduktion. Specialet konkluderer, at der består væsentlige barrierer for at integrere skadesreduktion, rodfæstet i den etablerede institutionelle sti forankret i 1961-konventionen om narkotika, 1971-konventionen om psykotrope stoffer og 1988-konventionen mod ulovlig handel, og at det er afgørende at overvinde disse for at opnå meningsfulde reformer af den globale narkotikapolitik.
This thesis investigates why harm reduction strategies have struggled to gain traction in international drug policy by examining the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as a critical case. Using a constructivist perspective combined with organizational path dependence theory, it analyzes how entrenched norms, bureaucratic identities, and historical processes shape institutional choices and slow policy change. The study applies qualitative document and policy analysis of key UN reports, treaties, conventions, and conference outputs to trace the ideas embedded in the global drug control regime. The analysis indicates that punitive, control-oriented approaches institutionalized through early treaties have generated historical inertia that privileges drug control over health-focused interventions, displacing public health and harm reduction measures. The thesis concludes that significant barriers to integrating harm reduction persist, rooted in the institutional path anchored in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic, and argues that overcoming these barriers is essential for meaningful reform of global drug policy.
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