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The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme (BFDPP) aims to promote objective debate on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies at national and international level. This non-governmental initiative brings together senior policymakers, leading academics and practitioners to assess the latest evidence of drug policy effectiveness in a spirit of objectivity and open debate. It does this through the production and dissemination of a series of policy analysis papers, occasional meetings and seminars, and engagement with policymakers in national governments and international agencies.

The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme (BFDPP) commissions reports and briefing papers on subjects relevant to the consideration of international drug policy. The first products of this programme of work were published and distributed in April 2004, and the intention is to produce further papers on a regular basis thereafter.

Reports

Report 1: Towards a Review of Global Policies on Illegal Drugs
This report discusses the global drug control system - particularly the role of the United Nations - and the challenges confronting drug policy. It argues that the current system is not achieving its stated objective: to eradicate completely - or even substantially reduce - illicit drug markets.

Report 2: Assessing Drug Policy Principles and Practice
This report considers good practice in objective setting and evaluation. It argues that drug policies should be evaluated against their successes and failures in reducing drug-related harm; and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of some existing evaluation frameworks.

Report 3: Law enforcement and supply reduction
This report looks at the approach to drug policy that has dominated the field for much of the past 40 years, and is sometimes characterised - and, to some degree, caricatured - as the ‘war on drugs’ approach.

Report 4: Reducing drug related harms to health: a review of the global evidence
This report looks at the various ways in which the use of illegal drugs causes harm to individual and public health. It then attempts to summarise the current state of the global evidence base for the effectiveness of programmes designed to reduce these harms, and focuses on some key challenges for policymakers in areas of the world facing high levels of HIV and Hepatitis infection, and accidental overdose deaths.

Report 5: Reducing drug relted crime: An overview of global the evidence.
This report, the 5th in the BFDPP series, looks at the global evidence base for the reduction of drug related crime. The report looks at three types of drug related crime (violence associated with illegal drug markets, crimes committed by individuals under the influence of drugs, and petty crime committed by drug users to pay for their drug purchases), and attempts to summarise the current research knowledge on which policies and actions have (or have not) been effective in reducing their impacts on society. The report concludes that many drug policy initiatives that have been designed to reduce drug related crime have had little or no impact, but there are some promising signs of success with treatment based, or general crime reduction approaches.

Report 6: Facing the future: The challenge for national and international drug policy.
This report draws together the findings from the series of reports and briefing papers produced under the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme in the last 18 months. It concludes that there are significant limitations in the achievements and likely future progress of current drug policies that focus on supply reduction and law enforcement, but that there is much that governments and international agencies can do to address the consequences of widespread drug use amongst their citizens. The report sets out a series of challenges and recommendations to policymakers that they must confront, if we are to see a reduction in drug related harm in the coming years.

Report 7: The International Narcotics Control Board: Watchdog or Guardian of the UN Drug Control Conventions?
The International Narcotics Control Board is charged with monitoring the implementation of the three United Nations Conventions and of alerting member states and the international community to weaknesses in the system. There is growing discontent with the unbalanced nature of its contribution to the sensitive debates surrounding the issue of illegal drug markets and how best to respond to them. Critics have pointed out that the Board has moved away from its intended mandate as the ‘watchdog’ of the conventions to become more of a ‘guardian’ of the purity of the conventions, and is challenging any policy or activity that does not correspond with what it perceives as the original vision of the control system.

Report 9: Monitoring drug policy outcomes: The measurement of drug related harm.
This latest Report from the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme looks at the various attempts by governments and academic institutions to develop a methodology for assessing and measuring the level of drug related harm, in order to better understand the impact of illegal drug use on society, and of policies and programmes that aim to reduce that impact. The authors find that several current initiatives have the potential to develop workable methodologies, but that there is currently little methodological consistency or sharing of best practice between experts. They therefore call on the authorities responsible for drug policy monitoring and evaluation to establish an international working group to improve co-operation in this promising area.

Report 10: Treatment for dependant drug use.
This report aims to give policymakers an accessible summary of the current evidence available on the effectiveness of treatment, and suggestions on how treatment services can be expanded and integrated into a co-ordinated system. The authors explain why treatment for dependent drug use is a good investment in any country with significant numbers of dependent drug users, in that it has been shown to achieve significant reductions in the health and social harms that are associated with drug problems. The major treatment modalities are described, and a summary given of the global research evidence into their effectiveness. The current major debates in the treatment field are also briefly summarised.

Report 11: The funding of the united nations office on drugs and crime: an unfinished jigsaw.
This report aims to provide a broad and accessible summary of the UNODC funding situation since 2002. It includes an outline of the budget process, sources of funding and recent spending patterns. The authors also explore some of the negative consequences resulting from the current funding dynamic and argue that problems associated with limited UNODC funding from the UN regular budget are being exacerbated by donor’s increasing proclivity to earmark their voluntary contributions. Within this context the report draws some conclusions and offers some recommendations that may go some way to assist the UNODC to reach its full potential as an efficient channel for multilateral action on drugs.