The International Political Responses to Drug Trafficking Revisited

The international community will soon revaluate the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on ‘International Cooperation Towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem’ of 2009. In this revision the Commission on Narcotic Drugs must assess the implementation of the programme this far and, simultaneously, consider the national and regional developments on drug trafficking and demand reduction. This paper offers a reflection on the current challenges that the international political community faces in 2014 in what concerns the threats posed by transnational drug trafficking activities. It further looks at the most recent EU Drugs Action Plan and Strategy in order to identify possible emerging international trends taking into consideration the latest World and EU drug reports. In sum, the paper discusses past and present policy making responses as well as possible future avenues of research that might contribute to a more efficient combat.