Is Latin America Moving from a Drug War to a Harm Reduction Strategy for the Illicit Drug Trade?

Latin American countries have long criticized the U.S. ‘drug war’ approach to the illegal drug trade, but let themselves be dragged along by U.S. policy. Over the past decade, governments of the region have grown more aware of the West European harm reduction alternative and become more openly critical of the U.S. model. Governments and their drug policy advisors have proclaimed that they will adopt a harm reduction model, but without succumbing to the belief that illicit drug use cannot be eliminated. In this lecture, Professor Mares focuses on the Brazilian, Bolivian and Mexican cases to analyze the challenges confronting the implementation of such a harm reduction strategy in the region.

David R. Mares is Distinguished Professor of Political Science, holds the Institute of the Americas Endowed Chair, and Directs the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies at the University of California San Diego. He has been a fellow at the Brookings Institute and is author, co-author or editor of ten books on Latin American politics and foreign policy.

Attendance to this event is free of charge but registration is required.