Supply reduction is one approach to social problems such as

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

. Other approaches are

demand reduction Demand reduction refers to efforts aimed at reducing the public desire for illegal and illicit drugs. The drug policy is in contrast to the reduction of drug supply, but the two policies are often implemented together. Some discussions of deman ...

and

harm reduction Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of intentional practices and public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. H ...

. In the case of

illegal drugs Illegal may refer to: Law * Violation of law ** Crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and uni ...

, supply reduction efforts generally involves attempts to disrupt the manufacturing and distribution

supply chain A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distri ...

s for these drugs, by both civilian

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

and sometimes

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

forces. This approach, sometimes characterized as the " War on Drugs", has been the dominant approach to drugs policy since the 1960s. There is little or no evidence showing that supply reduction methods can be successful as a means to reduce the supply of illicit drugs. For example, the retail price of cocaine in the US in 2007 was less than half the price in 1984, despite massive investments by the US government in supply reduction strategies. Some analysts have argued that the abject failure of supply reduction in the US actually contributed to a significant and lasting reduction in crime and violence beginning in the 1990s, when cocaine prices hit record lows. In contrast,
systematic review
documents moderate and growing evidence that retail greater availability is associated with greater relapse to smoked tobacco.

References

Drug control law {{Crime-stub

See also

References