Home > A radical drug policy to reduce crime, arrests, and incarceration: regulating alcohol.

Humphreys, Keith (2020) A radical drug policy to reduce crime, arrests, and incarceration: regulating alcohol. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.

External website: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/radical-dru...


Professor Keith Humphreys presented at the 2020 NDARC Webinar Series on Thursday, 23 July 2020 (56 minute video).

The drug that contributes the most to crime, violence, and incarceration is not cannabis, cocaine, or heroin, but alcohol. The current policy for alcohol in the developed world is to tax it far below the costs of the harm it produces, to allow its wide advertisement, and to accept extensive lobbying with and donations from the industry to policymakers and regulators.  Government agencies charged with reducing problems caused by “drugs” and “addiction” often exclude alcohol from their remit. This presentation explains why this situation persists, why it is profoundly damaging to public health and safety, and how it can be changed.

Repository Staff Only: item control page