Drugs and Development: The Global Impact on Sustainable Growth and Human Rights

In a globalized world, people, ideas, organizations, and commodities—including drugs—flow rapidly from place to place and are tied together through the market, advanced communication systems, and rapid transportation technologies. Drug distribution and use both reflect and reinforce an exploitive political economy that has connected the West with developing nations since the rise of capitalism. Singer’s fast-moving, authoritative treatment examines the impact of legal and illegal drug distribution and use on relations among richer and poorer nations, in particular their influence on social and economic development in the Third World. Guided by a critical perspective and drawing on his own crosscultural research in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, Singer analyzes drug-related developmental challenges around the world and assesses the impact of licit and illicit drug use, drug trafficking, the War on Drugs, and drug-related health consequences like HIV/AIDS.