Cultivating promises: Incorporating human development and governance in U.S. foreign drug policy

The international drug trade has continued to thrive over the past several decades in spite of the substantial effort the United States has dedicated toward combating it. The majority of U.S. efforts focused on eliminating the supply of illicit drugs entering the United States have failed. Illicit cultivation continues to thrive in countries where the United States has attempted to eradicate the crops. Many argue that eradication does not work because the underlying conditions that lead individuals to grow illicit crops remain. Social, political, and economic circumstances are commonly cited as contributing to illicit cultivation. The United States has recently provided limited funding to projects supporting alternative development and building democracy in source countries but continues to rely upon stringent enforcement methods.;Informed by two theories, human development and institutional anomie, this study provides a quantitative assessment of the relationship between human development, governance, and illicit drug cultivation in over 145 countries between 1985 and 2002. The results indicate that average global drug cultivation has not changed during this time, but significant differences in cultivation between countries remain. Changes in drug cultivation over time depend on the levels of both governance and human development. This is particularly true for countries with weak governance where drug cultivation increases when human development is low and decreases when human development is medium to high. Lower levels of drug cultivation are also associated with higher levels of governance. These findings suggest that U.S. foreign drug policy should provide increased support to expanding human development and strengthening governance institutions as part of its strategy to reduce the drug supply. This includes programs designed to help source country governments reduce corruption, improve the rule of law, offer more educational and employment opportunities, expand public health services, and increase public participation.