What is meant by ‘supply reduction’ and ‘demand reduction’? To what extent can demand reduction alone provide an effective response to illegal drug use?

Drug abuse is a global problem. It affects every country, although the extent and characteristics vary considerably. Drug abuse trends especially amongst young people have started to converge over the last few decades. This essay will look at supply reduction and demand reduction and try to establish if demand reduction programmes alone are effective as a method of curbing drug abuse or whether an approach integrating the two is preferable.
Supply reduction programmes are characterised by domestic law enforcement efforts, source country programmes, and the attempt to stop or disrupt the flow of illicit drugs into a country at the borders or overseas. Demand reduction entails drug treatments and prevention programmes and seeks to discourage people from trying illegal substances or attempts to encourage existing drug users to stop, through rehabilitation and social reintegration. Fleckenstein et al (2005)
At the 1998 UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem, Member States recognised that reducing the demand for drugs was an essential pillar in the stepped-up global effort to reduce significantly both the supply of and demand for drugs by 2008, as expressed in the Political Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Online 2007)
The ultimate goal of both supply and demand reduction strategies is the same: to minimise or eliminate drug use and abuse. If that goal is achieved, the development of substance use disorders and the health and social problems associated with them will also be reduced. Since the supply of and demand for illegal drugs are inextricably linked, programmes aimed at reducing the problem of drug abuse should be integrated, complementary and mutually reinforcing rather than isolated or competing activities. Fleckenstein et al (2005)
Illegal drug use is a complex behaviour that is mostly dependent on the individual, the environment that they are in and the drugs themselves. Drug markets are affected by the interaction between the demand for drugs and their availability. The interaction is influenced by social, cultural, economic, and political forces.
Early attempts to confront drug abuse issues, including drug control measures, focused on reducing the supply of illegal drugs. The first international recognition that drug supply is linked with demand was the inclusion of an estimate system for narcotic drugs in the 1931 Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs, in order to prevent the diversion of such drugs into illicit channels. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Online 2007)
The International Narcotics Control Board has emphasised the need for a balanced approach to the global drug problem, noting that addressing the demand for drugs must be combined with efforts to restrict drug cultivation and manufacture, to limit the availability of source materials and availability of drugs at the street level. The need for such a balanced approach has also been stressed in the 1987 Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Outline of Future Activities in Drug Abuse Control. Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (2004)
There is a clear link between drug availability (supply) and drug consumption (demand). This means that drug supply satisfies and creates demand and that drug demand supports the existing drug supply or creates a new one. That association is demonstrated by the availability of alcohol and nicotine and the problems associated with their use, despite attempts to change attitudes through education and prevention efforts. The same rationale may be applied to controlled substances. As an addictive drug becomes more available, a larger number of individuals will be exposed to it, the likelihood of experimentation will increase and the problems associated with drugs will increase.
This view however, masks the complexities involved in the interaction between the supply of and demand for drugs. In reality this is affected by factors such as alternative substances and sources, new markets and users, relapse and social, ideological and economic challenges. Demand has led traffickers to seek alternative sources and substances. How supply can create demand is illustrated by the crack cocaine epidemic in the US in the 1980s, during which a new and cheaper form of a traditional drug became widely available. Pentz et al (1996)
Historically, demand and supply reduction approaches to the prevention and control of tobacco, alcohol and other drug abuse have been treated as independent efforts in the US for public attention and funding. Separate reviews of research suggest that the more effective components of each programme can reduce potential drug use by 20-40%. Review of theories relevant to behaviour change suggests that the integration of the two approaches could increase this proportion to 50% for longer periods by synergistically affecting community anti-drug use norms and compliance. Pentz et al (1996)
Neither demand reduction programmes nor supply reduction programmes alone have been fully successful in combating the drug problem. The International Narcotics Board has emphasised the need for policy makers, competent and national authorities and others involved in implementing drug control strategies to utilise balanced, combined and integrated approaches at all levels for maximum effectiveness. Fleckenstein (2005)
The deterrent effect of law enforcement efforts affects the demand for illegal drugs. The risk of penal sanctions may act as a deterrent to people who have never tried drugs, though the risk of such sanctions does not always deter drug addicts who need drugs whatever the consequences. Collaboration between the criminal justice system and the treatment or health care system in the form of drug courts and similar programmes is found in many different countries. Cross-training among the various professional disciplines involved is critical to the success of such joint programmes. Inciardi (1990)
Demand reduction programmes are important in helping individuals develop the personal and social skills required to make informed and healthy choices regarding their drug dependency. Whilst demand reduction efforts are useful and have had a certain level of success there is a vast amount of evidence emerging from research initiatives that would suggest that in the wider picture of a global drug problem, both methods should be integrated and used simultaneously with the relevant agencies involved working in collaboration, this would appear to be the most effective technique of tackling the drug problem as opposed to demand reduction alone.