Europe and Latin America :

Two decades of cooperation between Europe and Latin America to combat drugs and drug trafficking have had a limited impact in terms of reducing drug consumption and production and have not led to better control of the criminal networks involved in the trafficking. Given this lack of decisive progress, fresh debate is emerging in Latin America on possible alternatives to the traditional models for tackling drugs, which are often seen as increasingly obsolete. These alternatives include measures such as decriminalisation and partial regulation of the drugs market. This study contains recent data on illegal drug consumption and production in the EU and Latin America, a general overview of the policies adopted in both regions, and analysis of the main bi-regional cooperation tools and main aspects of the current debate on drug trafficking. The study concludes with a number of recommendations on how to reform the current drugs and drug trafficking strategies and programmes pursued by both regions and with other partners.