Information Center: drugs, 02/05/2002

Central to the paper's argument is evidence that sub-Saharan African countries are now integrated into the political economy of drug consumption due to the spill-over effect. These countries are now minor markets for ʺhard drugsʺ as the result of the activities of organizations and individual traffickers that use Africa as a staging point in their trade with Europe and the United States. As a result, sub-Saharan African countries have drug consumption problems that were essentially absent prior to 1980, along with associated health, social, and economic costs. The emerging drug problem has forced African countries to develop their own drug control policy.