IP32620 - ALTERED STATES: DRUGS TRADE AND GLOBAL SOCIAL CHANGE

Module Identifier	IP32620
Module Title	ALTERED STATES: DRUGS TRADE AND GLOBAL SOCIAL CHANGE
Academic Year	2002/2003
Semester	Intended for use in future years
Next year offered	N/A
Next semester offered	N/A
Course delivery	Lecture	16 Hours 16 x 1 hour
	Seminars / Tutorials	8 Hours 8 x 1 hour
Assessment	Semester Assessment	Group Presentation:	20%
	Semester Assessment	Essay:	70%
	Semester Assessment	Seminar Presentation:	10%
	Supplementary Exam	Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module you will be able to:

Assess the role of Britain in the opium wars

Describe why alcohol was prohibited and subsequently permitted in the US

Account for the massive growth in the trade in drugs in the last half of the twentieth century

Describe the major drug sources and trade routes

Appraise international efforts to combat the trade in drugs

Assess whether the war on drugs can be won

Evaluate the impact of globalisation on the drugs trade.

Brief description

The trade in psychotrophic (mind altering) drugs is inherently an issue of international relations. The study of the traffic raises questions of trade, north-south relations, international organisation and national development.

This module takes a multi-disciplinary approach to place current concern about the trade in drugs into a global historical perspective. It will address a number of key issues: why was there considerable success at controlling the 'drug problem' throughout much of the early part of the twentieth century? Why did a mass market for drugs emerge during the 1960s? What are the implications of globalisation for the drug trade? To what extent have states encouraged the drug trade when it has suited their wider geo-political interests? What differences are there between the various drug producing areas of the world? What are the costs to user and producer societies of adopting a 'war against drugs'? What alternative policies could be used to minimise the 'drug problem'?

Aims

The aim of the module is not to provide a policy prescription for the 'drug war' nor to argue for any particular policy option. Rather, its intention is, through a world historical consideration of the trade, to contribute towards the provision of a foundation for a rational debate of the issues.