Neo-Colonialism and Financing for the War on Drugs: A Review of Current Policy and Recommendations for Countries in the Global North

This report examines how global drug control systems perpetuate colonial and racial power imbalances through financial aid, technical assistance, and material support from high-income to low- and middle-income countries. It documents the influence of donor states in shaping punitive drug regimes, including law enforcement training, prison expansion, and abstinence-based education campaigns. The report highlights links between drug enforcement, mass incarceration, and land and resource dispossession, while contrasting these with evidence of the cost-effectiveness of harm reduction. It concludes with recommendations to redirect funding toward health- and rights-based approaches to dismantle discriminatory global drug control structures.