Soft Drugs and Organized Crime: A Problematic Relationship

Abstract

The paper analyses the relationship between the criminal treatment of “soft” drugs and the fight against organised crime related to drug trafficking, with regard to European law, international law and national criminal law of some EU countries (Spain, Portugal, Greece, Germany and Italy). Following an integrated approach, the essay analyzes the legislation in this matter, the phenomenology of trafficking and the initial effects that the anti- prohibitionist reforms of some North and South American jurisdictions have pro- duced on the illicit market. The aim is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the decriminalization models, taking into account not only their theoretical profiles but also possible outcome on the fight against organised crime.