Project: The Illicit Drug Market in the EU and Responses to it

In a follow-up to an EC-supported report on the global illicit drug markets, RAND is teaming up with Trimbos Institute again and the Institute for Criminal Policy Research to provide "further analysis on the EU illicit drugs market and responses to it". The study will investigate a number of pressing issues on the size and operations of illicit drug markets in the EU, including:

• Organisational structure of illicit drug suppliers into the EU
• Flexibility of suppliers to enter and exit other illicit markets, such as human trafficking
• Assessing the costs of producing and trafficking cannabis in the EU
• Improve understanding of retail markets via surveys of recreational and heavy drug users in seven Member States
• Impacts of substitution treatments (e.g., methadone for heroin) on the market
• Stakeholder perceptions about overall trends in drug use and problems

By applying a number of scientific methods to qualitative and quantitative data, RAND and its partners will provide a better understanding of the illicit drugs markets in the EU.

Priscillia Hunt
Beau Kilmer
Peter Reuter
Jim Burgdorf