Cooperative Interagency Approaches to the Illegal Drug Problem

Abstract

Recent advances in law enforcement recognise that, increasingly, more types of crime have migrated across localities and even nations. Law enforcement requires the combined efforts of disparate agencies that must cooperate across organisational and jurisdictional boundaries. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in efforts to combat illegal drug trafficking. Recent efforts involve applying new communication and information technologies to assist the agencies to pool their talents and information in order to attack their common problems more efficiently and effectively. This paper is a case study of such a multi-agency alliance. It describes the two formative phases of the alliance: negotiation and commitment. The paper recounts several potential barriers to the formation of multi-agency alliances, including agency diversity, resource limitations and disincentives to collaboration. The paper also identifies critical factors for the successful formation of alliances, including common goals, facilitative structural mechanisms, broad participation and external support.

Childhood predictors of adult substance abuse

“…This suggests that unstable learning environments may weaken the school bond and commitment to education (Hawkins et al, 1992; Osler et al, 2006) and thus lead to substance use problems. Moreover, the strong influence of deviant peer affiliations, which develops as a function of weakened school commitment (Fergusson et al, 2002; Galea et al, 2003; Hawkins et al, 1992), suggests that building supportive and positive social networks in adolescence may be especially beneficial to the prevention of substance use problems (Monge et al, 1999). …”

“…Besides contributing to school underachievement, antisocial behavior, and mental health problems into adulthood (Belcher & Shinitzky, 1998; Gilvarry & McArdle, 2007; Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992; Merline, O'Malley, Schulenberg, Bachman, & Johnson, 2004), substance use and abuse is linked to increased expenditures for treatment in social service, criminal justice, and health service systems (Monge et al, 1999). Given these serious consequences and growing costs of treatment, identifying malleable risk factors is critical for understanding as well as reducing and ultimately preventing substance abuse and its negative consequences for well-being.…”