Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foreword / Ruth Dreifuss -- European drug policies in context / Henri Bergeron & Renaud Colson -- Regional dimension of European drug policies -- The politics of expertise and EU drug policy / Martin Elvins -- Pathways to integration of European drug policy / Caroline Chatwin -- The soft power of the European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction / Henri Bergeron -- Domestic drug policies in Europe -- Belgium drug policy / Christine Guilain -- Danish drug policy / Esben Houborg -- French drug policy / Ivana Obradovic -- German drug policy / Tilmann Holzer -- Italian drug policy / Grazia Zuffa -- Drug policy in the Netherlands / Jean-Paul Grund & Joost Breeksema --Polish drug policy / Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch -- Portuguese drug policy / Caitlin Hughes -- Spanish drug policy / Cristina Diaz Gomez & Emiliano Martin Gonzales -- Swedish drug policy / Johan Edman -- Swiss drug policy / Frank Zobel -- Drug policy in the United Kingdom / Susanne MacGregor -- Trends and prospects in European drug policies -- Changing paradigms in drug policies in EU member states : from digression to convergence / Franz Trautmann -- The changing face of harm reduction in Europe / Dagmar Hedrich & Alessandro Pirona -- Legal responses to drug possession in Europe : from crime to public health / Brendan Hughes -- Cannabis social clubs in Europe : prospects and limits / Tom Decorte & Mafalda Pardal.

The drug control regime established by the international community has not succeeded in curbing either the demand for, or the offer of, narcotics. But, despite a series of developments in the Americas - including the legalisation of cannabis in Uruguay, as well as in Colorado - there is still little support in Europe for repealing drug-prohibition laws. Nevertheless, a gradual policy convergence reveals the emergence of a European model favouring public-health strategies over a strictly penal approach to combating drugs whilst growing trans-national support for legalisation indicates the persistence of an alternative paradigm for drug policy. This book examines the various influences on drug policies in Europe; as the impetus for drug policy changes from grassroots movements, NGO networks, private foundations and academic research centres among others, are increasingly confronting the prevailing discourses of drug prohibition and criminalisation. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach, and bringing together legal scholars, social scientists and practitioners, it provides a comprehensive, and critical, assessment of drug policy reform in Europe. Les drogues face au droit. Puf, 2015, 111 p.