2019
Peter Reuter
Society’s responses to crime, particularly concerning the use of illicit drugs.
Peter Reuter was honoured for his outstanding research on drug markets and public policies. His work has provided profound insights into how different drug policies affect criminality and public health. Reuter’s particular focus is on analysing the effects of various strategies to control and regulate drug markets, which has promoted more evidence-based, humane drug policies globally.Peter Reuter
Born 1944 in Australia. Peter Reuter was professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Maryland in College Park (United States) at the time of the award.
Showed that evidence-based drug policy can make a big difference with small changes.Showed that evidence-based drug policy can make a big difference with small changes.
Research on the effects of drug enforcement
Peter Reuter was awarded the 2019 Stockholm Prize in Criminology for his pioneering work in drug policy research that has significantly improved the treatment of drug addiction.
Reuter gained international attention with his explication and defence of Switzerland’s new drug policy experiments, initiated by Ruth Dreifuss.
Transforming drug policy
After spending decades studying the relationship between drug policy and crime, Reuter’s reviews of evidence produced the same insights and conclusions as the Swiss field studies. By studying how the criminalisation of drug use and its enforcement impacts criminality and health, Reuter identified methods that can be more effective – without drug legalisation. His studies on the impact of drug prices and availability showed that many of the benefits of prohibiting drug use can be achieved with less intrusive measures. The sole use of punitive measures to address the drug problem can increase crime without reducing drug consumption.
By expounding on these new treatment methods, including the Swiss model, Reuters’s research has resulted in changes in drug policy in Brazil, Peru, Malaysia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Great Britain, Vietnam, Uruguay, the United States, and elsewhere.
Ineffective drug policy
Reuter’s research has clearly demonstrated the considerable limitations of many current anti-drug approaches. As early as 1998, for example, he showed why even massively increased police efforts to combat cocaine smuggling from Latin America would only marginally affect the cocaine problem in the United States. Reuter also considered that the spraying of drug crops in Latin America did not produce the intended effects.
His research has been highly important to the reallocation of resources to combat drugs.