ABSTRACT
Alternative development1 is a drug control strategy to reduce or eliminate the illicit supply of drugs derived from illicitly cultivated plants. It is a concept related to integrated development that has been applied in rural areas of developing countries where such plants, mainly opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) and coca bush (Erythroxylum coca), are grown. The decision to cultivate illicit drug crops is the product of many complex interacting factors at various levels, ranging from the household level to the international level, and encompassing both the supply of and demand for illicit drugs worldwide. The most successful approach to getting growers of illicit drug crops to discontinue that activity involves a combination of disincentives and incentives. Thus, law enforcement and the threat of penalties and/or forced eradication, combined with the prospect of legitimate alternative livelihood and broad sustainable economic assistance, including in the areas of education, health care and the development of infrastructure, may be the solution.
