The European Union and emergence of a drug policy institution in Turkey

Policies to prevent the illegal sale and use of drugs are strongly affected by national and international institutions. Different models are possible to design drug policies in different settings. This article is focused on the impact of the European Union (EU) on the emergence of a drug policy institution in Turkey. Specifically, it looks at the accession process of the EU and how the supported projects of the EU have affected the development of Turkey's counter drug policies. The case study method is applied to examine the newly formed drug institution, Turkish Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, which is the main unit of analysis in this research. The objective of this research is to provide insight on the EU's impact on drug policy transfer in Turkey over time. The research shows that the EU has a significant impact on the establishing of the institution and the public policy-making in Turkey.