It’s a wrap! The war on drugs is a complete failure.
According to the Global Commission on Drug Policy, the global war on drugs has “failed” and the finger is being pointed at the United States as one of the main components of the problem.
The 19-member commission includes Mexico’s former President Ernesto Zedillo, Brazil’s ex-President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, as well as the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker and the current Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou. Their report, released today, calls for the legalization of some drugs and an end to the criminalization of drug users. The BBC reports:
The Global Commission’s 24-page report argues that anti-drug policy has failed by fuelling organized crime, costing taxpayers millions of dollars and causing thousands of deaths.
It cites UN estimates that opiate (herione) use increased 35% worldwide from 1998 to 2008, cocaine by 27% and cannabis by 8.5%.
Go to the next page to read more.
[pagebreak]
“Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately: that the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that repressive strategies will not solve the drug problem, and that the war on drugs has not, and cannot, be won,” the report said.
Instead of punishing users who the report says “do no harm to others,” the commission argues that governments should end criminalization of drug use, experiment with legal models that would undermine organized crime syndicates and offer health and treatment services for drug-users.
It calls for drug policies based on methods empirically proven to reduce crime and promote economic and social development.
The commission is especially critical of the U.S., saying it must abandon anti-crime approaches to drug policy and adopt strategies rooted in healthcare and human rights.
“We hope this country (the U.S.) at least starts to think there are alternatives,” said former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria.
“We don’t see the U.S. evolving in a way that is compatible with our (countries’) long-term interests.”
(source)
