Global war on drugs 'has failed' say former leaders

HisGreatness

BBC wrote:

The global war on drugs has "failed" according to a new report by group of politicians and former world leaders.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy report calls for the legalisation of some drugs and an end to the criminalisation of drug users.

The panel includes former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the former leaders of Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, and the entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson.

The White House rejected the findings, saying the report was misguided.

The 19-member commission includes the former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, the former President of Colombia Cesar Gaviria, and the current Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou.

The panel also features prominent Latin American writers Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa, the EU's former foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and George Schultz, the former US Secretary of State.

'No harm to others'

Their report argues that anti-drug policy has failed by fuelling organised crime, costing taxpayers millions of dollars and causing thousands of deaths.

It cites UN estimates that opiate use increased 35% worldwide from 1998 to 2008, cocaine by 27%, and cannabis by 8.5%.

The authors criticise governments who claim the current war on drugs is effective:

"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 criminalisation of drug use, experiment with legal models that would undermine organised 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 US, saying it must abandon anti-crime approaches to drug policy and adopt strategies rooted in healthcare and human rights.

"We hope this country (the US) at least starts to think there are alternatives," said the former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13624303

All the people who know the most about the market have supported that the "war on drugs" is failing. Plus Kofi Annan so it isn't just some "grasshead" (their words) who is saying it. But we all know the US won't admit their "war" is failing and so they keep on diping their noses (no pun intended) into other countries territory and matters, even though the other countries know the "war" isn't the way.

They should just legalise most drugs IMO. Keep heroine, crystal meth and crack banned though, they are the most deadly. What do ye think?

(BTW, i'm not asking for drugs, not inquiring about the availability of them, just peoples opinions on the "war" and whether they think, currently, illicit drugs should be legalised, plus the strength and validity of the oppositions statements)

HivemindXX

Bill Hicks - 18 years ago wrote:

I loved when Bush came out and said, "We are losing the war against drugs." You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it.

What's the purpose of the "war on drugs"?

Eliminate drug use (except for alcohol, nicotine and opiates for wealthy people with a prescription)? Eliminate drug related violence and crime?

I guess those are what we'd expect the goals to be. Both of them have clearly failed.

What it has succeeded in doing is over loading the prisons to the extent that rapists and murderers get out early to make space for people who grow a few plants in their shed and making the drug trade so profitable that organised gangs find it worth while to murder each other, law enforcement agents who get in their way and anyone who might catch a stray bullet.

I don't think anyone could claim the war on drugs is a success based on the presumed goals. However if the goals are to look tough on crime to straight laced voters, to expand the role of police to the extent where they are buying military weapons up to and including armoured personnel carriers and to allow the military and intelligence agencies the excuse to mess around in other countries then maybe it's not as big a failure all that.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

A major problem is that a large number of people currently involved in the war on drugs have an economic interest in continuing it. The DEA and the American prison industrial complex would be undermined if drugs were to be legalized.

Valmont

I agree with Duffy, there are innumerable groups and individuals who have a vested economic interest in keeping the 'war' going. Those people aren't going to give up their livelihoods without a fight.

Regarding Meth and crack, those drugs have largely arisen from the escalating cost and dwindling supply of cocaine throughout large swathes of America. Meth is easy and cheap to make so it is the preferred choice for those needing to get high. I would imagine lifting bans on cocaine trafficking would see meth and crack use drop.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Its always the same, prohibition encourages the cultivation and manufacture of more dangerous and often cheaper forms of drugs. From opium to heroin, from cocaine to crack, the pattern often repeats itself.

p1akuw47h5r3it

I think all drugs bar Crystal Meth and Heroin should be legalized. I think the "War on Drugs" is failing simply because these drugs, in most cases, are readily available. It is a pointless waste of resources and money.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

An interview with David Norris has surfaced in which he argues for legalization of drugs and prostitution. Can't wait to see the smearing this brings about.

Denerick

Everyone knows what they must and should do. The problem is getting re-elected once they do the logical and reasonable thing.

The average citizen is informed by right wing rags who fill their head with bile and irrational propaganda. The Daily Mail would be all over whatever government tried to do this. Unfortunately thousands more wayward youths will be locked up for experimenting in something that most people do on some level anyway (I dare you to find me someone between the age of 20-30 who hasn't taken any kind of intoxicating substance at least once in their life) and the ultimate victors are the drug gangs, laughing all the way to the money launderers.