Global war on drugs has 'failed' say former leaders

Global war on drugs has 'failed' say former leaders
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13624303

1 June 2011 Last updated at 22:12 ET

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.

As well as Mexico's former President Ernesto Zedillo, ex-Brazilian
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and former Colombian President
Cesar Gaviria, the 19-member commission includes the former US Federal
Reserve chairman Paul Volcker 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, a former US secretary of state.

'No harm to others'

Cesar Gaviria said the US was one of the countries which came in for criticism
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 former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria.

"We don't see the US evolving in a way that is compatible with our
(countries') long-term interests."

The office of White House drug tsar Gil Kerlikowske rejected the
panel's recommendations.

"Drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and
treated," said a spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control
Policy.

"Making drugs more available - as this report suggests - will make it
harder to keep our communities healthy and safe."

==============

Analysis

Adam Mynott
BBC News

It is a damning indictment. The group of world leaders, including
former Presidents of Mexico and Colombia which are blighted by the
trade in illegal drugs, says urgent changes are overdue.

Their report says current policies to tackle drug abuse and the crime
that preys on it are clearly not working, but result in thousands of
deaths and rampant lawlessness.

It calls for an end to the 'criminalisation, marginalisation and
stigmatisation of people who use drugs but who do no harm to others'.

The leading international figures behind the report do not pull their
punches. They say sensible regulation of drugs is working in some
countries but they accuse many governments around the world of
pretending that the current war on drugs is effective when they know
it isn't.

Drugs need to be decriminalised, they say, and addicts need to be
treated as patients, not villains.

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