U.S. READY TO REVISIT ANTI-DRUG STRATEGY

If you had asked me 10 years ago whether the United States will ever
change its interdiction-focused counternarcotics policies -- and
perhaps even decriminalize marijuana consumption at home -- I would
have told you, "never." Today, I say, "perhaps."

Last week, in a tacit admission that current U.S. anti-drug policies
are not working, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a
bill to create an independent commission to review whether the U.S.
anti-drug policies of the past three decades in Latin America are
producing positive results.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where supporters say it has a good
chance to pass, given its bipartisan support in the House. The
10-member panel, modeled after the 9/11 Commission that made
recommendations to Congress and the White House after the 2001
terrorist attacks, would have to issue its report in 12 months.

What's interesting about the planned independent drug policy
commission is that the idea didn't come from a pro-legalization
advocate or any leftist or libertarian crusader. The sponsor of the
bill, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., opposes decriminalization of drugs for
nonmedical use, and is as mainstream as members of Congress come.

But Engel's frustration over the results of the U.S. war on drugs is
symptomatic of Washington's growing skepticism about U.S. anti-drug
policies these days.

Since 1980, the United States has spent nearly $14 billion trying to
stop drug-smuggling from Latin America, the bill says. While U.S. drug
consumption has declined significantly as a percentage of the
population, there are still 25.7 million users of marijuana, 5.3
million users of cocaine and 453,000 users of heroin. Meanwhile, U.S.
law enforcement and prison systems are overwhelmed by prosecutions on
drug-consumption charges.

Interdiction-focused policies have not changed Latin America's status
as the world's largest exporter of cocaine and marijuana, and
drug-related violence in the region has -- if anything -- increased.
In Mexico alone, 5,661 people died in drug-related violence last year,
more than double the previous year's total.

"Billions upon billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been spent. In
spite of our efforts, the positive results are few and far between,"
says Engel, who chairs the House Western Hemisphere subcommittee.
"Clearly, the time has come to take a fresh look at our
counternarcotics efforts."

The proposed commission will, among other things, take a new look at
U.S. anti-drug programs such as Plan Colombia and the Merida
Initiative for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Engel said that it will "assess all aspects of our drug policy,"
although he clarified in an e-mail to me that decriminalization of
marijuana is not part of his intentions for the commission.

Earlier this year, former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso of
Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Cesar Gaviria of Colombia signed
a joint declaration suggesting that the time has come to consider
decriminalization of marijuana -- studies show that it's not more
harmful than alcohol and tobacco, they said -- and to focus on
education and prevention to reduce drug consumption.

If I had any doubt that the public mood toward anti-drug policies in
the United States is changing, a conversation with former U.S.
ambassador to Bolivia, Manuel Rocha, convinced me of that. Rocha, who
was known as a hard-line enforcer of U.S. anti-drug policies when he
headed the 950-strong embassy staff in Bolivia until 2002, told me
that he supports the Cardoso-Zedillo-Gaviria statement.

"Things have changed," Rocha told me. "We have to be intellectually
honest, and reach the conclusion that the time has come to change the
focus of our failed policies."

My opinion: Washington is on the verge of beginning a taboo-free
discussion on its drug policies that was unthinkable a few years ago.

There are three main reasons for this: First, the U.S. focus on "the
war on drugs" of the 1990s has been replaced by the war on terrorism
following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Second, the 2008
economic crisis is moving U.S. lawmakers to review how government
funds are spent. Third, the drug-related violence in Mexico is
creating growing anxiety in U.S. national security circles.

Most likely, the proposed independent commission will not recommend
decriminalization of marijuana, but will install the issue as a
legitimate debate. Meantime, the Obama Administration will soon
announce a new National Drug Control Strategy that will focus more on
demand reduction than its predecessors.

At any rate, it's clear there is a growing sentiment that the war on
drugs is not working, and that we need to further focus on drug
consumers rather than drug producers.