WAR ON DRUGS HAS FAILED AND CAUSED 'DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES FOR
SOCIETIES WORLDWIDE' CLAIMS GLOBAL NARCOTICS WATCHDOG

The worldwide war on drugs and organised narcotics gangs has been a
'failure' according to a leading international drugs commission.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy today urged world leaders to
replace the system of strictly criminalising drugs and imprisoning drug users.

The group also argued that countries who use a 'law enforcement'
approach to drug crime should focus their efforts on violent
organised crime and drug traffickers.

In a report issued by the commission, the 19-member panel said it
wanted to encourage governments to legalise drugs like marijuana in
an effort to 'undermine the power of organised gangs'.

The report states: 'The global war on drugs has failed, with
devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.'

The commission, whose panel members include former U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan, and businessman Sir Richard Branson, argued that
decriminalisation does not always result in significant increases in drug use.

Virgin Group tycoon Branson admitted in 2007 he had smoked drugs with
his then 21-year-old son on a surfing holiday in Australia.

Current Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and former U.S.
Secretary of State George Shultz are also on the Global Commission on
Drug Policy.

Other members of the panel include former Mexican President Ernesto
Zedillo, former Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss, former Colombian
President Cesar Gaviria, former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique
Cardoso, and former U.S. Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker.

'Vast expenditures on criminalisation and repressive measures
directed at producers, traffickers and consumers of illegal drugs
have clearly failed to effectively curtail supply or consumption,'
the report states.

It added: 'Apparent victories in eliminating one source or
trafficking organization are negated almost instantly by the
emergence of other sources and traffickers.

It has also been recommended that 'fundamental reforms are urgently
needed in national and global drug control policies'.

A further recommendation by the Commission is to replace the
criminalisation and those who are drug users but don't hurt people
with offers of health and treatment services.

Legalising marijuana and other illicit drugs would 'undermine the
power of organised crime and safeguard the health and security of
their citizens', according to the commission.

The report added: 'Repressive efforts directed at consumers impede
public health measures to reduce HIV/AIDS, overdose fatalities and
other harmful consequences of drug use.'

The commission's report added that money spent by governments on
futile efforts to reduce the supply of drugs and on jailing people on
drug-related offences could be better spent on different ways to
reduce drug demand and the harm caused by drug abuse.

Meanwhile, a group of celebrities was last night branded 'naive in
the extreme' after pleading with David Cameron to decriminalise drug
possession.

Actresses Julie Christie, Dame Judi Dench and Kathy Burke, Left-wing
film director Mike Leigh, singer Sting and Sir Richard Branson
criticised drug policy in a letter to the Prime Minister.

In the open letter signed by 30 people, they demand a 'swift and
transparent' review of drugs laws, followed by 'immediate
decriminalisation' if the review found laws had failed.

Nearly 80,000 people in the UK were convicted or cautioned for
possessing an illegal drug in the past year and 'most were young,
black or poor', the letter published by campaign group Release said.

But the stars were condemned by drugs campaigners who said removing
penalties for cannabis would send a message such drugs were safe.