'GLOBAL WAR ON DRUGS HAS FAILED,' REPORT SAYS

NEW YORK - The global war on drugs has failed and decriminalizing
narcotics such as marijuana could finally help weaken organized
gangs, former world leaders said Thursday in a controversial report.

Arguing for a new approach to national and global drug control
policies, the Global Commission on Drug Policy called for nations to
"break the taboo on debate and reform."

"The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences
for individuals and societies around the world," the members of the
commission said in the report released in New York.

The commission includes former Brazilian president Fernando Cardoso,
former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria, former Mexican president
Ernesto Zedillo, and Canada's Louise Arbour, former UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights.

The millions of dollars poured into the fight against drug producers
and traffickers over the past decades "have clearly failed to
effectively curtail supply or consumption," the report said.
"Apparent victories in eliminating one source or trafficking
organization are negated almost instantly by the emergence of other
sources and traffickers."

"Encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal
regulation of drugs to undermine the power of organized crime and
safeguard the health and security of their citizens," it recommended.

But Mexico, where more than 37,000 people have died in drug wars
since 2006, reacted angrily to the idea of legalizing drugs saying it
would "not strengthen our security institutions and law enforcement."

"To suggest that organized crime in Mexico only amounts to drug
trafficking, ignores the fact that organized gangs commit other
crimes such as kidnapping, extortion and robbery," the country's
national security council said.