WAR ON DRUGS 'A FAILURE,' INTERNATIONAL PANEL DECLARES

World consumption of cocaine and opiates has shot up in the past
decade. Cartel violence rages in Mexico. West Africa has become a
cocaine-trafficking hub.

A high-powered panel of former heads of states and United Nations
officials says it is time for governments to find new ways to deal
with the world's drug problem.

"The fact is that the war on drugs is a failure," former Brazilian
president Fernando Henrique Cardoso said Thursday at the unveiling of
a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

Along with Mr. Cardoso, the commission includes former Colombian
president Cesar Gaviria, former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo,
former U.S. secretary of state George Shultz, former UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan and Canadian Louise Arbour, the former
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

WHAT THE REPORT RECOMMENDS

Don't treat users as criminals

There are an estimated 250 million drug users in the world, according
to UN estimates. "We simply cannot treat them all as criminals," the
report says.

The commission notes that countries that rely on repression when
dealing with users of injectable drugs, such as Russia and Thailand,
end up with high rates of HIV transmission. Britain, Switzerland,
Germany and Australia, which have harm-reduction strategies such as
needle exchanges, injection sites or legal heroin programs, however,
have much lower rates of HIV among injected-drug users.

In Britain, opiate and crack cocaine users that received drug
treatment in the community were 48 per cent less likely to reoffend,
the report says.

Don't waste time nabbing the small fry

From farmers to drug mules to street pushers, the trafficking of
illegal narcotics relies on a wide pyramid of people. The report
argues that going after the smaller players in the drug trade
consumes a lot of policing resources without disrupting supply.

"We should not treat all those arrested for trafficking as equally
culpable - many are coerced into their actions, or are driven to
desperate measures through their own addiction or economic
situation," the report says.

It suggests alternative sentences for small-scale or first-time
dealers who are likely to be addicts themselves. Similarly, providing
suppliers with alternative livelihoods, such as legal crops, is more
effective than just destroying the fields of coca or poppy farmers.

Decriminalize or give legal access to some drugs to undercut organized crime

The report praises the way Portugal and Switzerland approached their
drug problem.

In 2001, Portugal decriminalized the use and possession of all
illicit drugs. In the ensuing decade, there was a slight rise in drug
use but at the same pace as other countries where drugs remained criminalized.

Since 1994, hard-core addicts in Switzerland are able to get measured
doses of heroin at government-approved clinics. The Swiss program has
been credited with reducing crime and ending Zurich's infamous
"Needle Park." As junkies found legal sources for their addiction,
the report says, criminal suppliers became less visible and heroin
less accessible for casual or novice users.

REACTIONS FROM CANADA, THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO

Justice Canada spokeswoman Carole Saindon:

"The Government of Canada continues its efforts under the National
Anti-Drug Strategy, which focuses on prevention and access to
treatment for those with drug dependencies, while at the same time
getting tough on drug dealers and producers who threaten the safety
of our youth and communities."

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

Rafael Lemaitre, Communications Director, White House Office of
National Drug Control Policy:

"Legalization remains a non-starter in the Obama administration
because research shows that illegal drug use is associated with
voluntary treatment admissions, fatal drugged driving accidents,
mental illness, and emergency room admissions."

Statement from the Mexican government's National Security Council:

"Taking partial measures is insufficient and inefficient because it
is a transnational phenomenon, with an international market structure
that needs to be analyzed in a much broader context than in a single country."

"Increasing the consumption of drugs in major markets, without
measures that impact the market and the supply chain, generates
greater economic incentives for criminals."

"Legalization won't stop organized crime, its turf wars or its
violence. Nor will it strengthen our security institutions and law
enforcement. To equate organized crime in Mexico with drug
trafficking is to forget that organized crime commits other offences
such as kidnapping, extortion and robbery."