WE LOST THE WAR ON DRUGS

The Global War on Drugs Has Failed, Says the High Level Global Commission
on Drug Policy

The new report begins by
baldly stating: "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating
consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Fifty
years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic
Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government's
war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control
policies are urgently needed."

The report's recommendations are equally blunt: "End the
criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use
drugs but who do no harm to others. Challenge rather than reinforce
common misconceptions about drug markets, drug use and drug dependence.

"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. This
recommendation applies especially to cannabis, but we also encourage
other experiments in decriminalization and legal regulation that can
accomplish these objectives and provide models for others."

The Commission, which includes such dignitaries as Cesar Gaviria
(former President of Colombia), Ernesto Zedillo (former President of
Mexico), George Papandreou (Prime Minister of Greece), George Shultz
(former Secretary of State, United States), Kofi Annan (former
Secretary General of the United Nations) and Paul Volcker (former
Chairman of the US Federal Reserve and of the Economic Recovery
Board), were unequivocal in their findings.

"Break the taboo on debate and reform. The time for action is now,"
says the report, calling for urgent action to change government
policies around the world.

http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Report