Commentary

Former UN Head Kofi Annan and Former President of Brazil Cardoso Call for Decriminalization of Drugs


NEW YORK—(ENEWSPF)—November 5, 2013.

By: Tony Newman, http://www.drugpolicy.org/

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso have delivered a devastating critique on the failed war on drugs and are calling on governments to adopt more humane and effective ways of controlling and regulating drugs.

In an op-ed on CNN.com, the two world leaders — both members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy – write that:

“Each year, hundreds of thousands of people die globally from preventable drug-related disease and violence. Millions of users are arrested and thrown in jail. Communities all over the world are blighted by drug-related crime. Citizens see huge amounts of their taxes spent on harsh policies which are not working.”

They call for decriminalization of all drugs, a public health approach to drug policy, and allowing countries to experiment with models of legal regulation to undermine organized crime.

Saying that “drug policy reform is going viral,” they praised Colorado and Washington for legalizing marijuana, and applauded leaders in Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Uruguay for initiating reforms. They also highlighted New Zealand’s innovative new law to regulate synthetic drugs and the newly-formed West African Commission on Drugs.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, weighed in on the significance of Kofi Annan and President Cardoso’s advocacy.

“The Global Commission, led by President Cardoso, has played a pivotal role in transforming global dialogue about drug policy,” said Nadelmann. “Its influence will only grow now that Kofi Annan has embraced drug policy reform as a personal priority both globally and with respect to the work of his foundation in Africa. Policy options that were readily mocked and dismissed just a few years ago are now integral to planning for a 21st century global drug control regime to replace the failed prohibitionist regime of the last century.”

Follow Tony Newman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TonyNewmanDPA

Related Material:

CNN.com, Kofi Annan: Stop ‘war on drugs’, By Kofi Annan and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Special to CNN, November 5, 2013

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/05/opinion/annan-cordoso-humane-drug-policy/index.html?hpt=op_t1

(CNN) — Each year, hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from preventable drug-related disease and violence. Millions of users are arrested and thrown in jail. Globally, communities are blighted by drug-related crime. Citizens see huge amounts of their taxes spent on harsh policies that are not working.

But despite this clear evidence of failure, there is a damaging reluctance worldwide to consider a fresh approach. The Global Commission on Drug Policy is determined to help break this century-old taboo. Building on the work of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, our first report — The War on Drugs — demonstrated how repressive approaches to containing drugs have failed.

We called on governments to adopt more humane and effective ways of controlling and regulating drugs. We recommended that the criminalization of drug use should be replaced by a public health approach. We also appealed for countries to carefully test models of legal regulation as a means to undermine the power of organized crime, which thrives on illicit drug trafficking.

There is, at last, some evidence of change. Officials from Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Uruguay have assumed the lead in initiating reforms to drug policy in their own countries. These efforts have had knock-on effects across the neighborhood. In 2013, the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a landmark report on drug policy proposing alternative forms of drug regulation.

The findings of the Global Commission resonated across Europe as well. Many European states serve as a model for a health-oriented approach to drug policy. In several countries, evidence-based prevention, harm reduction and treatment are endorsed — in sharp contrast to solely repressive approaches adopted in other parts of the world.

Drug policy reform is going viral. Other regions are joining the debate about new and progressive ways of dealing with drugs. For example, in New Zealand, proposals are being drafted to regulate synthetic drugs. In West Africa, where drug trafficking and organized crime is threatening democracy and governance, brave leaders have launched a West African Commission on drug trafficking and its consequences.

Even the United States, among the staunchest of all prohibitionist states, is enacting new approaches to drug policy. For the first time, a majority of Americans support regulating cannabis for adult consumption. And in the states of Colorado and Washington, new bills were approved to make this a reality. There are signs that these experiences could multiply further still.

All countries will have an opportunity to review the international drug control regime in a few years’ time. The special session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2016 will provide a great opportunity for an honest and informed debate on drug policy. We hope that this debate will encourage drug policies that are based on what actually works in practice rather than what ideology dictates in theory.

This opportunity must not be lost. In Vienna, where the international community regularly assembles to review progress on drug control, we urge enlightened leadership to ensure that the world looks forward. We cannot remain locked into the old mantra that the war on drugs can be won only with more effort and expense.

With a complex issue like drug policy, of course, there is no single simple answer or one-size-fits-all solution. Countries must have the space to define and develop progressive, open-minded policies best tailored to their own realities and needs.

But today, we know what works and what does not. It is time for a smarter approach to drug policy. Putting people’s health and safety first is an imperative, not an afterthought.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Source: http://www.drugpolicy.org/

 


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