Is it time to end the global war on drugs?

[The Straight Story]

The drugs industry is a multi-billion dollar one, driven by violent criminal gangs which has killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world, but is the so-called war on drugs working?

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, are the two world leaders who argue that repressive approaches to containing drugs have failed.

Criminalisation is creating a vast black market where it should not exist. When we're talking about things like cannabis, cocaine, heroin, these are minimally processed agricultural commodities. that are very simple to produce and cost in real terms pennies per dose, and yet because we have policies of prohibition and high demand around the world we create an astronomical price support for drug traffickers .... This is a self-inflicted wound that we have imposed upon ourselves.

SanhoTree, director, Drug Policy Project

Both men are members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy - and they are calling for a new approach.

In a newspaper opinion piece they wrote: "'We called on governments to adopt more humane and effective ways of controlling and regulating drugs. We recommended that the criminalisation of drug use should be replaced by a public health approach.

"It's completely wrong to spend the vast majority of the money being spent by the tax payer around the world on catching people and incarcerating them, it's just not the right approach, we should be spending it on the protection of health and security and education."

Amanda Fielding, Beckley Foundation.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/11/it-time-end-global-war-drugs-20131177151139129.html

[Brickbat]

1. I'm not even reading what you posted and I know the answer is "yes."

[russspeakeasy]

2. Is it 1995 yet ?