\nIn a radical move, the former presidents of\u00a0Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland joined hands with political and industrial heavy-weights Kofi Annan, Richard Branson, George Shultz, Paul Volcker and others to foster a paradigm shift in how our world perceives and regulates drugs.They,\u00a0the\u00a0Global Commission on Drug Policy<\/a>,\u00a0just published a groundbreaking report \u201cTaking Control: Pathways to Drug Policies that Work<\/a>\u201d which argues that the War on Drugs<\/a>\u00a0has been a colossal failure<\/a>\u00a0and something has to change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe facts speak for themselves. It is time to change course,\u201d Annan says of the drug war.\u00a0\u201cWe need drug policies informed by evidence of what actually works, rather than policies that criminalize drug use while failing to provide access to effective prevention or treatment. This has led not only to overcrowded jails but also to severe health and social problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are the five major changes the world leaders propose\u00a0to reform the global drug policy regime:<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/a><\/h3>\n1.\u00a0Put Health and Community Safety First<\/h3>\n
Treating drug users as criminals that need to be punished as opp<\/p>\n
osed to patients in need of help only\u00a0aggravates the problem. Not only does it make integration into society next to impossible, we take away both proven therapies to treat addiction and the tools to reduce the risk associated with drug use. Harm reduction and innovative treatment strategies like needle exchange, substitution therapies, heroin prescription and safe consumption rooms have proven to be more safe, effective and less costly than putting users in jail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe risks associated with drug use increase, sometimes dramatically, when they are produced, sold and consumed in an unregulated criminal environment.\u201d said Richard Branson.<\/p>\n
<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/h3>\n2. Stop Criminalizing People for Drug Use and Possession<\/h3>\n
Imposing \u201ccompulsory treatment\u201d on people whose only offense is drug use or possession hasn\u2019t been shown to reduce the rate of consumption\u00a0of drugs. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars to lock away drug users, often targeted minorities, for victimless crimes. This encourages high risk behaviour such as re-using needles, deters people from seeking medical help, diverts police efforts away from crimes wi<\/p>\n
th victims and destroys millions of families haunted by criminal convictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealth-based approaches to drug policy routinely prove much less expensive and more effective than criminalization and incarceration,\u201d said former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo.<\/p>\n
<\/a>3. Allow and Encourage Diverse Experiments in Legally Regulating Markets<\/h3>\nWhile it is known that alcohol and tobacco are one of the most dangerous drugs known to mankind, we can minimize risks with careful, reason based regulation. There is no reason we can not to the same with currently illicit drugs, beginning with but not limited to cannabis, coca leaf and certain novel psychoactive substances that have proven to be much safer than alcohol and tobacco.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegulating the whole chain, from the production to the retail of drugs, allows to rollback criminal<\/p>\n
organizations, secure quality standards and protect people\u2019s life, health and safety.\u201d said former Swiss president Ruth Dreifuss.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/h3>\n4.\u00a0Ensure Equitable Access to Essential Medicines<\/h3>\n
There are many domestic and international\u00a0obstacles to getting medicine to people in need. Many psycho-active substances that have been proven to treat PTSD, social anxiety, addiction and depression are banned and it is estimated 80% of the world population can\u2019t access pain relief medication because of our current drug laws.<\/p>\n
<\/a>5.\u00a0Focus on Reducing the Power of Criminal Organizations<\/h3>\nProhibition doesn\u2019t diminish overal drug consumption but instead forces the drug trade into unregulated underground markets, often in the hands of violent drug cartels. Prices surge up dramatically, now estimated to be in the hundreds of billions, giving more incentive for cartels to increase drug consumption and addiction. The huge profits made fuels a constant violent struggle against market competition and the state, which trickles down to citizens and corrupts the democratic legal order. Taxing a regulated drug market will bring safer and cheaper substances to users while keeping the profits to benefit society.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecriminalization of drug consumption is certainly crucial but not sufficient. Significant legal and institutional reforms, both at the national and international levels, are needed to allow governments and societies to put in place policies to regulate the supply of drugs with rigorous medical criteria, if the engines of organized crime profitting from drug traffic are to be truly dismantled.\u201d\u00a0said former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo.<\/p>\n
Learn more about the War on Drugs.<\/a><\/h4>\n
4.\u00a0Ensure Equitable Access to Essential Medicines<\/h3>\n
There are many domestic and international\u00a0obstacles to getting medicine to people in need. Many psycho-active substances that have been proven to treat PTSD, social anxiety, addiction and depression are banned and it is estimated 80% of the world population can\u2019t access pain relief medication because of our current drug laws.<\/p>\n
Prohibition doesn\u2019t diminish overal drug consumption but instead forces the drug trade into unregulated underground markets, often in the hands of violent drug cartels. Prices surge up dramatically, now estimated to be in the hundreds of billions, giving more incentive for cartels to increase drug consumption and addiction. The huge profits made fuels a constant violent struggle against market competition and the state, which trickles down to citizens and corrupts the democratic legal order. Taxing a regulated drug market will bring safer and cheaper substances to users while keeping the profits to benefit society.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecriminalization of drug consumption is certainly crucial but not sufficient. Significant legal and institutional reforms, both at the national and international levels, are needed to allow governments and societies to put in place policies to regulate the supply of drugs with rigorous medical criteria, if the engines of organized crime profitting from drug traffic are to be truly dismantled.\u201d\u00a0said former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo.<\/p>\n
Learn more about the War on Drugs.<\/a><\/h4>\n
World Health Organization Calls For Decriminalizing Personal Drug Use<\/a><\/p>\n
In 2016 the United Nation (UN) will hold another\u00a0General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs<\/a>\u00a0and the commission expects their suggestions to have a strong impact. The\u00a0last UN meeting on drugs was in 1998 and called for a drug free world and set a myriad of unrealistic goals.<\/p>\n
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