The Beckley Foundation Public Letter 2011

THE GLOBAL WAR ON DRUGS HAS FAILED IT IS TIME FOR A NEW APPROACH

WE THE UNDERSIGNED call on Governments and from atainment. The policies of prohibition create more Parliaments to recognise that: harms than they prevent. We must seriously consider shifting resources away from criminalising tens of Fifty years after the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs was launched, the global war on millions of otherwise law abiding citizens, and move drugs has failed, and has had many unintended and towards an approach based on health, harm-reduction, devastating consequences worldwide. cost-efectiveness and respect for human rights. Evidence consistently shows that these health-based approaches Use of the major controlled drugs has risen, and supply deliver beter results than criminalisation. is cheaper, purer and more available than ever before. The UN conservatively estimates that there are now 250 Improving our drug policies is one of the key policy million drug users worldwide. challenges of our time. It is time for world leaders to Illicit drugs are now the third most valuable industry in fundamentally review their strategies in response to the the world, after food and oil, estimated to be worth over drug phenomenon. $350 billion a year, all in the control of criminals. At the root of current policies lies the 1961 UN Single Fighting the war on drugs costs the world’s taxpayers Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It is time to re-examine incalculable billions each year. Millions of people are this treaty which imposes a ‘one-size-fts-all’ solution, in prison worldwide for drug-related ofences, mostly in order to allow individual countries the freedom to personal users and small-time dealers. explore drug policies that beter suit their domestic Corruption amongst law-enforcers and politicians, needs. especially in producer and transit countries, has spread As the production, demand and use of drugs cannot be as never before, endangering democracy and civil society. Stability, security and development are threatened by the eradicated, new ways must be found to minimise harms, fallout from the war on drugs, as are human rights. Tens and new policies, based on scientifc evidence, must be of thousands of people die in the drug war each year. explored. The drug-free world so confdently predicted by Let us break the taboo on debate and reform. The time supporters of the war on drugs is further than ever for action is now.

Yours faithfully,

President Juan Manuel Santos Desmond Tutu Sir Richard Branson President of the Republic of Colombia Archbishop, Nobel Prize winner Entrepreneur, founder of Virgin Group President Oto Pérez Molina Mario Vargas Llosa Sting President of the Republic of Guatemala Writer, Nobel Prize winner Musician and actor President Jimmy Carter Dr. Kary Mullis Yoko Ono Former President of the United States, Chemist, Nobel Prize winner Musician and artist Nobel Prize winner Professor Sir Harold Kroto Carlos Fuentes Novelist and essayist President Fernando H. Cardoso Chemist, Nobel Prize winner Gilberto Gil Former President of Brazil Professor John Polanyi Former Minister of Culture, Brazil President César Gaviria Chemist, Nobel Prize winner Sean Parker Former President of Colombia Professor Kenneth Arrow Founding President of Facebook, Spotify President Vicente Fox Economist, Nobel Prize winner Thorvald Stoltenberg Former President of Mexico Professor Thomas C. Schelling Former UN High Commissioner, Refugees President Ruth Dreifuss Economist, Nobel Prize winner Louise Arbour, CC, GOQ Former President of Switerland Professor Sir Peter Mansfeld Former UN High Commissioner, Human President Lech Wałęsa Physicist, Nobel Prize winner Rights Former President of Poland, Nobel Prize Professor Sir Anthony Legget Javier Solana, KOGF, KCMG winner Physicist, Nobel Prize winner Former Secretary General, EU Council President Alexander Kwaśniewski Professor Martin L. Perl Professor Noam Chomsky Former President of Poland Physicist, Nobel Prize winner Professor of Linguistics & Philosophy, MIT George P. Schult Wisława Szymborska Amanda Feilding Former US Secretary of State Poet, Nobel Prize winner Director, the Beckley Foundation

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