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Pathways to Drug Policies That Work

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TAKING CONTROL: PATHWAYS TO DRUG POLICIES THAT WORK SEPTEMBER 2014 Apu Comes/Folhapress GLOBAL COMMISSION ON DRUG POLICY MEMBERS Kofi Annan Aleksander Kwasniewski chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation and former former President of Poland Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ghana Ricardo Lagos Louise Arbour former President of Chile former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Canada George Papandreou CONTENTS former Prime Minister of Greece Pavel Bém Foreword from THE CHAIR 04 former mayor of Prague, Czech Republic Jorge Sampaio former President of Portugal EXECUTIVE Summary 06 Richard Branson entrepreneur, advocate for social causes, founder of the George Shultz THE ‘WAR ON DRUGS’ HAS FAILED Virgin Group, cofounder of The Elders, United Kingdom former Secretary of State, United States – NEW approaches ARE EMERGING 10 (honorary chair) Fernando Henrique Cardoso KEY pathways to drug POLICIES that work 16 former President of Brazil (chair) Javier Solana former European Union High Representative for the 2.1 Put people’s health and safety first 18 Maria Cattaui Common Foreign and Security Policy, Spain 2.2 Ensure access to essential medicines and pain control 20 former Secretary-General of the International 2.3 End the criminalization and incarceration of people who use drugs 21 Chamber of Commerce, Switzerland Thorvald Stoltenberg 2.4 Refocus enforcement responses to drug trafficking and organized crime 23 former Minister of Foreign Affairs and UN High Ruth Dreifuss Commissioner for Refugees, Norway 2.5 Regulate drug markets to put governments in control 26 former Minister of Social Affairs and former President of Switzerland Mario Vargas Llosa GLOBAL LEADERSHIP FOR MORE EFFECTIVE AND HUMANE POLICIES 32 writer and public intellectual, Peru Cesar Gaviria References and Notes 37 former President of Colombia Paul Volcker former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve and of the Annex. Classification of drugs 42 Asma Jahangir Economic Recovery Board, United States human rights activist, former UN Special Rapporteur Glossary 43 on Arbitrary, Extrajudicial and Summary Executions, John Whitehead Pakistan former Deputy Secretary of State, former Co-Chairman Resources 44 Goldman Sachs & Co., Founding Chairman, 9/11 Michel Kazatchkine Memorial & Museum, United States Acknowledgements 45 UN Secretary-General Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and former Executive Ernesto Zedillo Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis former President of Mexico and Malaria, France 2 3 FOREWORD FROM THE CHAIR The international drug control regime is broken. change is inevitable, they are beginning to What is now needed is action by the world’s of drug policy reform. We encourage leaders to In our 2011 report we called on global experiment with a range of solutions drawing multilateral institutions, first of all the United seriously engage with new challenges, not least leaders to join an open conversation on drug from solid data and with an open mind. Nations (UN). We are delighted to see the new synthetic drugs appearing on the market policy reform. We recommended that they Informed approaches are trumping ideological quality of high level debate being generated almost daily, which demand more creative immediately discuss alternatives to the failed ones and the results are encouraging. from heads of state and senior UN figures. responses. war on drugs. In subsequent reports we drew It is also encouraging to see important their attention to the urgent need for reform to In this report, we set out a broad roadmap regional organizations contributing to positive A stale political declaration in 2016 that reduce the devastating epidemics of HIV and for getting drugs under control. We recognize reform. Reports supporting change from the promises to ‘solve the drugs problem’ and Hepatitis C. We asked policy makers to break that past approaches premised on a punitive Organization of American States, the West make the world ‘drug-free’ is not going to be the fifty year taboo on talking about more law enforcement paradigm have failed, Africa Commission on Drugs, and the Global the answer the world needs. We reiterate that effective and humane ways to manage drugs. emphatically so. They have resulted in more Commission on HIV and the Law, are all critical the international community needs to come violence, larger prison populations, and the building blocks of drug policies that work. They to terms with the reality that easy answers to Today, three years later, we are pleased to see erosion of governance around the world. The are also openly challenging the international solve the drug problem do not exist. that a genuine debate on new approaches to health harms associated with drug use have drug control regime and creating political drug policy is underway in an array of national got worse, not better. The Global Commission space for new players to explore similar Our report does not offer the definitive solution. and regional forums. Crucially, the discussion on Drug Policy instead advocates for an approaches. Rather, it provides a roadmap for pragmatic is based on evidence, and new, exciting approach to drug policy that puts public policy change we think will make the drug- innovations are spreading across the Americas, health, community safety, human rights, and We are driven by a sense of urgency. There related problems the world faces today much Africa, Europe, South and South East Asia, and development at the center. is a widespread acknowledgment that the more manageable. We ask that countries Australia and the South Pacific. The discussion current system is not working, but also take advantage of the 2016 UNGASS as an is truly global, and governments and civil We need to be bold but pragmatic. There is no recognition that change is both necessary opportunity to finally start getting drugs under societies are learning from one another, and one-size-fits-all pathway to enacting drug policy and achievable. We are convinced that the control. testing out new approaches on the ground. reform. We recognize that the shift will demand 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special changes in domestic and international policy Session on drugs (UNGASS) is an historic Fernando Henrique Cardoso The reality in 2014 is that governments and and practice. It will entail trial and error and an opportunity to discuss the shortcomings of Former President of Brazil (1994-2002) civil societies are not just talking, many honest and critical engagement with results. the drug control regime, identify workable are taking action. Drug policy reform is But we are encouraged by the signposts that alternatives and align the debate with ongoing moving from the realm of theory to practice. are emerging that can help governments and debates on the post-2015 development agenda Courageous leaders from across the spectrum citizens take the right steps forward. They and human rights. The Global Commission are seeing the many political, social and have momentum on their side, and can gather encourages all UN member states and economic dividends from drug policy reform. insights from the many positive developments agencies to continue rethinking the question They recognize the critical mass of voices around the world that have occurred since demanding a new course. And recognizing that 2011. 4 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The upcoming United Nations General Assembly organized crime, the Commission recommends Special Session on the World Drug Problem that governments regulate drug markets and OUR RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE (UNGASS) in 2016 is an unprecedented adapt their enforcement strategies to target SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS: opportunity to review and re-direct national drug the most violent and disruptive criminal groups control policies and the future of the global drug rather than punish low level players. The Global control regime. As diplomats sit down to rethink Commission’s proposals are complementary international and domestic drug policy, they and comprehensive. They call on governments to would do well to recall the mandate of the United rethink the problem, do what can and should be Nations, not least to ensure security, human rights done immediately, and not to shy away from the and development. Health is the thread that runs transformative potential of responsible regulation. through all three of these aspirations, and the UN global drug control regime has the ‘health The obstacles to drug policy reform are both and welfare of mankind’ as its ultimate goal. But daunting and diverse. Powerful and established Putting health and community violations – have failed to produce positive drug control bureaucracies, both national and overwhelming evidence points to not just the safety first requires a fundamental outcomes. Far more important are goals and international, staunchly defend status quo failure of the regime to attain its stated goals but reorientation of policy priorities measures that focus on reducing both drug- also the horrific unintended consequences policies. They seldom question whether their and resources, from failed punitive related harms such as fatal overdoses, HIV/ of punitive and prohibitionist laws and policies. involvement and tactics in enforcing drug policy are doing more harm than good. Meanwhile, enforcement to proven health and AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases as well A new and improved global drug control regime is there is often a tendency to sensationalize each social interventions. as prohibition-related harms such as crime, violence, corruption, human rights violations, needed that better protects the health and safety new “drug scare” in the media. And politicians Both the stated goals of drug control policies, of individuals and communities around the world. regularly subscribe to the appealing rhetoric of environmental degradation, displacement and the criteria by which such policies are Harsh measures grounded in repressive ideologies “zero tolerance” and creating “drug free” societies of communities, and the power of criminal assessed, merit reform. Traditional goals must be replaced by more humane and effective rather than pursuing an informed approach based organizations.
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