Pubdate: Fri, 03 Jun 2011 Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) Copyright: 2011 PG Publishing Co., Inc. Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/pm4R4dI4 Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/341 Author: Tony Norman Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Global+Commission+on+Drug+Policy EASE UP IN DRUG WAR? SMART BUT UNLIKELY The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world." That's just the first line of the first paragraph of the Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. The paragraphs that follow don't mince words, either: "Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government's war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global policies are urgently needed," the report continued. The 24-page policy paper is a blunt, logical and morally coherent analysis of the war on drugs. It is refreshingly free of hysteria and political double talk. That's the first hint that it wasn't authored in Washington. The report wasn't cooked up by an unholy cabal of celebrity pot smokers like Woody Harrelson, Willie Nelson, Bill Maher and Snoop Dogg, either. It was crafted by a 19-member blue ribbon commission that included such notable "hippies" as former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, writer Mario Vargas Llosa, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz. The commission's recommendations are buttressed by data showing the benefits of taking a more humane approach to dealing with drug abuse as a public health crisis versus the traditional one rooted in increasing militarization of the police. The report challenges common myths about addict behavior, how drug markets work and the likelihood that drug abuse goes up dramatically in nations that experiment with alternatives to the drug war model. "Vast expenditures on criminalization and repressive measures directed at producers, traffickers and consumers of illegal drugs have clearly failed to effectively curtail supply or consumption," the report continued in a burst of unadulterated realism. "Apparent victories in eliminating one source of trafficking organization are negated almost instantly by the emergence of other sources and traffickers. Repressive efforts directed at consumers impede public health measures to reduce HIV/AIDS, overdose fatalities and other harmful consequences of drug use. "Government expenditures on futile supply reduction strategies and incarceration displace more cost-effective and evidence-based investments in demand and harm reduction." This may be sensible, but the international flavor of the commission will kill its recommendations in Washington, where it is fashionable, even by the Obama White House, to discount rational alternatives to the bloody and counterproductive status quo. Office of National Drug Control Policy spokesman Rafael Lemaitre didn't waste a moment in attacking the policy paper as short-sighted because of its emphasis on ending criminalization of drugs and treating substance abuse as a public health crisis. "Drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated," Mr. Lemaitre said days before the paper was officially released. "Making drugs more available -- as this report suggests -- will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe." Never mind that once upon a time, a certain Illinois politician named Barack Obama favored an unsentimental look at decriminalizing drugs. The pre-presidential version of Mr. Obama would have gladly vouched for the commission's conclusions. It is often difficult to know whether administration officials are being ironic or are genuinely clueless when an official describes our drug-saturated communities as "healthy and safe." America currently has the highest incarceration rates for drug use and drug abuse in the world. There isn't a city, town or hamlet in this country where someone determined to buy any desired drug can't score it quickly, cheaply and with minimal risk. Drug abuse on a massive scale in this country is already a daily reality. The only thing that distinguishes one neighborhood from another is how local law enforcement reacts to it. Drug abuse cuts across all socio-economic lines, though the bulk of the war against drugs is waged in America's inner cities and rural communities. We didn't need a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy to know that the war on drugs has been a colossal failure. What we really need is visionary leadership in Washington that is willing to buck conventional wisdom to pursue drug policies that actually work. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom