Pubdate: Wed,17 Apr 2013
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright: 2013 Telegraph Media Group Limited
Contact:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/114
Author: Damien Mcelroy

WAR ON DRUGS 'SHOULD BE ABANDONED'

The global war on drugs should be abandoned and they could be 
legalised, an establishment think tank has declared.

A study by the International Institute of Strategic Studies found 
that the global war on narcotics had failed to contain the scourge of 
illegal stimulants.

The drugs trade has spread to Africa and Eastern Europe in recent 
decades and entrenched its standing in its traditional strongholds of 
Asia and the Americas.

Nigel Inkster, the former assistant chief of MI6 and author of the 
study, said there was a growing revolt against the cost of the fight 
in developing countries.

Only "vested interests" in countries where illegal drugs are consumed 
stood in the way of a change in approach, he said.

Research indicated that the authorities would need to stop 70 per 
cent of all drugs shipments to disrupt the trade. While no figures 
for the proportion of the trade stopped are available, the figure is 
almost certainly far below that threshold.

Therefore ramping up the security services fight against drugs is 
almost certainly doomed to failure.

"As any doctor is told on his first day, you should not just double 
the dose," said Mr Inkster, who is the most senior figure to have 
worked within the fight against narcotics to openly call for a 
review. "If your initial diagnosis doesn't work don't just double the dose."

The corrosive effects on security of the narco-economy also weighs as 
an argument for ending the war. "You can't do counter-insurgency and 
counter-narcotics simultaneously," he said. "Our investigation has 
shown us that the so-called war on drugs fundamentally undermines 
international security."

The report, Drugs, Insecurity and Failed States, highlights two 
alternative systems. Either decriminalisation of all personal 
possession, as Portugal instituted a decade ago, or a licensing 
scheme such as that which brought the gin trade under control in 
London in the 1700s.

Licensing would also allow states to begin to apply the lessons of 
antismoking campaigns which have curtailed tobacco use.

Taxation, public health messages and social legislation could 
marginalise drug use.