Pubdate: Tue, 09 Sep 2014
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2014 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Somini Sengupta
Cited: http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/

COALITION URGES NATIONS TO DECRIMINALIZE DRUGS AND DRUG USE

A coalition of political figures from around the world, including 
Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, and several 
former European and Latin American presidents, is urging governments 
to decriminalize a variety of illegal drugs and set up regulated drug 
markets within their own countries.

The proposal by the group, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, goes 
beyond its previous call to abandon the nearly half-century-old 
American-led war on drugs. As part of a report scheduled to be 
released on Tuesday, the group goes much further than its 2011 
recommendation to legalize cannabis.

The former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a member of 
the commission, said the group was calling for the legal regulation 
of "as many of the drugs that are currently illegal as possible, with 
the understanding that some drugs may remain too dangerous to decriminalize."

The proposal comes at a time when several countries pummeled by drug 
violence, particularly in Latin America, are rewriting their own drug 
laws, and when even the United States is allowing state legislatures 
to gingerly regulate cannabis use. The United Nations is scheduled to 
hold a summit meeting in 2016 to evaluate global drug laws.

The commission includes former presidents like Mr. Cardoso of Brazil, 
Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Ruth Dreifuss of Switzerland, along 
with George P. Shultz, a former secretary of state in the Reagan 
administration, among others.

The group stops short of calling on countries to legalize all drugs 
right away. It calls instead for countries to continue to pursue 
violent criminal gangs, to stop incarcerating users and to offer 
treatment for addicts.

Strong resistance is expected from world powers, including the United 
States and Russia, which favor maintaining strict criminal 
prohibitions. Several Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, 
impose the death penalty for drug smuggling.

Drug laws are being reconsidered by some countries around the world. 
Uruguay last year became the first country to establish a state-run 
market for marijuana. Colombia established a national commission to 
re-evaluate its own national policy. In Europe, some countries have 
long stopped making arrests for marijuana use and possession. 
President Obama has also questioned the fairness of prosecuting 
marijuana users.

The global commission takes aim at criminalizing drug use and 
possession. "Punitive drug law enforcement fuels crime and maximizes 
the health risks associated with drug use, especially among the most 
vulnerable," its report goes on to say.

John Walsh, drug policy analyst at the Washington Office on Latin 
America, a human rights advocacy organization, said members of the 
commission "realize that even if the debate is now really open for 
first time in half a century, different countries are going to be 
able to proceed at different paces."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom