Richard Branson: 'Drugs Are a Public Health Issue, Not a Criminal One' Richard Branson - Virgin.com
go to original October 28, 2014

I have criss-crossed the world speaking up for a new approach to the failed drug policies of the last 40 years. But few countries have suffered greater scars in the war on drugs than Mexico, where an escalating spiral of violence has killed tens of thousands and where local governance and rule of law are under immense stress. The impacts of this ongoing battle are felt everywhere you go; there are few Mexicans who don’t know anyone who hasn’t lost a loved one in the violence.
Image by Rebecca Bowring

As a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, I followed an invitation from Transform Drug Policy Foundation and México Unido Contra la Delincuencia (MUCD), two wonderful organizations that have made it their mission to raise awareness, inform and build political momentum to change Mexico’s complex and repressive drug laws. It was a good opportunity to listen and learn how Mexicans feel about the current situation and what they felt needed to be done to end the violence and bring this beautiful country back on track.

My first stop was a screening of the documentary Breaking the Taboo (see below), which shines a spotlight on how devastating the war on drugs has been around the world.

The business audience of more than 150 people was energetic and engaged and the panel discussion that followed the film showed just how polarised the debate in Mexico has become.

Many agree that radical changes will be needed to end Mexico’s security crisis, but I sensed a lot of uncertainty about the right approach.

Read the rest at Virgin.com

Breaking The Taboo - Film: Narrated by Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman, "Breaking the Taboo" is produced by Sam Branson's indie Sundog Pictures and Brazilian co-production partner Spray Filmes and was directed by Cosmo Feilding Mellen and Fernando Grostein Andrade. Featuring interviews with several current or former presidents from around the world, such as Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, the film follows The Global Commission on Drug Policy on a mission to break the political taboo over the United States led War on Drugs and expose what it calls the biggest failure of global policy in the last 40 years. (breakingthetaboofilm)

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