Rethinking Drugs: A Ceasefire is Being Declared in the War on Illegal Narcotics FT.com
go to original May 21, 2013

In the “War on Drugs”, drugs seem to be winning. On the supply side, about 70,000 people have died since Mexico launched an offensive on drug-traffickers and organised crime six years ago. On the demand side, there are now 15 times more drug dealers incarcerated in US prisons than 40 years ago, but with little corresponding reduction in drug use. As the current approach to global drug policy is characterised by prohibition, to many it therefore seems obvious that the only way forward is to substitute instead policies sometimes referred to as “legalisation” combined with “public health”.

This is appealing because it is simple. It has extra merit in that it recognises that the drugs war can never be won for the reason that it will never end: drug consumption and production will be with us forever. But it is also wrong. If legalisation was a “magic bullet” it would have been used years ago. A more nuanced and evidence-based approach that goes beyond the usual dichotomies is therefore required. This has now been provided by the Organisation for American States in a study that explores a range of drug policy options for the hemisphere, and thence most likely the world.

Read the rest at FT.com

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