EU joins the anti-drug war bandwagon

Posted By Elizabeth Dickinson Thursday, March 12, 2009 - 2:10 PM Share

A report released on Tuesday by the European Commission "found no evidence that the global drug problem was reduced...from 1998 to 2007."

The UN, now meeting in Vienna for the first time in 10 years to reassess global drug policy, is reaching even more dramatic conclusions: It's worse than mere inertia.... drug policy is making matters worse, not better. UN Office of Drug and Crime's head, Antonio Maria Costa, "acknowledged that drug control policies had, as an unintended consequence, led the growth of organized crime," as the BBC put it.

The good news is, as former Brazilian President Cardoso told FP in a recent Seven Questions, there's a credible way forward. And with the calamitous results of past policy now so publicly exposed, it just might be politically palpable. Cardoso suggests focusing more on public health -- moving towards the "tobacco" model to educate and treat users, decreasing demand. Law enforcement is best used only to stop trafficking, not pick up petty users. Of course, we could always just legalize it.

Sky Gilbar/AFP/Getty Images

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