Former Latin American leaders urge world to end war on drugs 'disaster'

[neversickanymore]

Former Latin American leaders urge world to end war on drugs 'disaster'

Alan Yuhas
Friday 11 March 2016
Former presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico write op-ed on ‘outdated drug policies’ and denounce UN for secrecy ahead of special assembly on drugs

Three former presidents of Latin American nations have urged the world to end the “unmitigated disaster” of the war on drugs, and denounced the United Nations for secrecy and shortsightedness ahead of the first special assembly on drugs in 18 years.

“Outdated drug policies around the world have resulted in soaring drug-related violence, overstretched criminal justice systems, runaway corruption and mangled democratic institutions,” wrote Fernando Henrique Cardoso, César Gaviria and Ernesto Zedillo, respectively the former presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times.

The former presidents said that experts, statistics and a review of their “own failures on this front while in office” led them to “an unavoidable conclusion: the ‘war on drugs’ is an unmitigated disaster”.

While in office in the 1990s, the three leaders fought the drug trade by the usual, often violent, methods. Cardoso tried to eradicate marijuana production in Brazil, Zedillo began war against Mexican cartels that exploded in the second half of the decade, and Gaviria fought Pablo Escobar’s cocaine empire.

Escobar tried to assassinate Gaviria in a plane bombing, and the president’s administration killed the drug lord in 1993, a killing that Gaviria called “a step toward the end of drug trafficking” and proof “it is possible to defeat evil”.

But the three ex-presidents have spent the 2000s calling for decriminalization and regulation of drugs, and in 2009 Cardoso wrote for the Observer that decriminalization “breaks the silence about the drug problem”.

Drugs are “not first and foremost a matter for the criminal justice system”, he wrote. “Repressive policies towards drug users are firmly rooted in prejudice, fear and ideological visions, rather than in cold and hard assessment of the realities of drug abuse.”


While the three hailed the UN for holding an assembly on drug abuse on 19 April, they excoriated its methods in Friday’s op-ed. “What was supposed to be an open, honest and data-driven debate about drug policies has turned into a narrowly conceived closed-door affair,” they wrote.

The UN has blocked the majority of member states and various health and human rights groups from participating, according to the leaders, and the drafted declaration “perpetuates the criminalization of producers and consumers” rather than moving toward treatment for addicts.

Cardoso, Gaviria and Zedillo instead call for all UN nations to “end the criminalization and incarceration of drug users”, and to abolish capital punishment for related offenses: “It is a medieval practice that should be stamped out once and for all.”

Finally, they call for regulation of drugs to replace “the obvious failure of most existing drug laws”.

“This is not as radical as it sounds,” they add, citing the example of Switzerland’s healthcare plan for heroin addicts, Portugal’s decriminalization, Uruguay’s regulated marijuana market, and the nearly two dozen US states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational use. Cardoso has in the past also cited the Netherlands’ lax marijuana laws and liberalized drug laws in Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia.

The ex-presidents call echoes, at least in part, remarks made by several US presidential candidates this year when asked about a growing epidemic of heroin and painkiller abuse. Democratic candidates have said they support a shift toward treatment first, and some Republican candidates have said they favor improved treatment and reforming sentencing laws around drugs.

Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, also criticized the UN’s handling of drug abuse and law enforcement on Friday.

“Drugs are dangerous, but current narcotics policies are an even bigger threat,” he said in a statement. “This is because punishment is given a greater priority than health and human rights. Prohibition has had virtually no impact on the supply of or demand for illicit drugs.”

Please click this source and its linked as well http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...merican-leaders-urge-world-to-end-war-on-drug

.............................................................................

Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Portuguese: [feɾˈnɐ̃dw ẽjˈʁiki kaʁˈdozu]; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC ([ˈɛfjɐˌɡaˈse]), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician[3] who served as President of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 1 January 2003.[1][2] He was the first President to have been reelected for a subsequent term. An accomplished scholar, Cardoso was awarded in 2000 with the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation.[4]

Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León (Spanish pronunciation: [erˈnesto seˈðiʝo]; born December 27, 1951) is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000...He is currently Director of the Center for the Study of Globalization at Yale University and is on the board of directors of Citigroup. (whats up with the city group crap?)

César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsesaɾ auˈɣusto ɣaˈβiɾja tɾuˈxiʝo]; born 31 March 1947) is an economist and Colombian politician. He was president of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004

...............................

I agree Yes something smells rotten at the UN. Just don't think this one will allow itself to be shelved or swept under the carpet any longer. Nope its well passed tipped. This "ideas time has come"

 

[Jabberwocky]

Three Leaders from Latin America Call for Decriminalizing Drug Use

March 11, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "LA Times" - Outdated drug policies around the world have resulted in soaring drug-related violence, overstretched criminal justice systems, runaway corruption and mangled democratic institutions. After reviewing the evidence, consulting drug policy experts and examining our own failures on this front while in office, we came to an unavoidable conclusion: The “war on drugs” is an unmitigated disaster.

For nearly a decade, we have urged governments and international bodies to promote a more humane, informed and effective approach to dealing with “illegal” drugs. We saw a major breakthrough a few years ago, when the United Nations agreed to convene a special session of the General Assembly to review global drug policy. It is scheduled to begin April 19.

Unfortunately, this historic event — the first of its kind in 18 years — appears to be foundering even before it gets off the ground. What was supposed to be an open, honest and data-driven debate about drug policies has turned into a narrowly conceived closed-door affair.

In the lead-up to next month's session, the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna held a series of preparatory meetings with its 53 member countries. The commission took responsibility for crafting a declaration to be adopted by all 193 U.N. members of the General Assembly, and should finish next week.

But most of these commission-led negotiations have been neither transparent nor inclusive. Input from key U.N. agencies working on health, gender, human rights and development — and the majority of U.N. member states — was excluded. Likewise, dozens of civil society groups from around the world were shut out of the meetings.

Further, the draft declaration represents a setback rather than a step forward. It does not acknowledge the comprehensive failure of the current drug control system to reduce supply or demand. Instead, it perpetuates the criminalization of producers and consumers. The declaration proposes few practical solutions to improve human rights or public health. In short, it offers little hope of progress to the hundreds of millions of people suffering under our failed global drug control regime.

If the U.N. wants to seriously confront the drug problem in a way that actually promotes the health and welfare of humanity, here are the proposals the General Assembly should adopt.

First, all U.N. member states should end the criminalization and incarceration of drug users — an essential step toward strengthening public health, upholding human rights and ensuring fundamental freedoms. Second, all governments should immediately abolish capital punishment for drug-related offenses. It is a medieval practice that should be stamped out once and for all. Third, U.N. member states must empower the World Health Organization to review the scheduling system of drugs on the basis of science, not ideology.

Most important, diplomats attending the special session on drugs next month must confront the obvious failure of most existing drug laws. The only way to wrest control of the drug trade from organized crime, reduce violence and curb corruption is for governments to control and regulate drugs.

This is not as radical as it sounds. Innovative experiments in drug regulation are underway around the world, and they offer important lessons to those who are prepared to listen.

Switzerland's national health plan, for example, now supports heroin-assisted treatment and maintenance doses for addicts in order to reduce harm to users. Portugal decriminalized the use of all drugs in 2001, with significant crime reduction and public health benefits, including decreasing rates of HIV transmission.

Dramatic changes in drug policy are also taking place across the Americas. In the U.S., 23 states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes and four for recreational use. Most Latin American governments are taking steps, albeit timid ones, to decriminalize the consumption of some drugs. Uruguay has gone the furthest: it regulated its cannabis market from production to distribution to sale, with human rights at the center of the country´s strategy.

There is still time to get the U.N. special session back on track, and we hope that will happen. But even if the gathering does not live up to its full potential, we encourage heads of state and governments to test approaches to drugs that are based in scientific evidence and local realities. That's the only way to arrive at an effective global drug control system that puts people's lives, safety and dignity first.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso is the former president of Brazil and chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. Cesar Gaviria is the former president of Colombia. Ernesto Zedillo is the former president of Mexico.


Source: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44415.htm