World Leaders Call for the Responsible Regulation of Drugs

World leaders are calling for an end to drug prohibition through the responsible regulation of drugs. Yesterday, the Global Commission on Drug Policy launched their new report Regulation: The Responsible Control of Drugs, which examines how governments can take control of currently illegal drug markets through responsible regulation, and calls for reform of the prohibition-based international drug control system. The Global Commission on Drug Policy was established in 2011 and is comprised political leaders, cultural figures, Nobel Prize laureates, and former Presidents and Prime Ministers of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, East Timor, Greece, Malawi, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, and Switzerland.
 
“This report provides a coherent account of what the legal regulation of drugs can look like in a real-life context, based on scientific evidence and current regulatory frameworks for legal substances,” says Ruth Dreifuss, chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and former president of Switzerland. “It draws particular attention to the risks associated with over-commercialization and the need to learn from mistakes in regulating alcohol, tobacco and prescription opioids.”
 
The Global Commission on Drug Policy recommends that policymakers open local and national participatory processes to shape the reforms and collect evidence on the legal regulation of drugs. It also recommends that such reforms be incremental, starting with pilot projects for the regulation of lower potency substances.

“The war on drugs has been an abject failure that has had devastating consequences throughout the world,” said Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Amidst this backdrop, it is heartening to see experienced world leaders boldly step forward with innovative, forward-looking proposals that are grounded in human rights, health and development.”

In the U.S., over the past years, a growing number of states have moved to regulate marijuana. Medical marijuana is legal in almost 30 states, and eight states and Washington D.C. have regulated marijuana for non-medical purposes. Evidence shows that marijuana legalization is working so far. Arrests for marijuana have plummeted in places with legal marijuana – saving hundreds of millions of dollars and sparing thousands of people from being branded with a lifelong criminal record. States are saving money and protecting the public by comprehensively regulating marijuana for adult use.
 
For more information on the report, see the Global Commission on Drug Policy Press Release.
 
Download the full report here.