Decriminalizing of drugs, the only pathway

By Olusegun Obasanjo, Ricardo Lagos, Ruth Dreifuss - Former Presidents of Nigeria, Chile and Switzerland

Drug trafficking and the black market are, to a large extent, a direct consequence of the international drug control system and the national laws that are derived therefrom.

2016 has been a pivotal year for drug policy on a global level. The review of a half-century of prohibition has led countries as diverse as Jamaica, Canada and Mexico to adopt reforms that would have been considered unimaginable only a short while ago. The US states of Colorado, Oregon and Washington, as well as Washington, D.C., have regulated cannabis, and this issue is also on the ballot for November in several other US states, in particular California. Public opinion is gradually shifting to support new approaches.

In April, the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) clearly showed that the decades-long consensus based on drug prohibition and punitive approaches is broken. Rather than propose innovative policy solutions, however, the final declaration of UNGASS on drugs continues to uphold prohibitionist strategies.

Effective approaches to drug policy based on scientific evidence and shared national experiences must be at the center of the current focus. The preparations for UNGASS mobilized governments, scientists, non-governmental organizations, and international agencies in charge of development, health and human rights, highlighting their commitment to propose innovative and viable solutions.

Today there is an urgent need to sustain this commitment and transform the unprecedented interest in drug policy for true reform into concrete actions driven by a wide range of stakeholders.

Drug trafficking and the black market are, to a large extent, a direct consequence of the international drug control system and the national laws that are derived therefrom.

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Thumbnail: Flickr CC Katherine Hitt