'It is time to end the war on drugs', says top UK police chief.
Source: Guardian.
One of England's most senior police officers has called for class-A drugs to be decriminalised and for the policy of outright prohibition to be radically revised.
In a dramatic move that will reignite the debate over the so-called war on drugs, Mike Barton, Durham's chief constable, has suggested that the NHS could supply drugs to addicts, breaking the monopoly and income stream of criminal gangs.
Comparing drugs prohibition to the ban on alcohol in 1920s America that gave rise to Al Capone and the mafia, Barton argues that criminalising the trade in drugs has put billions of pounds into the pockets of criminal gangs.
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Writing in the Observer, Barton said: "If an addict were able to access drugs via the NHS or something similar, then they would not have to go out and buy illegal drugs. Buying or being treated with, say, diamorphine is cheap. It's cheap to produce it therapeutically.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/sep/28/time-end-war-drugs-uk-police-chief
factsarenotfair
(910 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Latin American Leaders Talk Drug Reform at UN
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by Phillip Smith, September 27, 2013, 04:54pm
Once again, the United Nations' General Assembly meeting in New York City has become a forum for calls for drug reform. Leaders from Latin America took the opportunity this week to criticize drug prohibition and challenge the world body to come up with better alternatives.
Colombian President Santos was among Latin American leaders challenging drug prohibition at the UN (wikipedia.org)
"Right here, in this same headquarters, 52 years ago, the convention that gave birth to the war on drugs was approved. Today, we must acknowledge, that war has not been won," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told assembled world leaders Tuesday, referring to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. "And I say this as the president of the country that has suffered more deaths, more bloodshed and more sacrifices in this war, and the country that has also achieved more results in the fight against this scourge and the mafias that underpin it."
The Colombian president's remarks echoed those he made last year at the Summit of the Americas, which commissioned the Organization of American States to study new approaches to dealing with illicit drugs. That study was issued in May, and Santos said the UN should give it serious consideration before a General Assembly Special Session on Drugs set for 2016. That session was proposed by Mexico and accepted by the General Assembly.
Also on Tuesday, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla said that her nation "joins the call from other States from our region, such as Mexico and Guatemala, to reevaluate internationally agreed-upon policies in search of more effective responses to drug trafficking, from a perspective of health, a framework of respect for human rights, and a perspective of harm reduction."
That language is from a consensus statement elaborated and agreed on by Santos, Chinchilla, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, and Mexican President Enrique Peña.
On Thursday, it was Perez Molina's turn. A former general elected to office on a promise of taking a hard-line against organized crime, Perez Molina last year became the first sitting head of state to call for legalizing the illicit drug market at the UN last year. This year, he was still singing the same tune.
"Since the start of my government, we have clearly affirmed that the war on drugs has not yielded the desired results," Perez Molina told the General Assembly. "We cannot keep on doing the same thing and expecting different results."
Instead, global leaders must seek new approaches to drug use centered on public health and prevention and designed to reduce violence and respect human rights, he said. Perez Molina also praised voters in Colorado and Washington for their "visionary decision" to legalize marijuana and praised President Obama for "respecting the voice of the citizens of Colorado and Washington, to allow these innovative experiences to provide results."
Perez Molina also praised Uruguayan President Jose Mujica for proposing marijuana legalization legislation there "instead of following the failed route of prohibition." That bill has passed the Uruguayan House and is expected to pass the Senate easily next month. Perez Molina and Mujica also met Thursday in a private meeting.
Mexico's Peña Nieto cancelled his appearance at the UN to deal with the aftermath of the killer hurricanes that swept his country last week, but his foreign minister, Jose Antonio Meade Kuribena, echoed the language of the other Latin American leaders, adding that the consensus statement was also supported by Chile, Paraguay, and others.
The calls for reform from the Latin Americans, whose countries have suffered some of the gravest consequences of the war on drugs, are growing ever louder, and it now appears that the 2016 Special Session could see real fireworks over the issueif it even happens. While the General Assembly has approved it, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime is opposed, and the International Narcotics Control Board is resolutely oblivious.
Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license.
Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)They have conservative leaders at the moment, too.
Really hoping the progress doesn't slow down. Success with the movement means the world can lose the vicious, monstrous suffering and death this stupid war has inflicted on so many helpless people.
Thank you for posting this article.
Cal33
(7,018 posts)powerful and crooked politicians, so that they could become multi-millionaires, if not billionaires.
It had been a monstrous sham right from the beginning. It's unfortunate that significant portions
of the misinformed masses worldwide have been, and are still being, fooled.
inch4progress
(270 posts)Here is a site where you can find the list of Class A drugs.
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/pas-class-a.pdf
Possession: Up to 7 years in prison or an unlimited fine or both.
Dealing: Up to life in prison or an unlimited fine or both.
http://wellbeing.ccn.ac.uk/node/114
muriel_volestrangler
(101,295 posts)For Americans, 'Class A' is drugs such as heroin and most other opiates, cocaine, crystal meth, LSD and others; Class B amphetamines, cannabis (though that was Class C between 2004-2009) and others, and Class C mainly prescription drugs. Ecstasy is still Class A, despite repeated recommendations to governments to downgrade it to Class B, because the government wants to "send a message".
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)I know that your's does too. Notice that the narrative differs. For whatever reason they've got two articles both with the same time stamp.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,295 posts)rather than the Guardian/Observer report of it, which is what you linked to. Inside the report, there's a hyperlink for 'Writing in The Observer', which links to the non-existent "www.guprod.gnl" (something internal they forgot to fix before publishing, perhaps?), which is meant to go to the article he wrote.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Mark my words, it will be BAD.
Uncle Joe
(58,342 posts)Thanks for the thread, dipsydoodle.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)gopiscrap
(23,736 posts)Amonester
(11,541 posts)We are governed by very stupid people, or very corrupt.