Ex-world leaders form Global Drug Policy Commission
“We have minimized the use of all drugs,” said former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002), president of the Global Commission on Drug Policy that held for two days of its meeting in Geneva.
Participants also were among the former heads of state of Colombia Cesar Gaviria (1990-1994) and Spanish Javier Solana, former High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union.
The drug addicts should be considered as a providing health,” Cardoso said, adding that no drug policy will work “but there is also information, education” so that people have of elements “to use your freedom “and to know” that the drug is harmful, “said Cardoso.
The Commission recommends an adjustment of the drug in terms similar to those of snuff and alcohol and should provide medical treatment to drug dependent persons to reduce individual and social harm. Also present at the founding meeting of this committee the former Swiss President Ruth Dreifuss and Thorvald Stoltenberg of Norway, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
"There is a growing perception that the "war on drugs" approach has failed," the commission said in a statement as it announced its existence in Geneva this week. "Eradication of production and criminalization of consumption did not reduce drug traffic and drug use," the commission said.
The harm from corruption and violence resulting from prohibition "largely exceeds the harm caused by drugs," the statement says.
Also see: StoptheDrugWar.org
Related: The war on drugs is lost
