'Global War On Drugs Has Failed,' Former World Leaders Say

[zen_trikester]

Happy 40th anniversary "War on Drugs" you fucking, money sucking bitch!!! Jimmy Carter agrees. THIS my brothers and sisters is very good news for the legalization movement.

From the New York Times

Op-Ed Contributor
Call Off the Global Drug War
By JIMMY CARTER
Published: June 16, 2011

Atlanta

IN an extraordinary new initiative announced earlier this month, the Global Commission on Drug Policy has made some courageous and profoundly important recommendations in a report on how to bring more effective control over the illicit drug trade. The commission includes the former presidents or prime ministers of five countries, a former secretary general of the United Nations, human rights leaders, and business and government leaders, including Richard Branson, George P. Shultz and Paul A. Volcker.

The report describes the total failure of the present global antidrug effort, and in particular America’s “war on drugs,” which was declared 40 years ago today. It notes that the global consumption of opiates has increased 34.5 percent, cocaine 27 percent and cannabis 8.5 percent from 1998 to 2008. Its primary recommendations are to substitute treatment for imprisonment for people who use drugs but do no harm to others, and to concentrate more coordinated international effort on combating violent criminal organizations rather than nonviolent, low-level offenders.

These recommendations are compatible with United States drug policy from three decades ago. In a message to Congress in 1977, I said the country should decriminalize the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, with a full program of treatment for addicts. I also cautioned against filling our prisons with young people who were no threat to society, and summarized by saying: “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.”

These ideas were widely accepted at the time. But in the 1980s President Ronald Reagan and Congress began to shift from balanced drug policies, including the treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, toward futile efforts to control drug imports from foreign countries.

This approach entailed an enormous expenditure of resources and the dependence on police and military forces to reduce the foreign cultivation of marijuana, coca and opium poppy and the production of cocaine and heroin. One result has been a terrible escalation in drug-related violence, corruption and gross violations of human rights in a growing number of Latin American countries.

The commission’s facts and arguments are persuasive. It recommends that governments be encouraged to experiment “with models of legal regulation of drugs ... that are designed to undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the health and security of their citizens.” For effective examples, they can look to policies that have shown promising results in Europe, Australia and other places.

But they probably won’t turn to the United States for advice. Drug policies here are more punitive and counterproductive than in other democracies, and have brought about an explosion in prison populations. At the end of 1980, just before I left office, 500,000 people were incarcerated in America; at the end of 2009 the number was nearly 2.3 million. There are 743 people in prison for every 100,000 Americans, a higher portion than in any other country and seven times as great as in Europe. Some 7.2 million people are either in prison or on probation or parole — more than 3 percent of all American adults!

Some of this increase has been caused by mandatory minimum sentencing and “three strikes you’re out” laws. But about three-quarters of new admissions to state prisons are for nonviolent crimes. And the single greatest cause of prison population growth has been the war on drugs, with the number of people incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses increasing more than twelvefold since 1980.

Not only has this excessive punishment destroyed the lives of millions of young people and their families (disproportionately minorities), but it is wreaking havoc on state and local budgets. Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pointed out that, in 1980, 10 percent of his state’s budget went to higher education and 3 percent to prisons; in 2010, almost 11 percent went to prisons and only 7.5 percent to higher education.

Maybe the increased tax burden on wealthy citizens necessary to pay for the war on drugs will help to bring about a reform of America’s drug policies. At least the recommendations of the Global Commission will give some cover to political leaders who wish to do what is right.

A few years ago I worked side by side for four months with a group of prison inmates, who were learning the building trade, to renovate some public buildings in my hometown of Plains, Ga. They were intelligent and dedicated young men, each preparing for a productive life after the completion of his sentence. More than half of them were in prison for drug-related crimes, and would have been better off in college or trade school.

To help such men remain valuable members of society, and to make drug policies more humane and more effective, the American government should support and enact the reforms laid out by the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, is the founder of the Carter Center and the winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.

 

[zen_trikester]

One more bit for those who may want to stand among the numbers and be counted.

End the Drug War

The war on drugs, which began 40 years ago, is a failure. It's time to bring it to an end. Sign our petition and send a clear message: No More Drug War!
Take action now.
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Take action now.

Events
Title Start End Location City and State
40th Anniversary of the War on Drugs Jun 17, 2011 11:00 AM Jun 17, 2011 1:00 PM Skyline Park, between 16th & 17th on Arapahoe Denver, CO


Money for Public Health Not Incarceration! Rally Jun 17, 2011 12:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 1:30 PM San Francisco City Hall San Francisco, CA


War on Drugs = War on Families Rally 40th Year Anniversary of the War on Drugs Jun 17, 2011 12:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 1:00 PM Department of Justice 702 Spring St. Atlanta, GA 30308 Atlanta, GA


Rally to End the War on Drugs Jun 17, 2011 12:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 12:00 PM Thompson Center, 100 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL Chicago, IL


Declaring War on the "War on Drugs:" Creating Just and Humane Alternatives to a Failed Strategy Jun 17, 2011 12:30 PM Jun 17, 2011 3:00 PM National Press Club: 529 14th Street Northwest Washington, D.C.


Jobs Not Jails Jun 17, 2011 1:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 3:00 PM Broadway St & East Commerce St (site of construction of Horseshoe Casino) Cincinnati, Ohio


Roundtable Discussion and Vigil Jun 17, 2011 1:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 4:00 PM 163 W. 125th Street, between 7th and Lenox New York, NY 10027


No More Drug War Second Line Parade Jun 17, 2011 3:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 8:00 PM Parade begins at the Three-Star Barber Shop at Felicity and Clara -Proceeds down Clara to MLK Ave -Left at MLK to Claiborne -Left on Claiborne to Toledano -Left on Toledano to Louisiana -End at Harmony Oaks Community Center New Orleans, LA


Gone, But Not Forgotten- Rally Jun 17, 2011 3:30 PM Jun 17, 2011 5:30 PM Lowndes County Courthouse, 505 2nd Avenue Columbus, MS


Rally to End the Drug War Jun 17, 2011 4:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 6:00 PM Hawaii State Capitol Rotunda, 415 S. Beretania Street Honolulu, HI


Town Hall Meeting Jun 17, 2011 4:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 6:00 PM Detroit, MI


Moms United to End the War on Drugs Rally & Walk on Washington Jun 17, 2011 5:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 7:00 PM Pioneer Park in Mission Hills & Washington Street San Diego, CA


Town Hall Meeting Jun 17, 2011 5:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 7:00 PM Outreach Resource Center, 941 South Eshman Ave West Point, MS


A Call for Compassion Teach-In and Vigil Jun 17, 2011 5:30 PM Jun 17, 2011 7:45 PM 15 E. Carrillo Santa Barbara, CA


Art Reception: Reflecting on 40 years of a Failed Drug War and Imagining Alternatives Futures Jun 17, 2011 6:00 PM Jun 17, 2011 8:00 PM San Francisco Drug Users’ Union Office, 149 Turk St San Francisco, CA


Examining the War on Drugs 40-Years Later: Is it Worth the Cost? Jun 17, 2011 6:30 PM Jun 17, 2011 9:00 PM Denver Open Media, 700 Kalamath Denver, CO


Nationwide Candlelight Vigils Honoring Victims of the Drug War Jun 17, 2011 8:30 PM Jun 17, 2011 9:30 PM Full List of Vigils and Map Here: http://www.ssdp.org/events/40years/list Over 20 Cities in the U.S. and Mexico


The War on Drugs--Connecting the Dots Fair and Forum Jun 18, 2011 10:00 AM Jun 18, 2011 4:00 PM The Fair & Forum will be held at South Side on Lamar in the Artists’ Quarter Dallas, TX


END THE DRUG WAR Jun 18, 2011 11:00 AM Jun 18, 2011 5:00 PM Bushnell Park (Pavilion) Hartford, CT


Block Party Jun 18, 2011 12:00 PM Jun 18, 2011 6:00 PM The intersection of Lockwood & Hayward Streets Providence, RI


Community Solutions: A community response to the 40-year War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration. Get educated, empowered and entertained! Jun 18, 2011 12:00 PM Jun 19, 2011 12:01 AM Chuco's Justice Center 1137 East Redondo Boulevard, Inglewood, CA 90302 Inglewood, CA


40 Years of Collateral Damage from the War on Drugs Jun 18, 2011 1:00 PM Jun 18, 2011 4:00 PM Neil S. Blaisdell Center, 2nd Floor Meeting Rooms-Maui Room, 777 Ward Avenue Honolulu, HI

 

[whodare]

id like to blame religion, politics, and corporations...

and i did for a while but it's deeper than that...

greed, mans never ending hunger for more power, control, money, possessions...

greed is even behind religion (among other things), for the leaders of religion gain control of those that follow...

 

[mississippi]

at least religion doesn't lock up you if you grow some weed. it depends on how one understand religion. i'm a catholic but ganja fits into my views perfectly. i don't think Jesus was a 'ganjaman' but i can imagine, he used to toke some good afghani or lebanese...

 

[whodare]

at least religion doesn't lock up you if you grow some weed. it depends on how one understand religion. i'm a catholic but ganja fits into my views perfectly. i don't think Jesus was a 'ganjaman' but i can imagine, he used to toke some good afghani or lebanese...

sure religion doesnt lock you up...

and guns dont kill people...

it's always the people behind the weapon, wether it be government, religion, or a gun...

 

[Pallidus127]

This is very exciting. Hopefully there's changes on the horizon!

 

[mrcreosote]

mississippi...

As raised as, and for a very long time ex-catholic, I had to laugh.

I got this cartoon in my head where Peter's writing down stuff and taking notes while Big J takes a break from the crowds and is rolling a spliff loaded with Lebanon's finest.

"Dammit Peter, don't write this shit down!

Those religious types will crucify me."

 

[john:420]

what is it? they cant pull their heads out of their asses till they are former heads of state!! if this is something they already know then why keep waisting money on it?? for that matter we don't really need all those ass holes in Washington but they still have a job. but that should be Americas new modo "we spend money on shit we don't need"

 

[BrnCow]

They (and some of us) keep lumping cannabis in with hard drugs in print, speech, and mentally. If we can get it separated from hard drugs in public and media, then we may have a chance to get it at least decriminalized. Otherwise, the straights assume it is just another hard drug...and that we are lying about it since we are all addicted...

 

[BrnCow]

Their work buddies would crucify them if they came out while in office...

 

[dagnabit]

looked to be an interesting read but....

did this thread get merged with 6 others then chopped all to hell or something?