кому интересен первоисточник, но не может его достатьGlobal Commission on Drug Policywww.globalcommissionondrugs.orgFormer Presidents of Brazil , Colombia , Mexico and Switzerland , PrimeMinister of Greece , Kofi Annan, Richard Branson, George Shultz, PaulVolcker and Other Leaders Call for Major Paradigm Shift in Global DrugPolicyCommission of World Leaders Urges End to Failed Drug War,Fundamental Reforms of Global Drug Prohibition RegimeToday the Global Commission on Drug Policy will release a groundbreakingreport at a press conference and tele-conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotelin New York City . The report condemns the drug war as a failure andrecommends major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime.The Commission is the most distinguished group of high-level leaders to evercall for such far-reaching changes – including not just alternatives toincarceration and greater emphasis on public health approaches to drug usebut also decriminalization and experiments in legal regulation.The Executive Director of the global advocacy organization AVAAZ, with itsnine million members worldwide, will present a public petition in support of theGlobal Commission’s recommendations that will be given to the UnitedNations Secretary General.“Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs,and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US government’s global waron drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies areurgently needed,” said former president of Brazil Fernando HenriqueCardoso. “Let’s start by treating drug addiction as a health issue, reducingdrug demand through proven educational initiatives and legally regulatingrather than criminalizing cannabis.”The Commission’s recommendations are summarized in the ExecutiveSummary below this release. They include:● End the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people whouse drugs but who do no harm to others.● Encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal regulationof drugs (especially cannabis) to undermine the power of organized crime andsafeguard the health and security of their citizens.● Ensure that a variety of treatment modalities are available – including notjust methadone and buprenorphine treatment but also the heroin-assistedtreatment programs that have proven successful in many European countriesand Canada.● Apply human rights and harm reduction principles and policies both topeople who use drugs as well as those involved in the lower ends of illegaldrug markets such as farmers, couriers and petty sellers.“Overwhelming evidence from Europe, Canada and Australia nowdemonstrates the human and social benefits both of treating drug addiction asa health rather than criminal justice problem and of reducing reliance onprohibitionist policies,” said former Swiss president Ruth Dreifuss. “Thesepolicies need to be adopted worldwide, with requisite changes to theinternational drug control conventions.”“We can no longer ignore the extent to which drug-related violence, crime andcorruption in Latin America are the results of failed drug war policies,” saidformer Colombian president César Gaviria. “Now is the time to break thetaboo on discussion of all drug policy options, including alternatives to drugprohibition.”"The war on drugs has failed to cut drug usage, but has filled our jails, costmillions in tax payer dollars, fuelled organized crime and caused thousands ofdeaths. We need a new approach, one that takes the power out of the handsof organized crime and treats people with addiction problems like patients, notcriminals,” said Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and cofounderof The Elders, United Kingdom. “The good news is new approaches focusedon regulation and decriminalization have worked. We need our leaders,including business people, looking at alternative, fact based approaches. Weneed more humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs.The one thing we cannot afford to do is to go on pretending the “war on drugs”is working."Commission Members (Those appearing at June 2 press conference areitalicized and those who are also speaking are underlined):Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations,GhanaLouise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for HumanRights, president of the International Crisis Group, CanadaRichard Branson, entrepreneur, advocate for social causes,founder of the Virgin Group, cofounder of The Elders, UnitedKingdomFernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil(chair)Marion Caspers-Merk, former State Secretary at theGerman Federal Ministry of HealthMaria Cattaui, Petroplus Holdings Board member, formerSecretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce,SwitzerlandRuth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland and Ministerof Home AffairsCarlos Fuentes, writer and public intellectual, MexicoCésar Gaviria, former President of ColombiaAsma Jahangir, human rights activist, former UN SpecialRapporteur on Arbitrary, Extrajudicial and Summary Executions,PakistanMichel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund toFight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria , FranceMario Vargas Llosa, writer and public intellectual, PeruGeorge Papandreou, Prime Minister of GreeceGeorge P. Shultz, former Secretary of State , United States(honorary chair)Javier Solana, former European Union High Representativefor the Common Foreign and Security Policy , SpainThorvald Stoltenberg, former Minister of Foreign Affairs andUN High Commissioner for Refugees, NorwayPaul Volcker, former Chairman of the United States FederalReserve and of the Economic Recovery BoardJohn Whitehead, banker and civil servant, chair of the WorldTrade Center Memorial Foundation, United StatesErnesto Zedillo, former President of MexicoEXECUTIVE SUMMARYThe global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences forindividuals and societies around the world. Fifty years after the initiation of theUN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixonlaunched the US government’s war on drugs, fundamental reforms in nationaland global drug control policies are urgently needed.Vast expenditures on criminalization and repressive measures directed atproducers, traffickers and consumers of illegal drugs have clearly failed toeffectively curtail supply or consumption. Apparent victories in eliminating onesource or trafficking organization are negated almost instantly by theemergence of other sources and traffickers. Repressive efforts directed atconsumers impede public health measures to reduce HIV/AIDS, overdosefatalities and other harmful consequences of drug use. Governmentexpenditures on futile supply reduction strategies and incarceration displacemore cost-effective and evidence-based investments in demand and harmreduction.Our principles and recommendations can be summarized as follows:End the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who usedrugs but who do no harm to others. Challenge rather than reinforce commonmisconceptions about drug markets, drug use and drug dependence.Encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation ofdrugs to undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the healthand security of their citizens. This recommendation applies especially tocannabis, but we also encourage other experiments in decriminalization andlegal regulation that can accomplish these objectives and provide models forothers.Offer health and treatment services to those in need. Ensure that a variety oftreatment modalities are available, including not just methadone andbuprenorphine treatment but also the heroin-assisted treatment programs thathave proven successful in many European countries and Canada. Implementsyringe access and other harm reduction measures that have proven effectivein reducing transmission of HIV and other blood-borne infections as well asfatal overdoses. Respect the human rights of people who use drugs. Abolishabusive practices carried out in the name of treatment – such as forceddetention, forced labor, and physical or psychological abuse – that contravenehuman rights standards and norms or that remove the right to selfdetermination.Apply much the same principles and policies stated above to people involvedin the lower ends of illegal drug markets, such as farmers, couriers and pettysellers. Many are themselves victims of violence and intimidation or are drugdependent. Arresting and incarcerating tens of millions of these people inrecent decades has filled prisons and destroyed lives and families withoutreducing the availability of illicit drugs or the power of criminal organizations.There appears to be almost no limit to the number of people willing to engagein such activities to better their lives, provide for their families, or otherwiseescape poverty. Drug control resources are better directed elsewhere.Invest in activities that can both prevent young people from taking drugs in thefirst place and also prevent those who do use drugs from developing moreserious problems. Eschew simplistic ‘just say no’ messages and ‘zerotolerance’ policies in favor of educational efforts grounded in credibleinformation and prevention programs that focus on social skills and peerinfluences. The most successful prevention efforts may be those targeted atspecific at-risk groups.Focus repressive actions on violent criminal organizations, but do so in waysthat undermine their power and reach while prioritizing the reduction ofviolence and intimidation. Law enforcement efforts should focus not onreducing drug markets per se but rather on reducing their harms toindividuals, communities and national security.Begin the transformation of the global drug prohibition regime. Replace drugpolicies and strategies driven by ideology and political convenience withfiscally responsible policies and strategies grounded in science, health,security and human rights – and adopt appropriate criteria for their evaluation.Review the scheduling of drugs that has resulted in obvious anomalies likethe flawed categorization of cannabis, coca leaf and MDMA. Ensure that theinternational conventions are interpreted and/or revised to accommodaterobust experimentation with harm reduction, decriminalization and legalregulatory policies.Break the taboo on debate and reform. The time for action is now.Microsoft Word - Global Commission on Drug Policy_press release_Eng.docx