Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy
The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy was a panel of Latin American leaders and intellectuals, co-chaired by former presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), César Gaviria (Colombia) and Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico). In March 2009, the commission issued a report which "declared the war on drugs a failure," according to one commentator. The commentator drew parallels with the Prohibition in the United States and also reviewed signs of relaxing attitudes toward drugs prohibition in 2009. Another commentator cited Jeffrey Miron of Harvard's work on the subject, Senator James Webb's call  for a commission on the subject, and a study by Glenn Greenwald about Portugal's policy of decriminalization published by the Cato Institute while also supporting in general the conclusions of the Latin American Initiative. Members. Commissioners of the LAI were: Legacy. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, chaired by President Cardoso, followed on the work of the LAI and issued a report in 2011. The Global Commission included presidents Zedillo and Gaviria and writer Llosa, and they were joined by, among others, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana; former US Secretary of  State George Shultz, former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, writer Carlos Fuentes and businessman activist Richard Branson. External links. Statement by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy.