Regulate: ex-world leaders' solution to 'failed' drug war

By taking control of illegal drug markets, the report argues governments can weaken the powerful criminal gangs that have grown despite decades of efforts to stamp them out
Reuters (UK)
Monday, September 24, 2017

Helen ClarkMore governments should turn away from a repressive war on drugs that has “failed” and look to proven strategies to implement regulated markets for risky substances, a group of former presidents said in the report Regulation: The Responsible Control of Drugs. Since the Global Commission on Drug Policy that includes 12 former heads of state began advocating for an end to drug prohibition in 2011, a growing number of countries and U.S. states have created medical or recreational markets for marijuana. Now the group is looking at ways to smooth the way out of prohibition, recommending countries start regulating lower-potency drugs as well as reforms to international treaties. (BMJ: Why doctors should support regulated markets in illicit drugs)