4/30/2023 0 Comments Paradigm shift sparrowSimilarly, if the measure is the effectiveness of interdiction efforts, it is undeniable that drug seizures, particularly of cocaine, have skyrocketed in the past decade or so. has remained largely stable for 20 years. The proportion of the population consuming illicit drugs in the U.S. If the metric is the containment of drug consumption in the U.S., it is possible to identify some legitimate achievements in the recent past. The answer to this question depends, of course, on the measure of success that is used. Is this war of sorts a failure, as the report categorically states? The first one is about the notion of failure when it comes to counternarcotics efforts and, related to that, the kinds of costs that the “War on Drugs” entails for the Hemisphere. Above and beyond the details of its contents, the report of the Latin American Commission for Drugs and Democracy raises at least three issues that deserve close attention: While hardly a novelty –it was indeed proposed by the 1972 National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, convened and then rebuked by President Nixon-, the latter suggestion has already raised eyebrows in the U.S. Stemming from these guidelines, a series of more concrete recommendations are offered, notably the need to evaluate according to the most advanced medical science the possibility of decriminalizing the possession of cannabis for personal use, as many countries in Western Europe have already done. The Commission then calls for the adoption of a new paradigm to deal with narcotics, based on three principles: 1) Treating drug users as a matter of public health 2) Placing much greater emphasis on the reduction of drug consumption through information, education and prevention and 3) Focusing repression unrelentingly on organized crime. The report minces no words to point this out, offering solid evidence to sustain its claims. administration, the casualties of the so-called “War on Drugs” continue to mount at a much faster pace than its achievements. After one generation of zealous efforts by the U.S. Somewhat paradoxically, the current policy approach, heavily geared towards the eradication of illicit crops and the interdiction of drug supplies outside the U.S., as well as the punishment of consumers within the country, has become politically entrenched despite the all too glaring doubts about its efficacy. With a new administration in the U.S., far less hooked to the socially conservative attitudes that have long defined the debate, it is conceivable that a frank discussion on drugs, both domestic and international, can at last begin. The document reads as a stern call to profoundly rethink the tenets of the status quo of counternarcotics policies in the U.S. The report of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, an effort chaired by former Presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico, and César Gaviria of Colombia, launched in Rio de Janeiro last February and presented in Washington, D.C., at the Brookings Institution a few days ago, is undoubtedly a most significant addition to an urgent conversation in the Hemisphere.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |