Some facts pertinent to Drug Policy

Facts selected from an article in the Economist, June 4, 2011. pp  70-71, which was reviewing the findings of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a group that includes the ex-presidents of Mexico, Brazil, Columbia and Switzerland as well as officials from the UN and some former US officials.  The findings called for deregulation of all drugs and experiments with legalization of drugs, begining with cannibis.

Findings - for the period from 1998 to 2008 drug consumption continues to rise throughout the world.  The US Federal Government spent $15 billion in 2010 on drug control, another $25 billion on other public spending related to drug control.  Campaigns to drive Narcos out of one country just drive them into another.

Giving out clean needles reduces greatly reduces the incidence of HIV (comparing countries with clean needle programs with those without such programs).  Switzerland and the Netherlands have demonstrated that prescribing heroin to to addicts reduces the total number of addicts as it cuts the tie between pushers trying to get people hooked on drugs and casual customers.   Decriminlaizing cannibis in in Western Australia and Portugul  had no effect on consumption but saved lots of money, and when England tried it for a few years, consumption dropped.  A study looking at different states in the US found no link between the level of enforcement and number of drug users.