Drug Control Policy Fuels Social Unrest in Northern Morocco
Khalid Tinasti, Executive Secretary of the Global Commission, writes for the World Policy Institute about the on-going social unrest in the Rif, northern Morocco, after the death of a fisherman late last October, and how that unrest and the general feeling of marginalization is linked to drug control policies that affect
President Duterte is repeating my mistakes / El presidente Duterte está repitiendo mis errores
Opinion piece in the New York Times, by César Gaviria, former President of Colombia and member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. Read article in English. Read article in Spanish.
Commissioner Sir Richard Branson to receive Peace Summit Award
Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, this week receives the Peace Summit Award at the 16th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates for his work in global peace building. Sir Richard Branson has been a member of the Global
9 former leaders write open letter urging Obama to commute sentences of more low-level drug offenders
Original article by Jeremy Burke on Business Insider A group of former heads of state penned an open letter to President Barack Obama urging him to commute the sentences of more low-level drug offenders in the final days of his presidency. The letter was signed by nine former leaders —
Open Letter to President Obama
[Published in The Huffington Post, 9 January 2017] Mr. President, We wish to thank you for the great commitment you have shown to revisit the punitive approach to drug policy, particularly with regards to the pardon of low-level drug offenders. These individuals have committed no violent act, yet they have
Commissioners Cattaui, Dreifuss and Grover in Bangkok Post: “Punitive measures do not create a drug-free society”
[Read original article in the Bangkok Post, 14 December 2016.] Achieving a society without drugs has been the objective of many countries around the world for many decades, including Asean with its declaration in 1998 for a drug-free region by 2015. Yet drug use prevalence has, at best, remained stable over
Interview with Ruth Dreifuss on Al Jazeera
Ruth Dreifuss, Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, answers questions on Al Jazeera regarding the decriminalization of drug consumption and possession for personal use, in the context of a change in drug policy in Thailand towards a less repressive regime. Click here to view interview.
Interview with Chair Dreifuss: “How U.S. Drug Policy Looks to the Rest of the World – And how it might change under Donald Trump”
By Francie Diep Activists and family members of loved ones who died in the opioid epidemic take part in a rally on September 18th, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images) Sometimes, to understand something, you have to take an outsider’s point of view. That’s why, to get perspective
Global Commission Leaders Issue Call to Decriminalize Drugs for Public Health and Human Rights
At a press conference in Washington, DC yesterday, five members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy—a 23-person body comprising nine former presidents or prime ministers, plus leaders like former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan—released “Advancing Drug Policy Reform: A new approach to decriminalization.” Drug prohibition, said Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland and
World leaders call for legalisation of drugs
World leaders have called for an end to the criminalisation of drugs. The Global Commission on Drug Policy’s annual report advocates the removal of both civil and criminal penalties for drug use and possession. Prohibition of drugs has had “little or no impact” on the rate of drug use, the
