This report follows the Global Commission’s thematic reports from 2012 and 2013. Despite a decade-old call for urgent action, current drug control efforts fail, with HIV and hepatitis prevalence persisting among drug users. Prohibition and criminalization of drug use hinder HIV and hepatitis prevention, escalating risks and obstructing treatment. People who use drugs face disproportionate incarceration, abusive policing, and stigma. The time to act is now.

The report ‘Time to End Prohibition’ marks the 10th anniversary of the Global Commission on Drugs. Ten years after the establishment of the Global Commission, the taboo on drugs has been well and truly broken. In the last decade, there were impressive reforms around the world at national and sub-national levels. More and more countries are decriminalizing drug use, adopting innovative approaches based on public health, and legalizing formerly banned substances.

In this first report of the decade, the Global Commission on Drug Policy outlines how the current international drug control regime works for the benefit of transnational organized crime. It highlights how years of repressive policies targeted at nonviolent drug offenders have resulted in mass incarceration and produced countless adverse impacts on public health, the rule of law, and social cohesion.