Medical experts call for global drug decriminalisation
International commission urges complete reversal of repressive drug policies imposed by most governments
The Guardian (UK)
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Thursday, March 24, 2016
An international commission of medical experts is calling for global drug decriminalisation, arguing that current policies lead to violence, deaths and the spread of disease, harming health and human rights. The commission, set up by the Lancet medical journal and Johns Hopkins University in the United States, finds that tough drugs laws have caused misery, failed to curb drug use, fuelled violent crime and spread the epidemics of HIV and hepatitis C through unsafe injecting. Publishing its report on the eve of a special session of the United Nations devoted to illegal narcotics, they urge a complete reversal of the repressive policies imposed by most governments.
