Wednesday, August 01, 2012

The World Today 'special edition': Rethinking the war on drugs




The World Today, an international current-affairs magazine, published by Chatham House’s has a ‘drugs’ special in this month's edition. This includes a feature from Transform's Danny Kushlick; ‘Time to separate drug policy from crime’ in which he argues against pursuing an enforcement driven approach to drugs. He then argues for the need for individual countries to choose the most appropriate drug policies for their domestic and regional needs. He concludes:

“Fifty years ago Britain joined the rest of the world in making ‘drugs’ a criminal issue. In hindsight it was a gargantuan mistake. But mistakes can be rectified…This is no longer a debate for dinner parties. The Latin Americans are leading the way; it is up to us to follow.”

Other features in the edition include: 

Claire Yorke, manager of the International Security Programme at Chatham House and BenoƮt Gomis, a researcher in international security

Bill Hughes, former director-general of the UK Serious Organized Crime Agency and member of the Independent Advisory Panel for the Chatham House Drugs and Organized Crime Project

Ian Perrin and David L Heymann, the Centre on Global Health Security, Chatham House

Alan Philps

Dr Vanda Felbab-Brown, Fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution, and author.

Alan Philps

Danny Kushlick, head of external affairs at Transform Drug Policy Foundation and a member of the Independent Advisory Panel for the Chatham House Drugs and Organized Crime Project