Ending the War on Drugs

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Canada's current prime minister campaigned in part on a promise to legalize recreational marijuana use across the country. Why? 1) Because prohibition doesn't work. 2) Because decriminalization - something the last Liberal government worked for, more than a decade ago - falls short of the mark when it comes to harm reduction. 3) Because marijuana is not nearly as big a danger as some people would like us to think it is. In some ways, it's actually less harmful than alcohol. And it's time our laws reflect that reality. UNGASS 2016, a United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem, begins on Monday. In a lead up to the event a letter has been sent to the UN, signed by over a hundred lawyers and judges, clergy members, businessmen, performers, politicians, scientists, and even Nobel prize laureates from multiple countries. This letter calls on the United Nations to put evidence-based harm reduction methods first in addressing the problem of drug abuse, and to recognize that a crime & punishment model has only created more harm to the very people and societies it was supposed to protect. Do you agree with these prominent people, and with the governments of nations in the Americas and Europe, that the War on Drugs must end? http://www.drugpolicy.org/ungass2016 [Image: fotobias/Pixabay/CC0]