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| Authors: | Fernando Henrique Cardoso Cesar Gaviria, Secretary General, Organization of American States Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, (Mexico), former President of Mexico; Director, Center for the Study of Globalization, Yale University |
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February 23, 2009
The war on drugs has failed. And it's high time to replace an ineffective strategy with more humane and efficient drug policies. This is the central message of the report by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy we presented to the public recently in Rio de Janeiro.
Prohibitionist policies based on eradication, interdiction and criminalization of consumption simply haven't worked. Violence and the organized crime associated with the narcotics trade remain critical problems in our countries. Latin America remains the world's largest exporter of cocaine and cannabis, and is fast becoming a major supplier of opium and heroin. Today, we are further than ever from the goal of eradicating drugs.
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