The Global Commission on Drug Policy has just issued its latest annual report. It does not look with favor on the war on drugs. In fact, it asserts that the drug war has worsened the HIV/AIDS pandemic by creating barriers to treatment.The report accuses some countries, the U.S. among them, of ignoring "scientific evidence and World Health Organization recommendations and resist(ing) the implementation of evidence-based HIV prevention programs." Those countries that have adopted these programs have seen a significant decline in HIV.
Despite the decades-long war on drugs, the supply of illegal drugs has increased by 380% since 1980, while the cost of illicit drugs has decreased by 79%. The federal budget for the war has increased by 600% since the 1980s, while the price of the drugs has gone down by 80% and the purity of the drugs has increased.
Members of the commission include former presidents of Poland, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Switzerland as well as such notables as Paul Volcker, Louis Arbor, George Schultz, Mario Vargas Llosa, George Papandreou.
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