Visit our dedicated website: www.reformdrugpolicy.org
The Beckley Foundation’s Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform is driving forward alternative approaches to drug control in order to create more humane, evidence-based, policies.
The Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform is a joint initiative with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform. The Meeting at the House of Lords on 17/18 November will launch the first ever Cost/Benefit Analyses of a Regulated and Taxed Cannabis Market, the new Draft UN Convention and other evidence to support the need for change. The Meeting will also enable the Global Commission on Drug Policy, to present their recent findings.
For this major new Initiative the Beckley Foundation commissioned a new draft UN convention on all drugs that would allow signatory countries more freedom in deciding their own drug policy. Together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group the Foundation has commissioned the Cost/Benefit Analyses of both a regulated cannabis market and government regulated heroin supply to addicts.
Whilst many people agree that the War on Drugs has failed, the Beckley Foundation’s Global Initiative is unique in providing a concrete opportunity to examine ways forward.
It will achieve this through:
1. Commissioning new reports to widen the evidence base
2. Influencing current political leaders and influential figures by disseminating the new evidence and debating possible ways forward, at a Meeting to be held at the House of Lords, jointly hosted by the Beckley Foundation (BF) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drug Policy Reform (APPG DPR);
3. Giving a platform to the Global Commission with whom the BF will collaborate on a publicity campaign
4. Educating the public about the failure of the War on Drugs and creating public support to trigger a call for action;
5. Using the House of Lords Meeting as a launch pad for the Global Initiative and it’s new reports, and the Global Commission’s recent findings and it’s report
6. Spreading knowledge of the Global Initiative through social media networks and via a new dedicated website (www.reformdrugpolicy.org)
7. Partnering NGOs around the world who recognise the need for new policies and who work in both drug policy reform and associated areas, such as: human rights; environmental causes; woman’s rights; international security etc.
8. Continued advocacy of the need to reform drug control into 2012, using the evidence-base created for the Meeting
The Beckley Foundation has worked over the last 18 months to strategise, plan and implement the launch of the Global Initiative at the House of Lords Meeting. The Meeting will bring together current political leaders from countries interested in reform, together with the Global Commission, providing new evidence and the opportunity to consider alternatives to the current criminalising approach to drug control. The surrounding media coverage will act to arouse public interest and provide an excellent opportunity to educate the public about the failure of the War on Drugs and provide constructive alternatives.
The Meeting at the House of Lords will act as a launch pad for the call for a new approach to drug policy based on the evidence supplied by the BF and the Global Commission. We will use various media channels to educate the public and policy makers and galvanise support for change. Partnering with APPGDPR, Release, IDPC and the Global Commission we will work to optimise media coverage and provide information to the public.
Global Initiative Documents:
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I would like to stay informed about this initiative. I plan to also do my part and spread awareness.
Not sure how I can help, but you have my support.
I would like to get to know what I could do to help reforming our nations drug policy
Its about time that someone tried to change drug policies. The punishments for many drugs are completely inappropriate to the use/amount of harm possible done by the drug. Finally a wide spread movement that may change the way the world thinks about drugs.
I’m interested in promoting this….what can i do to help?
I support this initiative wholeheartedly but am dismayed to still see various errors of law and language. I have made these points for some years as indeed has the creator of this critique, Casey Hardison. Perhaps the most important thing is to remember that the primary law hands powers to government to administer it rationally. Indeed the Misuse of Drugs Act is so flexible and indeed rational that it does not need to be changed at all in order to realise all the necessary regulatory instruments to achieve the purpose of maximal harm reduction to society caused by drug misuse. This is not a question of government following the law, but of misunderstanding it and failing in their [legal]responsibilities.
It is absolutely vital to recognise that the law regulates persons, not drugs! There is no war on drugs, it is a war on people, there are no illegal or illicit drugs, only persons criminalised for their activities irrespective of whether those are harmful or not, there are no legal drugs, only persons ignored by a policy that has not basis in law. Further, drug use as you claim to be illegal, is not. Parliament drafted the law so that problematic use that leads to a social problem could be regulated through the control of drug property interests, the significant point is that the Act is revealed to be a regulatory instrument. The sections on the ACMD also reveal this when one reads what suggestions they may make re making arrangements for the supervision of the supply of controlled drugs.
“Not sure how I can help, but you have my support.”
+1
As a 37 year old with an adequate inteligence is it not within my decision to which way i chose to relax on my free time. i tried drinking alcahol and didnt agree with the way it made me feel, then i found cannabis which gave me the same type of release a lot of non law -breakers get from alcohol. anyone who has tried both will agree you feel more in control with cannabis rather that alcohol. why because i use cannabis respectfully am i treated with the same contempt as criminals for other crimes.
Calum, sorry for the late reply, if you want to get involved send us an email beckley@beckleyfoundation.org) with your CV and what you can see yourself doing for us. Your marketing experience could come in use for our Global Initiative promotion campaign.
James
Have you considered including more business perspective into your reform group? You’re talking about reforming a big commodity market after all, any succesful attempt of reforming the market would need a lot of market research about the motivations and needs of the drug consumers.
The health and human rights approach is good but there also needs to be understanding of the capital involved in the market and to capture the market from the criminals you’ll need to provide a more desirable product with adequate consumer protection.
The reasonable thing would be to integrate all psychoactives such as alcohol and tobacco too into a single market since they all share the demand pool for mind alteration, even though they are legally separated. This could offset the health/crime costs occurring from alcohol, tobacco etc. use by providing competing products. But that is the problem, because legal psychoactive substance businesses will have every incentive to prevent competition and to keep their monopoly status so where do you think you’ll get the economic/political capital to match theirs?
If you want to get things done in the world you need to concentrate on how much capital there is to be gained. You can’t treat drugs just as an issue of the health sector, drug users can’t be just patients to cure but more importantly as consumers whose needs have to be adressed.
So I suggest a lot of market/marketing research. Of course the drugs market should be a state controlled one where the responsibility is to taxpayers instead of stockholders but business is still business and any plan for reforming the drugs market will have to be able to compete with the stakeholders in the current market.
You are correct to suggest that the business perspective is an important one, especially in these financially oriented times. The Beckley Foundation are currently funding a cost benefit analysis being undertaken by Prof Stephen Pudney from the Institute of Social and Economic Research. This work will definitely include an analysis of potential profits made from regulation and costs offset by decriminalization. We hope this will be ready in time for our full launch of the global initiative.
Please share the various steps taking to achieve the feat in Greece. The learning will be used in some developing countries.