U.N. Development Chief: The War On Drugs Has Failed

U.N. Development Chief Flags Failings Of 'War On Drugs' -- New York Times/Reuters

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - There is increasing evidence that the war on drugs has failed, with criminalization often creating more problems than it solves, said Helen Clark, the head of the United Nations Development Program.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's presentation of the UNDP's 2013 Human Development Report, Clark, a former New Zealand prime minister, said Latin American leaders should be encouraged to develop different policies to tackle the drug scourge.

"I've been a health minister in my past and there's no doubt that the health position would be to treat the issue of drugs as primarily a health and social issue rather than a criminalized issue," Clark told Reuters in an interview.

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Update: War on drugs: What is it good for? -- David Case, Global Post

My Comment: The alternatives are not appealing either. Afghanistan and Pakistan are two countries that do not enforce drug laws .... and what has been the end result are millions of addicts that are producing a social and health disaster that is unimaginable.

U.S. Navy To Pull Out Of The War On Drugs

Photo: U.S. Coast Guardsmen unload 3,500 pounds of cocaine in Miami March 16, 2012. The crew seized the cocaine from a 35-foot vessel in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Martillo. US Coast Guard Photo

Budget Cuts Could Pull Navy Out Of The War On Drugs -- USNI

U.S. Navy frigates will stop patrolling for drug runners by April because of forced sequestration budget cuts, a Navy spokesman told USNI News on Monday.

On Saturday, U.S. 4th Fleet was informed by Navy leadership it would suspend deployments of two ships—part of the Joint Interagency Task Force South’s Operation Martillo—by April because of the 1 March sequestration cuts, said the 4th Fleet’s Cmdr. Cory Barker.

“The cancellation and deferment of ship deployments to 4th Fleet is unfortunate,” Barker said. “We will remain hopeful that Congress will act so we can recover and continue those missions.”

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My Comment: These are the first cuts .... expect more in the months and years to come.

Should U.S. Troops Become Involved In The War On Drugs?

A member of Joint Task Force Bravo refueling a Black Hawk in Honduras. Tomas Munita for The New York Times

Should U.S. Troops Fight The War On Drugs? -- New York Times

The expanded role of the U.S. Army’s special operations forces throughout the world now includes a deployment to Honduras, where it is helping fight drug smuggling. Should the military be involved in the war on drugs? Does military involvement in poor, weakly governed countries destablize them?

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My Comment: A good number of opinions and analysis are in this New York Times report. What's my take on the war on drugs .... we are treating the symptoms but not the disease, and the disease is America's insatiable appetite for narcotics.

Global War On Drugs A Failure: A News Roundup

Global War On Drugs A Failure, High-Level Panel Says -- Yahoo News/Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A high-level international commission declared the global "war on drugs" a failure and urged nations to consider legalizing cannabis and other drugs to undermine organized crime and protect their citizens' health.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy called for a new approach to reducing drug abuse to replace the current strategy of strictly criminalizing drugs and incarcerating drug users while battling criminal cartels that control the drug trade.

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More News On The Global War on Drugs

Global war on drugs 'a failure' -- Al Jazeera
War on drugs has failed and caused 'devastating consequences for societies worldwide' claims global narcotics watchdog -- Daily Mail
Major Panel: Drug War Failed; Legalize Marijuana -- ABC News
'Global War On Drugs Has Failed,' Former World Leaders Say -- NPR
Report: 'The global war on drugs has failed' -- USA Today
Report: 'Global War On Drugs Has Failed' -- NPR/AP
War on drugs has 'failed', says global drug policy group -- BBC (Video)
Report: Global War On Drugs Fails -- NPR (Audio)
War on drugs not working, says global commission -- The Guardian
High-profile panel urges non-criminal approach to world drug policy -- L.A. Times
Panel Calls War on Drugs a Failure -- Wall Street Journal
Report calls war on drugs a failure -- UPI
Decriminalizing marijuana worth trying: panel -- AFP
Is Africa losing the war on drugs? -- BBC