The End of the War?

Could we really see the end to the war on drugs in our lifetime? Could we possibly see some approach that actually benefits society and helps to break the stranglehold of drugs and violence that accompany the “war”? It's not much different from our war on terror, really. It, too, has been structured so that it can be never-ending. It, too, has made matters worse.  It, too, has made a few people very, very rich.

Every time I think of an end to the war on drugs, I think of the bedraggled man in a bar in San Francisco many years ago who told attorney John McGuinn (McGuinn, Hillsman, Palefsky – whatever, whoever they are now) in whose firm I was working at the time for Jim Moore (when it was McGuinn & Moore, RIP Jim) (TMI?) when John asked him about himself said, “I'm the last foot soldier in Johnson's war on drugs.”

A historic meeting of Latin America's leaders, to be attended by Barack Obama, will hear serving heads of state admit that the war on drugs has been a failure and that alternatives to prohibition must now be found.

The Summit of the Americas, to be held in Cartagena, Colombia is being seen by foreign policy experts as a watershed moment in the redrafting of global drugs policy in favour of a more nuanced and liberalised approach.

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Latin America's increasing hostility towards prohibition makes Obama's attendance at the summit potentially difficult. The Obama administration, keen not to hand ammunition to its opponents during an election year, will not want to be seen as softening its support for prohibition.

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Otto Pérez Molina, the president of Guatemala, who as former head of his country's military intelligence service experienced the power of drug cartels at close hand, is pushing his fellow Latin American leaders to use the summit to endorse a new regional security plan that would see an end to prohibition.

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He insists [...] that prohibition has failed and an alternative system must be found. "Our proposal as the Guatemalan government is to abandon any ideological consideration regarding drug policy (whether prohibition or liberalisation) and to foster a global intergovernmental dialogue based on a realistic approach to drug regulation.

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Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, has called for a national debate on the issue. Last year Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia's president, told the Observer that if legalising drugs curtailed the power of organised criminal gangs who had thrived during prohibition, "and the world thinks that's the solution, I will welcome it".

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Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil and chairman of the global commission on drug policy, has said it is time for "an open debate on more humane and efficient drug policies", a view shared by George Shultz, the former US secretary of state, and former president Jimmy Carter.

  UK Guardian

Where will the CIA get its black ops money?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.