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What people say…

It is now well-established that the war on drugs has caused more suffering than the drug problem it was supposed to be tackling. The good news is the tide finally appears to be turning. Countries around the world are experimenting with new approaches, from decriminalisation to regulated markets. It’s an incredibly exciting time.

Nick Cleggformer UK Deputy Prime Minister

I have no problem with the medical use of cannabis, just as I have no problem with the medical use of opiates.

The Hon Tony Abbott MPFormer Prime Minister of Australia

As an investment, the war on drugs has failed to deliver any returns. If it were a business, it would have been shut down a long time ago. This is not what success looks like.

Richard Bransonbusinessman

Drug control measures cannot take precedence over health, safety, human welfare and well-being any longer. Our countries have suffered enough. The human costs are too high.

Cesar Gaviriaformer President of Colombia

Ultimately this is a choice between control by governments or by gangsters; there is no third option in which drug markets can be made to disappear.

Henrique Fernando Cardosoformer President of Brazil

It is long past time for political leaders to be held accountable for their cowardly inactions on drug policy reform that result in racist effects and human rights violations.

Carl HartProfessor of Psychology, Columbia University

We must now all recognise the violence related to drug trafficking in some countries and regions, and the lack of access to harm reduction measures and treatment in others as a problem for all of us.

Olusegun Obasanjoformer President of Nigeria

New Zealand chose to take an innovative, harm-minimisation approach through regulating the market.

Peter DunneAssociate Minister of Health of New Zealand

Capital punishment for drug-related offences should be suspended all over the world, and there are both opportunities and pressures for countries retaining capital punishment to change course.

Ruth Dreifussformer President of Switzerland

I believe that drugs have destroyed many lives, but wrong government policies have destroyed many more. In what other areas of public health do we criminalise patients in need of help? Surely it cannot be the job of the criminal justice system to prescribe remedies to deal with public health concerns. This is the job of public health professionals.

Kofi Annanformer General Secretary of the United Nations (May 2015)

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