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What people say…

Decriminalisation had the desired effect of reducing drug-related arrests, while releasing resources and removing a barrier for problematic users to seek help.

Pavel Bemformer Mayor of Prague

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

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

The time has come for the international community to acknowledge the evidence, call for and deliver evidence-based harm reduction strategies of global scale to reduce HIV and hepatitis C infections, and so protect the health of people who use drugs.

Michel KazatchkineUN Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

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

For social problems like these, law enforcement isn’t the answer. Ice has been on the scene for over a decade and we’ve had a really strong law enforcement approach and it hasn’t resolved the problem. The time’s right now to look at the other options.

Ken LayHead of the National Ice Taskforce, Former Victorian Police Commissioner

This is an issue we’re not going to police our way out of.

The Hon Michael Keenan MPFederal Justice Minister

There is plenty of evidence that declaring the War on Drugs was essentially a political decision with total disregard for medical or other pertinent scientific considerations about the problem.

Ernesto Zedilloformer President of Mexico

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

Peter DunneAssociate Minister of Health of New Zealand

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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