Homeless in Arizona

The "War on Drugs" is a dismal failure:

"Instead of successfully deterring people from doing drugs and trafficking across borders, the war on drugs has instead resulted in violence, mass incarceration, death, corruption and overspending."

U.N.’s World Drug Report implicitly shows failure of war on drugs

Posted on July 9, 2015 | By Emily Muirhead

The U.S. war on drugs was meant to deter illegal drug trade and protect the citizens of America from harm. But in fact, it’s been largely a counterproductive effort with many unintended consequences both here and around the world.

In June, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released its comprehensive 2015 World Drug Report that unintentionally detailed the epic failures of this so-called war.

On June 26, the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released their comprehensive 2015 World Drug Report that detailed the status of drug trafficking and usage around the globe and the devastating effects. In the following slides are the main points taken from the UN's 160+ page report.

The UN report unintentionally paints a clear picture of the immense failures of the war on drugs, highlighting increased usage of opioids and cannabis, and horrifying numbers of overdose deaths.

Instead of successfully deterring people from doing drugs and trafficking across borders, the war on drugs has instead resulted in violence, mass incarceration, death, corruption and overspending. By intensely criminalizing illicit drugs across the board, a precedent was created for a thriving black market of drug production, smuggling and usage. Not to mention many drugs including cannabis actually got cheaper and more potent over the past decade, demonstrating that wherever there is a demand, there will be a supply, regardless of law crackdowns.

The U.N. report found that global drug use remains relatively stable, clearly an indication that the war on drugs has been ineffective in deterring drug use and trafficking. While use of opiates as a whole has decreased, the UN found that there has been an increase in use of cannabis, especially in Western and Central Europe and North America, as well as pharmaceutical opioids.

The U.N. adds, drug trafficking organizations have increasingly diversified by trafficking more meth and cannabis resin.

The report pointed out there is still an alarming number of individuals using drugs across the world, far too many of whom are still dying from overdoses and complications.

Lumping marijuana in with the rest

Also noted by the U.N., not only is cannabis usage rising, but so is the substance’s potency. Marijuana has become more potent over the past decade largely due to advancement of cultivation and breeding techniques.

“THC levels increased from less than (an average) 3.4 percent in 1993 to 8.8 percent in 2008,” the report found. Currently in Colorado, the average THC content of cannabis is 18.7 percent, a relatively high potency.

“Higher THC content has been associated with anxiety, depression, and increased risk of dependence, psychotic symptoms and effects on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, particularly among regular users, although anxiety and psychotic symptoms may occur in recent and inexperienced users too,” the U.N. said. [Sounds like a bunch of govenrment propaganda. If pot was that horrible millions of people wouldn't smoke it!!!]

While consuming too much THC is technically considered an overdose, [A marijuana overdose??? About out the only other time I have heard that is from nut job Sheila Polk who is the Yavapai, Arizona County attorney] it’s virtually impossible for weed to kill you. When compared to opioids, which are prescribed daily by doctors round the world, marijuana pales in comparison in terms of danger.

In 2013, 207 million Americans were prescribed opioids, and in, “2002, death certificates listed opioid analgesic poisoning as a cause of death more commonly than heroin or cocaine,” according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

Thus, comparing the two drugs is misleading, at best.

Misplaced fears

Why is there still so much bureaucratic focus on controlling and criminalizing marijuana users worldwide, instead of focusing on both legal and illegal drugs that routinely cause massive numbers of deaths?

Certainly, cannabis is the most widely used substance in the United States, with annually 8.4 percent of individuals between 15-64 using the substance, but there are simply bigger fish to fry.

Just as the war on drugs failed to create large-scale change, the U.N. acknowledged that heavy-handed approaches to drug education are also largely ineffective.

“Research shows the need to rethink drug-prevention strategies and shift the focus from counter-productive, fear-arousing messages to a more positive approach recognizing that children and youth start to use drugs in the context of personal or environmental vulnerabilities that are largely out of their control,” the U.N. wrote.

Is it any wonder then that attempting to control drug usage through arrest and imprisonment is also failing?

In fact, in spite of decades of the war on drugs, the U.N. concluded, “The past year saw little change in the overall global situation regarding the production, use and health consequences of illicit drugs.