Study: War on Drugs Has Caused Global Health Crisis [View all]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/36038-study-war-on-drugs-has-caused-global-health-crisis

A report by the medical journal of the Lancet and Johns Hopkins University said the five-decades long "War on Drugs," started by former U.S. president Richard Nixon, has drastically undercut public health across the globe.

The War on Drugs is to blame for some of today's most urgent public health crises while its effect on the use and proliferation of drugs has been minimal.

"The goal of prohibiting all use, possession, production and trafficking of illicit drugs is the basis of many of our national drug laws, but these policies are based on ideas about drug use and drug dependence that are not scientifically grounded,” said Commissioner Chris Beyrer, epidemiology professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"The global ‘War on Drugs’ has harmed public health, human rights and development. It’s time for us to rethink our approach to global drug policies, and put scientific evidence and public health at the heart of drug policy discussions,” Beyrer explained.

The report's authors have instead called for an evidence-based approach, focused on reducing harm by minimizing both the violence associated with drugs and the health risks, such as the transmission of HIV and hepatitis through shared needles.

Furthermore, the authors are calling for the decriminalization of minor and nonviolent drug use; policies that reduce violence and discrimination in drug policing; increased access to controlled medicines that could reduce the risk of overdose, and greater investments in health and social services for drug users.