"Drugs: War lost, New Battles"
In an opinion editorial that appeared today in the French daily Le Monde entitled, "Drugs: War lost, New Battles", Raymond Kendall, the Honorary Secretary General of Interpol, declared that the law-enforcement-dominated international policies that have been in place for several decades have failed to protect the world from drugs. He highlighted the fact that "cannabis has become a common substance with high rates of consumption, sometimes more easily accessible than tobacco" and that the distribution of ecstasy and of cocaine is increasing steadily despite the enormous resources allocated to the criminal justice system for the "war on drugs".
These policies can today no longer live up to the success of more innovative mechanisms known under the name of harm reduction that have shown considerable success with regards to the control of tobacco, alcohol and heroin consumption. He referred specifically to a recent study in the UK which found that "every £1 spent on health care saved £3 that would have been spent on the criminal justice system". Raymond Kendall added that "with regards to heroin, the medicalization of dependant drug users and the prescription of pharmaceutical opiates have led to an 80% decrease in overdose deaths, noticeably limited the spread of epidemics and sharply cut the delinquency of drug addicts. The number of heroin addicts has also significantly decreased due to the recent advances in realistic detoxification processes, and because illegal drug supply has moved towards a ’medicalized’ market".
He regretted however that these innovative policies are often attacked by the international institutions that apply the heavily US-influenced and "obsolete" international conventions, adopted since the 1960s, in a very restrictive manner.
"Although I am not personally in favour of the legalization of drugs, the general feeling is that the opportunity has been missed to profoundly reform a dangerous and obsolete legal framework and replace it with a modern and effective policy", declared Mr Kendall in relation to the unpublicized release this summer of the five-year plan of the French Inter-ministerial Mission for the Fight Against Drugs and Addiction (MILTD) which did not meet the expectations of drug specialists.
He called for Europe to take the lead in the international movement for the modernisation of drug policy and the reform in 2008 of the three conventions which presently govern international drug control.
Raymond Kendall will speak publicly in Paris on drug policy on the occasion of the Paris International Symposium organized by the Senlis Council and SOS Drogue International: "Local Innovations and Global Challenges", the 25 and 26 of November 2004 at the Regional Council of Ile de France.
Raymond Kendall is the Honorary Secretary General of Interpol (he was Secretary General from 1985 to 2000) and President, OLAF Supervisory Committee (European Union Anti-Fraud Office.
