Entrepreneur Richard Branson has just blogged about his recent trip to Portugal where he was investigating that country’s drug policies.  Branson cites Cato’s landmark study, “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal,” several times in his post.  Here’s an excerpt:

I will set out clearly what I learned from my visit to Portugal and would urge other countries to study this:

In 2001 Portugal became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines.

Jail time was replaced with offer of therapy. (The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is much more expensive than treatment).

Under Portugal’s new regime, people found guilty of possessing small amounts of drugs are sent to a panel consisting of a psychologist, social worker, and legal adviser for appropriate treatment (which may be refused without criminal punishment), instead of jail. 

Critics in the poor, socially conservative and largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to “drug tourists” and exacerbate Portugal’s drug problem; the country has some of the highest levels of hard-drug use in Europe. The recently realised results of a report commissioned by the Cato Institute, suggest otherwise. …

Portugal’s 10 year experiment shows clearly that enough is enough. It is time to end the war on drugs worldwide. We must stop criminalising drug users. Health and treatment should be offered to drug users – not prison. Bad drugs policies affect literally hundreds of thousands of individuals and communities across the world. We need to provide medical help to those that have problematic use – not criminal retribution.

Read the whole thing. Check out the recent Cato conference on the Global War on Drugs here.

Richard Branson: Time to End the War on Drugs is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

The Beckley Foundation has just launched an important initiative in Great Britain and their new website has a gold mine of research related to drug policy.

On Tuesday, Cato hosted a conference on Ending the Global Drug War (those talks coming online soon).

Related Cato work here and here.  Still more here.

A Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Obama’s new drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, says it is time to move away from the “war” rhetoric surrounding federal drug policy.  Since Kerlikowske has just assumed office, this is exactly the right thing to do — set a whole new tone from the militarized approach we have seen over the past 20-30 years. 

Drug abuse is a problem that must be dealt with, but we don’t need to send troops to Latin America, we don’t need former generals like Barry McCaffrey to oversee drug policy, and we don’t need police officers conducting raids on American homes with machine guns and  flash bang grenades.

The political climate on drug policy is shifting.  Republican governors like Arnold Schwarzenegger are calling for an open debate on legalizing marijuana.  New York is finally discarding its Rockefeller drug laws.  And Latin American leaders are urging the U.S. to reverse course.  Obama seems interested in a new direction but the appointment of a sensible law enforcement official like Kerlikowske and talk of “more treatment” is not enough.  We need more decisive action away from the criminalized approach to drug policy.  The time is right to just do it.

For Cato research on this subject, go here.

End the Drug War. Just Do It. is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

This morning in The Wall Street Journal:

The Obama administration’s new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting “a war on drugs,” a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use.

…Gil Kerlikowske, the new White House drug czar, signaled Wednesday his openness to rethinking the government’s approach to fighting drug use.

Mr. Kerlikowske’s comments are a signal that the Obama administration is set to follow a more moderate — and likely more controversial — stance on the nation’s drug problems.

…The Obama administration is likely to deal with drugs as a matter of public health rather than criminal justice alone, with treatment’s role growing relative to incarceration, Mr. Kerlikowske said.

Well, that’s at least a modest step in the right direction. However, I want to see how policies change (if they do) under the Obama administration. A change in terminology won’t mean much if the authorities still routinely throw people in jail for violating drug laws.

As for the international war on drugs, everyone in the Washington area is welcome to join us this Friday on Capitol Hill to discuss the consequences of the war on drugs abroad.

White House Czar Calls for End to ‘War on Drugs’ is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog