Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Kofi Annan to Discuss Drugs at World Economic Forum Panel #drugpolicy

Drug Policy Aliance
22 January, 2014



Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Kofi Annan to Discuss Drugs at World Economic Forum
Panel

January 22, 2014 - By Tony Newman

The World Economic Forum in Davos will host a plenary session on drug policy
on Thursday, January 23. This is the first time that the prestigious
gathering has given such prominence to the issue.

The panel, moderated by Univision anchor Enrique Acevedo, is called "The
Drugs Dilemma: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business." Former UN
head Kofi Annan, President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia, Human Rights
Watch executive director Ken Roth and Texas Governor Rick Perry will be on
the panel.

"I've long wondered what it would take to persuade the Davos organizers to
put drug policy on the main stage of the forum," said Ethan Nadelmann,
executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "They clearly were moved by
the fact that some of the world's most distinguished statesmen, including
former UN Secretary Kofi Annan and former Brazilian president Fernando
Henrique Cardoso, are now deeply committed to ending the global war on drugs
and pushing the envelope of drug decriminalization. Drug policy reform as a
global political movement has come of age."

In recent years, debate and political will for drug policy reform has gained
unprecedented momentum in many parts of the world, especially Latin America
and the U.S.

In 2011, Kofi Annan, Paul Volcker and Richard Branson joined former
presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), César Gaviria (Colombia) and
Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico) and other distinguished members of the Global
Commission on Drug Policy in saying the time had come to "break the taboo"
on exploring alternatives to the failed war on drugs – and to "encourage
experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation of drugs,"
especially marijuana. More recently, current presidents Juan Manuel Santos
in Colombia, Otto Perez Molina in Guatemala, and José Mujica in Uruguay have
joined these calls for reform. In May, the Organization of American States
produced a report, commissioned by heads of state of the region, that
included marijuana legalization as a likely policy alternative.

Meanwhile, marijuana legalization has moved into the mainstream of U.S.
and international politics now that Colorado, Washington – and as of last
month, Uruguay – have become the first political jurisdictions in the world
to approve the legal regulation of marijuana.

In an interview with the New Yorker published Sunday, President Obama spoke
about his past drug use, said marijuana was no more dangerous than alcohol,
criticized racial disparities in marijuana arrests and said the new laws
legalizing marijuana in Colorado and Washington are 'important'.

The failed global war on drugs has dragged on for decades. It is time to put
all options on the table and find an exit strategy from the this unwinnable
war.

"The Drugs Dilemma: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business" panel
takes place Thursday, January 23 at 2:45 pm Davos Time and 8:45 am ET. You
can view all panels and sessions at http://www.weforum.org/

Tony Newman is the director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance
(www.drugpolicy.org)

--
Drugs & Democracy Info <drugs@tni.org>
Transnational Institute (TNI)
De Wittenstraat 25 1052 AK
P.O.Box 14656 1001 LD
Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 662 6608 / Fax: +31 20 675 7176 http://www.tni.org/drugs


_______________________________________________
Dd-world mailing list
https://lists.tni.org/mailman/listinfo/dd-world