New Study Reveals Failure of US Narcotics Policy

The Beckley Foundation issues new book

“Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate”

calling for change in the prohibitionist model

Oxford University Press, February 2010 ­ An international team of the world's leading
drug policy analysts convened by Amanda Feilding, Director of the Beckley
Foundation, have written a book analyzing cannabis prohibition policies. Their
conclusion is that criminalization has failed to reduce consumption.  The book also
shows no link between prevalence and cannabis policy ­ be it liberal or draconian.
Cannabis has become widely used and prohibition policies as implemented have only
proven to be expensive, intrusive on individual privacy, and socially divisive. The book
outlines a full spectrum of alternative policies from depenalization to a fully regulated
legal market.

Half a century of prohibition has failed to prevent a rise in global cannabis use, which
has transformed consumption from a relatively rare behavior confined to a scattering
of cultures and countries to almost a rite of passage amongst the Western world’s
youth. Prohibition has led to the development of large scale criminal markets that
increase the harms of cannabis use and undermine social order. Moreover, a criminal
justice approach to cannabis control causes considerable social harms and facilitates
discriminatory enforcement against the young and ethnic minorities.

“This book clearly shows that prohibitionist policies have not only failed to meet their
objectives but have inflicted significant social harms,” says Amanda Feilding Director
of the Beckley Foundation. “Efforts to change the current system have been met with
stiff resistance from such leading countries as the United States, which is in the
company of countries like Russia, China and Sudan.”

Criminalisation has not acted as a deterrent, whereas, with a regulated market, the
product could be labeled for strength and chemical composition, thereby making it
safer.  Government could also control and tax its sale, which would provide extra
funding for education and treatment.

The book is calling for a significant change by adopting a less punitive approach.
Countries like the Netherlands and Portugal that have pursued liberal drug policies
have not seen consequent increase in cannabis consumption, as staunch
prohibitionists argued it would. Instead these countries have experienced reductions
in the financial costs associated with criminalization policies, and have reduced the
adverse social consequences arising from criminalization strategies.

While a number of U.S. states[1] have downgraded the criminal status of marijuana
possession offences, and in some cases passed medicinal marijuana exceptions[2],
US Federal law severely limits the options most states have to change their drug
policies. As states such as California and Colorado seek to develop regulations and tax
models for marijuana, policymakers should closely analyze, evaluate and draw
inspiration from similar systems and models developed in other countries as described
in the book.

“The real value of the research we have conducted lies in the breadth of the review
of experiences around the globe.  It shows the range of different options - local,
regional, and national - government can take to reduce the adverse effects of
prohibition,” explained Peter Reuter, Director, Program on the Economics of Crime
and Justice Policy at the University of Maryland and one of book’s five co-authors. “It
is finally time for governments around the world to readdress cannabis policy and to
avoid approaches that have been proven to fail.”

This month Robin Room, one of the authors, Peter Reuter and Amanda Feilding will
be making their case to political leaders in Washington DC, Mexico, Brazil and
Argentina.

The Beckley Foundation is a charitable trust founded in 1998 by Amanda Feilding,
Lady Neidpath. It aims at investigating consciousness and its changing states from a
multidisciplinary perspective. Through its Science Programme the Foundation
initiates, develops and conducts world-class research that will improve our scientific
understanding of consciousness and provide practical information to help optimize
health and well being. The Foundation also conducts a Drug Policy Program and is
dedicated to providing a rigorous, independent review of global drug policy, aiming
at reducing the harms associated with both the misuse of drugs and the policies that
aim to control them. The intention of the Foundation is to help develop policies that
are evidence-based and rational, rather than those that are ineffectual, due to being
rooted in unsubstantiated ideology.

Contributors

Robin Room is a sociologist and Professor at the School of Population Health,
University of Melbourne and is the director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research.
He is also a professor at and was the founding director of the Centre for Social
Research on Alcohol and Drugs at Stockholm University.

Benedikt Fischer is Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and the School of
Criminology, as well as Interim Director of the Centre for Applied Research in
Addictions and Mental Health (CARMHA), at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver,
Canada, where he also currently holds a CIHR/PHAC Research Chair in Applied Public
Health and is a MSFHR Senior Scholar Career Investigator.

Wayne Hall is a Professor of Public Health Policy at the School of Population Health,
University of Queensland. He has advised the World Health Organization on the
health effects of cannabis use and other illicit drug related health issues.

Peter Reuter is an economist, Senior Economist at RAND and is a Professor at the
School of Public Policy and in the Department of Criminology at the University of
Maryland. He has served as a consultant to numerous US, European, and UN
agencies and founded and directed RAND's multidisciplinary Drug Policy Research
Center from 1989-1993.

Simon Lenton is a Professor and Deputy Director at the National Drug Research
Institute, Perth, Western Australia, and he works as a Clinical Psychologist in private
practice.


Amanda Feilding is the founder and director of the Beckley Foundation. The
Foundation has produced over 35 much-cited academic reports, proceedings
documents and briefing papers on key drug policy questions.




--
| Amanda Feilding
| Director
| The Beckley Foundation
| Beckley Park
| Oxford
| OX3 9SY
| Tel +44 1865 351209 or +44 1865 351019
| Fax +44 1865 351219
| www.beckleyfoundation.org

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