7.4 Moving Beyond Drug Criminalization

The war on drugs and prohibitionist/criminalization type drug policies more generally have failed to achieve their goals, paralleling past attempts at alcohol prohibition in North America. The critiques of the war point to the importance of basing policy on science/evidence, rather than ideology (CDPC, 2021). One option, covered in more detail in the Chapter on Alternative Drug Policies, is legally regulating and taxing most of the psychoactive substances that are now criminalized. This policy strategy would radically reduce the crime, violence, corruption, illegal markets, and problems of unregulated drugs, as well as improve public safety and better prioritize taxpayer resources (TED, 2014). Ensuring social justice, racial equity, reparations for communities harmed by the war on drugs, involving people with lived and living experience (PWLLE) in planning and policy discussions, and resisting corporate capture, are essential components of future drug policy reform (Fordham, 2021). The redesign of drug policy at all levels (local, provincial/state, federal, global), needs to be public health and harm reduction oriented, incorporating elements of legalization and/or decriminalization of drugs (See Chapter on Alternative Drug Policies).

VIDEO: Envisage the World After the War on Drugs

In the following video, members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy outline a pragmatic package to end global drug prohibition.