The Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) is a panel of world leaders and intellectuals, with a secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland. In June 2011, the commission said: "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world." The emphasis in drug policy on harsh law enforcement over four decades has not accomplished its goal of banishing drugs and has in fact spawned wide, dramatic eruptions of violence, the report continued. By way of alternative, the GCDP report "advocates decriminalizing drug use by those who do no harm to others."Tharoor, Ishaan, "Report: The Global War on Drugs Has Failed. Is It Time to Legalize?", Time, June 03, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-03.
The commission was formed to "bring to the international level an informed, science-based discussion about humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and societies. [It built] on the experience of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy""Commission" page , GCDP webpage. Retrieved 2011-06-03.Latin American Initiative on Drugs and Democracy membership , LAIDD webpage. Retrieved 2011-06-03. and extended to West Africa in 2013–14 via an initiative of GCPD board member and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the West Africa Commission on Drugs."West Africa Commission on Drugs" , globalcommissionondrugs.org/wacd. Retrieved 2019-03-20. It is hosted by the Geneva Graduate Institute, a graduate school located in Geneva.
At year-end 2017, GCDP board member George Shultz and economist and former secretary of finance in Mexico Pedro Aspe reaffirmed the message of the commission in a New York Times op-ed.Shultz, George P. and Pedro Aspe, "The Failed War on Drugs" , New York Times op-ed, December 31, 2017. Retrieved 2018-01-01. The commission has been successively chaired by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the former president of Brazil, Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland, and Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand. The Secretariat handles the daily operations of the commission under the leadership of its director, Khalid Tinasti.
Membership Members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy: , globalcommissionondrugs.org webpage. Retrieved 2019-04-13. Louise Arbour, former high commissioner for human rights, Canada Pavel Bém (Czech Republic) former mayor of Prague, member of the Parliament, Czech Republic Richard Branson (United Kingdom), entrepreneur, advocate for social causes, founder of the Virgin Group, co-founder of the Elders Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil), former president of Brazil (former chair) Maria Cattaui (Switzerland), former secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand and administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nick Clegg (United Kingdom), former deputy prime minister Ruth Dreifuss (Switzerland), former president of Switzerland and minister of home affairs (chair in 2016"World Leaders Call for End to Criminalizing Drug Consumption" , The Costa Rica Star, November 28, 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-06.) Mohamed ElBaradei (Egypt 'in exile'), former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1997 to 2009 and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Geoff Gallop (Australia), former premier of Western Australia César Gaviria (Colombia), former president of Colombia Anand Grover (India), former United Nations special rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health Michel Kazatchkine (France), UN secretary-general's special envoy on HIV/AIDS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and former executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Aleksander Kwaśniewski (Poland), former president of PolandKwaśniewski, Aleksander, "Saying No to Costly Drug Laws" New York Times, May 10, 2012. Ricardo Lagos (Chile), former president of Chile Kgalema Motlanthe (South Africa), former president of South Africa Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria), former president of Nigeria George Papandreou (Greece), former prime minister of Greece José Ramos-Horta, former prime minister and president of Timor-Leste Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia), former president of Colombia Michel Sidibé (Mali), former UNAIDS executive director and under-secretary-general of the United Nations, and former minister of health and social affairs of Mali Javier Solana (Spain), former European Union high representative for the common foreign and security policy Cassam Uteem (Mauritius), former president of Mauritius Ernesto Zedillo (Mexico), former president of Mexico
Former members Kofi Annan (Ghana), former chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation and secretary-general of the United Nations (deceased 2018; board member in memoriam) Carlos Fuentes (Mexico), writer and public intellectual (deceased May 15, 2012; board member in memoriam) Asma Jahangir (Pakistan), human rights activist, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary, Extrajudicial and Summary Executions (deceased 2018; board member in memoriam) Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru), writer and public intellectual, Nobel Prize laureate (deceased 2025; board member in memoriam) Jorge Sampaio (Portugal), former president of Portugal (deceased 2021; board member in memoriam) George Shultz (United States), former United States secretary of state (deceased 2021; former honorary chair; board member in memoriam) Thorvald Stoltenberg (Norway), former minister of foreign affairs and United Nations high commissioner for refugees (deceased 2018; board member in memoriam) Paul Volcker (United States), former chairman of the Federal Reserve and of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board (deceased 2019; board member in memoriam) John C. Whitehead (United States), banker and civil servant, chair of the World Trade Center Memorial (deceased 2015; board member in memoriam)
Reactions to the 2011 report
Immediate Gabor Maté, a Hungarian-Canadian physician who specializes in study and treatment of addiction, was interviewed on Democracy Now! about the report."Dr. Gabor Maté: Obama Admin Should Heed Global Panel's Call to End 'Failed' U.S.-Led Drug War", Democracy Now!, June 6, 2011. Audio and transcript.
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter wrote an op-ed in The New York Times explicitly endorsing the recommendations of the commission, saying they were in line with the policies of his administration; and saying it was the policies of the succeeding Reagan administration which had moved U.S. policy so far toward punitive alternatives.Carter, Jimmy, "Call Off the Global Drug War" , The New York Times, June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-12. Carter's piece elicited several published responses, including one from an analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy who drew attention to the current White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's immediate rejection of GCDP's recommendations and defense of the "balanced drug control efforts" of the U.S. federal government; and others which agreed and disagreed with Carter's views."Letters: Dispatches From the War on Drugs" , The New York Times, June 26, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
Brian Lehrer had Ethan Nadelmann, founder and director of the Drug Policy Alliance, on Lehrer's radio show to detail the GCDP report and how that might impact U.S. anti-drug policies."Serious Words" , The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC, June 27, 2011. Audio archive only. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
Sir Ronald Sanders, a consultant and former Caribbean diplomat, wrote in favor of the recommendations and endorsement of President Carter's expressed views."Global drugs war strategy has failed - overhaul it" , The Tribune, June 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
Extended Peter Hakim prominently cited the GCDP report in an October, 2011, "rethinking [of] U.S. drug policy".Hakim, Peter, "Rethinking US Drug Policy" , Política Exterior (Inter-American Dialogue), October 31, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
The Beckley Foundation's Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform antedated the release of the GCDP report but integrated the GCPD into its November, 2011, British House of Lords meetings. Professor Robin Room (University of MelbourneBio , Beckley Foundation webpage. Retrieved 2011-11-25.) was preparing a "Rewriting the UN Drug Conventions Report" based on amendments to the UN drug control conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988 for the Initiative; and Professor Stephen Pudney (Institute for Social and Economic Research) was preparing "the first-ever Cost-benefit Analysis of the control of cannabis through regulation and taxation in the UK" for it."Global Initiative" , Beckley Foundation webpage. Retrieved 2011-11-25. Amanda Feilding of the Foundation and other peers led the effortBeckford, Martin, "It's time to decriminalise drug use, say peers", The Telegraph, 20 March 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-25. and attracted some criticism for it.
Background papers as of 2011-11-25"Background Papers" , GCDP webpage. Retrieved 2011-11-25. "Demand reduction and harm reduction", by Dr Alex Wodak AM "Drug policy, criminal justice and mass imprisonment", by Bryan Stevenson "Assessing supply-side policy and practice: Eradication and alternative development, by David Mansfield "The development of international drug control: Lessons learned and strategic challenges for the future" by Martin Jelsma "Drug policy: Lessons learned and options for the future", by Mike Trace "The drug trade: The politicization of criminals and the criminalization of politicians" by Moisés Naím
2014 Report - Taking Control: Pathways to Drug Policies That Work On September 9, 2014, the commission issued its new report, Taking Control: Pathways to Drug Policies that Work.Taking Control: Summary , gcdpsummary2014.com, September 2014. Downloads of full report available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Russian. "The report reflects the evolution in the thinking of the commissioners, who reiterate their demands for decriminalization, alternatives to incarceration, and greater emphasis on public health approaches and now also call for permitting the legal regulation of psychoactive substances. The commission is the most distinguished group of high-level leaders to ever call for such far-reaching changes.""New Report: World Leaders Call For Ending Criminalization of Drug Use and Possession and Responsible Legal Regulation of Psychoactive Substances" , globalcommissionondrugs.org, September 8, 2014.
Disappointment with UNGASS 2016 In April 2016, the GCDP reacted to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) drug conference, saying the commission was "profoundly disappointed with the adopted outcome document"."Public Statement by the Global Commission on Drug Policy on UNGASS 2016", Press release, April 21, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-25. The Wall Street Journal lumped the attendees' positions "somewhat" in two camps: "Some European and South American countries as well as the U.S. favored softer approaches. Eastern countries such as China and Russia and most Muslim nations like Iran, Indonesia and Pakistan remained staunchly opposed." Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto said “We must move beyond prohibition to effective prevention” and that Mexico was considering legalizing medical marijuana and limited decriminalization of the drug. GCDP member Branson was quoted as saying the conference outcome was "out of step with world sentiment and doubles down on status quo”.Fassihi, Farnaz, "U.N. Conference on Drugs Ends Without Shift in Policy" , Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
2016 Report - Advancing Drug Policy Reform: A New Approach to Decriminalization