drug war – Ramanisblog

The Organised War on Drugs is about a hundred years old.

Look at the use of Drugs Statistics.

The Global picture

Globally, it is estimated that in 2010 between 153 million
and 300 million people aged 15-64 (3.4-6.6 per cent of
the world’s population in that age group) had used an illicit
substance at least once in the previous year. The extent of
illicit drug use has thus remained stable, but the estimated
15.5 million-38.6 million problem drug users (almost 12
per cent of illicit drug users), including those with drug
dependence and drug-use disorders, remain a particular
concern.
It is also estimated that there were between 99,000 and
253,000 deaths globally in 2010 as a result of illicit drug
use, with drug-related deaths accounting for between 0.5
and 1.3 per cent of all-cause mortality among those aged
15-64.
1
Moreover, it was estimated that in 2008 there were
16 million injecting drug users worldwide and that 3 million (18.9 per cent) of them were living with HIV, though
no new figures are available after 2008. Global prevalence
of hepatitis C infection among injecting drug users in 2010
was 46.7 per cent, meaning that some 7.4 million injecting drug users worldwide are infected with hepatitis C.
And some 2.3 million injecting drug users are infected
with hepatitis B. Evidence is also emerging that non-injecting drug use is also associated with an increased risk of
HIV infection, principally due to unprotected sex.”

With estimated annual prevalence of cannabis use in 2010
ranging from 2.6 to 5 per cent of the adult population
(between 119 million and 224 million estimated users aged
15-64), cannabis remains the world’s most widely used
illicit substance (see figure 1). There may be shifts in cannabis use between the drug’s two principal forms, resin and
herb, and there is even evidence of the increasing popularity of synthetic marijuana among young people in some
regions, but in general annual prevalence of cannabis use
remained stable in 2010…”

Money Spent on War On Drugs.

Nations, especially the US has been spending huge money on War on Drugs.

Federal Drug Control BudgetUS Dollars (In Millions)
– Year –	– Total –	Demand Reduction	% of – Total –	Supply Reduction	% of – Total –	Domestic Law Enforcement	International	Interdiction

2004	19,188.4	8,579.0	44.7%	10,609.4	55.3%	7,051.7	2,008.7	1,549.0
2005	20,371.6	8,798.2	43.2%	11,573.4	56.8%	7,267.5	2,432.2	1,873.7
2006	21,133.1	8,775.2	41.5%	12,357.9	58.5%	7,538.9	2,923.2	1,895.8
2007	22,175.1	9,056.6	40.8%	13,118.5	59.2%	7,881.9	3,045.2	2,191.4
2008	22,497.1	9,244.9	41.1%	13,252.2	58.9%	8,286.7	2,967.0	1,998.5
2009	25,579.5	10,332.7	40.4%	15,246.8	59.6%	9,017.1	3,697.1	2,532.6
2010	25,887.1	10,443.2	40.3%	15,443.9	59.7%	9,190.9	3,658.0	2,595.0
2011	25,731.6	10,563.8	41.1%	15,167.8	58.9%	9,093.6	3,706.7	2,367.5
2012	26,209.6	10,664.8	40.7%	15,544.8	59.3%	9,505.4	3,901.0	2,138.4

TOTAL	208,773.1	86,458.4	41.4%	122,314.7	58.6%	74,833.7	28,339.1	19,141.9
% Chg/2004-2012	+36.6%	+24.3%	—	+46.5%	—	+34.8%	+94.2%	+38.1%

For more Statistics and information on Drug abuse,pattern age group please refer the links at the end of the Post.

Now some States have started legalizing marijuana, admmitting that the War on Drugs is not yielding results and more illicit Drug and more usage is reported.

The idea to scale down th War on Drugs is gaining ground.

The commission presented a 20-page report, the first sentence of which read: “The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” Nadelmann wrote the sentence, as well as the report’s entire executive summary. He advised the commission, and he also searched for high-profile members.

One of the speakers at the press conference in the Waldorf Astoria was an amiable man with glasses: César Gaviria, the president of Colombia from 1990 to 1994. While in office, he did almost everything except fight a war. Colombia was what Mexico is today: a country hijacked by drug lords.

“An irrational and pointless drug policy was partly responsible for that period,” says Gaviria today.”

The war on Drugs intensified during the Nixon Era.

In 2010, about 200 million people took illegal drugs. The numbers have remained relatively constant for years, as has the estimated annual volume of drugs produced worldwide: 40,000 tons of marijuana, 800 tons of cocaine and 500 tons of heroin. What has increased, however, is the cost of this endless war.

In the early 1970s, the Nixon administration pumped about $100 million into drug control. Today, under President Barack Obama, that figure is $15 billion — more than 30 times as much when adjusted for inflation. There is even a rough estimate of the direct and indirect costs of the 40-plus years of the drug war: $1 trillion in the United States alone.

In Mexico, some 60,000 people have died in the drug war in the last six years. US prisons are full of marijuana smokers, the Taliban in Afghanistan still use drug money to pay for their weapons, and experts say China is the drug country of the future.

Taking into account the high cost of War OnDrugs and the results it has produced the thought is on legalising the Trade of Drugas.

When about 30 national leaders met in Cartagena, Colombia, in April 2012 for the Summit of the Americas, there was only big, behind-the-scenes topic: a new drug policy. Suddenly Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was saying: “If the world decides to legalize (drugs) and thinks that that is how we reduce violence and crime, I could go along with that.”

General Otto Pérez Molina, president of Guatemala, wrote: “Consumption and production should be legalized but within certain limits and conditions.”

Uruguayan President José Mujica said: “What scares me is drug trafficking, not drugs”.

Vicente Fox, the president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006, wanted to wage the “mother of all wars” against organized crime, sending the Mexican army into the drug war. Today, Fox says that the war was a “total failure.”

In fact, sitting in Nadelmann’s office in Manhattan, it really is difficult to imagine a world without the drug war. A future in which marijuana and cocaine are legal and can be purchased in pharmacies or specialty drug shops? A life in which everyone decides for him- or herself: Am I going to take this drug? How much am I going to take? How do I protect my children?

It isn’t an easy thing to imagine. In fact, the very thought of it creates a gut-wrenching feeling, and it makes you ask yourself questions like: Legalizing drugs? Are you folks nuts?”