Petition to End the War on Drugs - avaaz.org

[JDanger]

avaaz.org are running an online campaign to end the war on drugs. They want 1 million signatures which will be delivered to the UN by 5 current and former heads of state, as well as Richard Branson. The aim is to convince the already convinced (but scared) politicians that the public doesn't much care for the drug war rhetoric of the past few decades and that they should finally pull their respective fingers out and unravel the UN legislation which stops every signatory from coming up with its own alternatives to prohibition.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_drugs?slideshow

The petition's currently sitting at over 180,000 signatures which I've watched build from around 40,000 over the last 3 days. Basically, it shits all over anything GetUp!'s done regarding the matter, especially with their dismissal of the whole ban-the-plants thing.

Here's the original email if any of you want to forward.

Apologies if this is a double post.

Dear friends,

In days we could finally see the beginning of the end of the ‘war on drugs’. This decades long and hugely expensive policy has completely failed to curb the plague of drug addiction, while costing countless lives, devastating communities, and funneling trillions of dollars into violent organized crime networks.

Drug policy experts agree that the most sensible policy is to regulate, but politicians are afraid to touch the issue. In days, a UN panel of global leaders including billionaire Richard Branson, and five current and former heads of State, will break the taboo and publicly call for a move towards decriminalization and regulation of drugs, delivering a major new report to the UN Secretary General.

This could be a once-in-a-generation tipping-point moment -- if enough of us call for an end to this madness. Politicians say they understand that the war on drugs has failed, but claim the public isn't ready for an alternative. Let's show them a sane and humane policy is not taboo. Click below to sign the petition -- it will be delivered by the Commission to the UN Secretary General and global leaders in New York:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_drugs/97.php?cl_tta_sign=ccf3c9a097a5b8a201d75b419b751492

Current drug policies are failing everyone, everywhere but public debate is stuck in the mud of fear and misinformation. As thousands of journalists, policy experts, and social scientists have documented, the current approach -- deploy militaries and police to burn drug farms, hunt down traffickers, and imprison dealers and addicts – has been an expensive mistake. And with massive human cost -- from Afghanistan, to Mexico, to the USA the illegal drug trade is destroying countries around the world, while addiction, overdose deaths, and HIV/AIDS infections continue to rise.

Meanwhile, countries with less-harsh enforcement -- like Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Australia -- have not seen the explosion in drug use that proponents of the drug war have darkly predicted. Instead, they have seen significant reductions in drug-related crime, addiction and deaths, and are able to focus squarely on dismantling criminal empires.

Powerful lobbies still stand in the way of change, including military, law enforcement, and prison departments whose budgets are at stake. And politicians fear that voters will throw them out of office if they even mention alternative approaches, as they will appear 'soft on drugs', weak on law and order, or pro drug use. But polls show that citizens across the world know the current approach is a catastrophe. And momentum is gathering towards new improved policies, particularly in regions that are ravaged by the drug trade.

If we can create a worldwide outcry now to support the bold calls of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, we can overpower the stale excuses for the status quo. Our voices hold the key to change -- Sign the petition and spread the word:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/end_the_war_on_drugs/97.php?cl_tta_sign=ccf3c9a097a5b8a201d75b419b751492

We have a chance to enter the closing chapter of this brutal 'war' that has brought destroyed millions of lives. It is time to join forces and end this disgraceful policy that affects us all. Global public opinion will determine if there is change. Let's rally urgently to push our hesitating leaders from doubt and fear, over the edge, and into reason.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Laura, Ricken, Maria Paz, Shibayan and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES:

Reports that show the war on drugs has failed:

http://idpc.net/publications/failure-regime-selected-publications

Reports that show alternative approaches of decriminalisation and regulation are working:

http://idpc.net/publications/alternative-strategies-selected-publications

War on drugs 'cannot be won', officers claim

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5933840/War-on-drugs-cannot-be-won-officers-claim.html

5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=portugal-drug-decriminalization

The Global Comission on Drug Policy that will call on the UN to end the war on drugs

http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Documents.aspx

Drug War by the Numbers

http://www.drugpolicy.org/facts/drug-war-numbers

Final Report of the Latin American Comission on Drugs and Democracy

http://www.drogasedemocracia.org/English/Destaques.asp?IdRegistro=8

[niggles]

Nice one I hadnt seen the AVAST efforts, just been disappointed by getup. Ill check it out now.

[niggles]

AVAST is the pirates affiliate of AVAAZ

[Distracted]

Thanks for spreading, just signed then and am spreadin this around.

Let's get the word out.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Distracted

[gogogadget]

fb,d, signed and spread the loved.

Edited May 26, 2011 by gogogadget

[Slybacon]

~boom

[applesnail]

signed this one for sure....

[Foo]

Meanwhile, countries with less-harsh enforcement -- like Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Australia -- have not seen the explosion in drug use that proponents of the drug war have darkly predicted.

huh? how so

[Distracted]

They are less strict than other countries but have been getting progressively worse. I can still grow a plant outside and get caught with an amount of dried material and have it only warrant an expiation notice.

Saying that I do think it's a bit out of place to use us as an example.

The petition is sitting at 220,000 signatures atm

Edited May 26, 2011 by Distracted

[Francois le Danque]

it's gone up 40 000 since your post, distracted, and you can watch it climb in real time!

this is great. this is exactly the sort of thing i want to be involved with and why i am studying to become a doctor of pharmacology (hopefully...).

i agree eatfoo, we were a strange example. i guess we are relatively progressive compared to a lot of places. a couple of our states are pretty good too, ACT etc. not victoria unfortunately, AKA garden police state.

spread it wide, fellas

edit: does anyone have a link to any other site directly related to this? unfortunately the avaaz site doesnt, which is annoying. i want citation about richard branson's involvement lol. he is probably just going to buy all the drugs in the world...

maybe getup will learn that this sort of thing is a good cause if this gathers enough steam.

Edited May 26, 2011 by frank

[hutch]

Amazing to watch the votes pile in....A million should be easy.....

Imagine...an end to the war on drugs.

thanks for bringing to our attention. I will pass it on at every opportunity.

Edited May 26, 2011 by hutch

[Distracted]

Here's their official website including members.

http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/Commission

330,000 as of this post

[Mycot]

72 hours to End the War on Drugs

In 72 hours, we could finally see the beginning of the end of the ‘war on drugs’.

More signatures are needed, if you haven't got round to it yet now is the time.

Need everybodys support. Thanks.

[hutch]

Wow, now over 600.000......

[qualia]

Victory Against the War on Drugs!

The war on drugs has cost billions in tax money, funneled trillions of dollars into organized crime, cost countless lives, and achieved zero results.

Yet, for decades, any debate around ending the war on drugs has been quashed. In official circles, it's "taboo" to talk the about regulation or decriminalisation -- some even lose their jobs for doing so.

Then a group of former presidents formed The Global Commission on Drugs to boldly speak out for reform. They faced one problem -- politicians claimed they couldn't act because there was no public support for change! So Avaaz joined the fight.

We launched the campaign, and in one week, our community proved the politicians wrong, with over 600,000 Avaazers calling for an end to the war on drugs. The ex-presidents and billionaire Richard Branson called a press conference, presented their expert report proposing reform, received the Avaaz petition -- and the response was incredible! Over 2000 media articles were written (AP, IPS, The Guardian), virtually all of them positive!! The taboo was broken...

In a strategy meeting that afternoon, the ex-presidents repeatedly looked to our community to help take the campaign forward, stressing that only grass roots pressure can create the political will for action.

The next day, the Global Commission and Avaaz met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In 30 minutes of discussion, the Avaaz petition was presented and repeatedly cited as evidence of public demand for an end to the war. Ban took an important step and decided to create a task force to look at new solutions to the problem of drugs! A real and desperately needed debate has finally begun ...

[hutch]

^^^^^ Cool....Its a start...