Open letter on drugs to UN Secretary General
The Centre's director, Richard Garside, was among more than 1,000 public figures across the world calling on the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to support an open and constructive debate on drugs policy.
The call comes in advance of a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the world drug problem, taking place next week in New York.
The open letter highlights the 'disproportionate resources to repression at the expense of efforts to better the human condition'. The world 'cannot afford a 21 st century drug policy as ineffective and counter-productive as the last century’s', it adds.
The letter argues that 'role of criminalization and criminal justice must be limited to the extent truly required to protect health and safety' and it calls for a 'new global response to drugs is needed, grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights.'