The Global Commission on Drug Policy, a 21-member commission made of former world leaders, has been pushing for the decriminalization and regulation of most illegal drugs. Among the commission’s members are former United States Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and former United States Secretary of State George Shultz. The commission’s report focuses on the failure of the so-called “War on Drugs” and the commission aims to introduce the report to the United Nations General Assembly in 2016.

The report proposes a shift from the current law enforcement/criminalization approach toward decriminalization and regulation. The commission asserts that the new focus should be on drug trafficking rather than drug users, pointing to the fact that the War on Drugs has not effectively reduced drug trafficking. The report contends that drug lords have become powerful enough to destabilize entire regions of the world, resulting in violence and human rights violations. However, the commission…