IA29765 Page 1ID: IA29765 To: Department of State, United States From: Civil Society Consulting Scenario: To Date: February 24, 2014 Word Count: 1765RETHINK AMERICAN DRUG POLICY: BE THE WAR, BUT MINOR ENEMIES“After 40 years of pedaling and pedaling very hard, sometimes you look to the left, you look to the right and you are almost in the same position. So you have to ask yourself: are we doing the right thing?” - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on the war on drugs (Forero, 2012)1. Introduction In the current scenario, no one is truly satisfied with America's drug policies (Reuter, 2013), which largely focus on prohibition, and adolescents continue to see drugs as the No. 1 problem faced by the United States (Burrus, Sackley and Sollars). , 2007). In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released the Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy which specifically called on the United States to review its “tough approach to drug policy” and “tough approach to enforcement ”.2. Outline the current problem: In addition to failing to achieve its goal (Barakachi, 2013), the current policy has also created problems on many other fronts, and we would like to outline the most pressing problems emerging from failed policies: A. Barriers to Administration of Justice and Civil Rights Prohibition's effect on crime undermined the entire administration of justice in American society, taking away resources from civil and family courts to deal with the huge number of drug-related cases in criminal courts (King Report of the County Bar Council, 2005). The same report also states that courts overloaded with drug-related cases often fail to deliver justice, as overload in these cases leads to rushed negotiations… middle of paper… explains the situation .4. CONCLUSION As the voice of American civil society, we believe that our current approach to drug policy will never be effective. We have proposed policies accordingly and strongly believe that these suggested policies will have a beneficial impact on various relevant stakeholders. Victims are by far the most advantaged party, producers and sellers will benefit from the extinction of black markets, the government will benefit both financially and diplomatically from taxes earned, money saved and improved foreign relations, the pharmaceutical industry will benefit from more options towards further research on the medicinal value of certain drugs and overall, the entire society and therefore the nation benefits. The proposed policy aims at an economic condition, based on criminal justice and human rights, to which our organization also aspires.