Drug Policy Forum

The global illicit drug trade exists on the order of half a trillion dollars a year while an estimated 250 million people use illicit drugs. Annual opium production in Afghanistan is at record highs, as are drug offenses in the US and UK. At the same time seven million Americans are presently under "correctional supervision" (incarceration, parole, probation, court monitoring, house arrest), more than any other society, largely as a consequence of the drug war. The US Criminal Justice system consumes $212 billion a year and employs 2.4 million people, more than Wal-Mart and McDonald's combined, America's two largest private employers. Meanwhile, medical marijuana is legal in 16 states, and cannabis has emerged as America's #1 cash crop. Drug war violence is out of control in Mexico, where more than 15,000 people were murdered last year. In defiance of the old international conventions foisted by the US, countries like Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Vancouver, the Netherlands, Argentina, and Mexico have all decriminalized personal drug use.

It begs the question: Is the war on drugs working? Many prominent voices are arguing it has already been lost. So, if it has been lost, what are the alternatives, and why has their exploration been so limited? Whose voices are not being heard?

Edited by Charles Shaw and Juliana Willars, and supported by the Tedworth Trust, the openDemocracy Drug Policy Forum will frame the stories of drug policy and criminal justice reform, and bring the human arguments into the policy agenda. From the street corner to the poppy field, the Drug Policy Forum will present an ongoing dialogue that focuses on the various issues regarding prohibition and crafting a saner international drug policy. It will also showcase the in-depth testimonial videos of the "Unheard Voices" project, which will collect interviews with ex-offenders and their families, and other disenfranchised Americans.

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