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Richard Branson leaked this UN document to make a point about the drug war

Tudo

Tudo

Troublemaker
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ICMag Donor
Veteran
After the United Nations withdrew a paper calling for its member states to decriminalize all drugs, Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson published it in full on the official Virgin blog Monday.
In the post, titled "Finally — a change in course on drug policy," Branson wrote:
My colleagues on the Global Commission on Drug Policy and I could not be more delighted, as I have stated in embargoed interviews for the likes of the BBC.
Together with countless other tireless advocates, I've for years argued that we should treat drug use as a health issue, not as a crime. While the vast majority of recreational drug users never experience any problems, people who struggle with drug addiction deserve access to treatment, not a prison cell.
The outspoken billionaire serves on the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an independent think tank thank formed in 2011 that is critical of the global War on Drugs, alongside influential figures such as former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker. Branson has used his fortune and influence for other social causes like investing in renewable energy and creating health clinics in destitute parts of Africa.
In 2012 he produced a documentary with his son Sam Branson about the unintended consequences of harsh drug policies.
Several hours after Branson published his blog post, the BBC reported that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) document Branson leaked "was drawn up by Dr. Monica Beg, chief of the HIV/AIDs section of the UNODC in Vienna" and "was prepared for an international harm reduction conference in Kuala Lumpur next month" but pulled after backlash from at least one member country.
A senior UNODC official told the BBC that Beg is a "middle-ranking official" who was "offering a professional viewpoint" and that it was not sanctioned as policy. Branson wrote that he and some members of the media were given the document on embargo.
Pressure has been placed on the UNODC to make a statement on drug policy in advance of the UN General Assembly next April, where member nations will have the first drug policy meeting on "The World Drug Problem" in 18 years. Branson wrote that he decided to leak the paper to keep the UNODC from shying away from the issue.
Here is the document in full, from Branson's blog:

unodc%201.png
Virgin.com

unodc%202.png
Virgin.com
<!-- See Also Text Links --> http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/finally-a-change-in-course-on-drug-policy


http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-releases-un-document-drug-policy-2015-10


 
B

bigganjabud

Omg were on the verge of a global change people

Surely this has a lot to do with the power of cosmic ordering !! The law of attraction Lol I can't think of one person I know in my circle that hasn't at one point said the words

"I wish it was legal"

Namestae
 
S

SwampyTHC

Member
We can all but pray to the ganja gods that one day the powers that be realise the capital and jobs and health issues we can gain.
 
B

bigganjabud

SwampyTHC said:
We can all but pray to the ganja gods that one day the powers that be realise the capital and jobs and health issues we can gain.
Click to expand...

Yeah but either way were all still waaaaaaaaay ahead of the game!!
 
mowood3479

mowood3479

Active member
Veteran
Prohibitionists, prison lobbyists, law enforcement lobbyists and the like are not going to go quietly into the night, Admitting they were wrong and return all of their military weaponry.

I hope for a more sane world view on drug use and abuse... And although we are seeing more powerful people using their influence to affect change (like Branson) I'm still not hopeful.
Most of the politicians running the U.S. govt (and probably worldwide)... Are corrupt as can be.

The good of the "people", especially the poor and downtrodden isn't even a consideration.

The drug war is extremely effective in only one way... As a tool to control the masses.
Social control is what it's all about and if you think any govt is going to hand back power to the people without some sort of violent Revolutionary action... I'd wager that ur mistaken.
I hope for the best but I expect the worst.
 
Last edited:
dddaver

dddaver

Active member
Veteran
Dammit, this is good... probably. A step in the right direction anyway. So why do I question his motive? I just don't trust that guy.
 
Gry

Gry

Well-known member
Veteran
"pulled after backlash from at least one member country." Gee, wonder who that would have been.
Hats off to Mr Branson and all supporters of public health.
 
Last edited:
Tudo

Tudo

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More just in:

Did the U.S. Just Quash a UN Report Calling for Drug Decriminalization?
n-MARIJUANA-large570.jpg

Doug Menuez via Getty Images
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<!-- Entry Text --> The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) appeared set to call on governments to end the criminalization of drug use and possession, according to DPA Honorary Board Member Richard Branson -- but in a dramatic turn of events withdrew its briefing paper under pressure from at least one country, according to the BBC.
The UN document, printed on formal UNODC letterhead with no mention of it being a draft, was apparently released this past Friday with an embargo. Confidential sources say that when a journalist violated that embargo, the UNODC decided to walk back the report, apparently under pressure from the U.S. government.
Considering that the American public and leaders such as President Obama are now calling for major drug policy reforms that reduce the role of criminalization in drug policy, it would be remarkable -- and some might say, hypocritical -- for the U.S. to play an active behind-the-scenes role in suppressing this document.
Yet it's encouraging that such a powerful statement about the need to decriminalize drug use and possession made it this far in the UN process. Hopefully the UNODC will eventually move forward and release this document, which reflects growing recognition that global drug control policies must reflect not just the punitive provisions of international drug control treaties but also the UN's health and human rights mandates.
More than 1.5 million drug arrests are made every year in the U.S. - the overwhelming majority for possession only. Roughly two dozen countries, and dozens of U.S. cities and states, have taken steps toward decriminalizing drug use and possession.
In April 2016, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on drugs (UNGASS) - an initiative proposed in 2012 by the then-president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon - to conduct a comprehensive review of the successes and failures of international drug control policy. Whereas the previous UNGASS in 1998 was dominated by rhetorical calls for a "drug-free world" and concluded with unrealistic goals regarding illicit drug production, the forthcoming UNGASS will undoubtedly be shaped by recommendations such as those in the UNODC report.
Political will for a major overhaul of global drug policy has been gaining unprecedented momentum, both in the U.S. and abroad. Distinguished leaders such as Kofi Annan, Paul Volcker and Richard Branson have joined with former presidents of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Mexico, Poland and Switzerland and other members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy in calling for an end to the criminalization of people who use drugs.
The leaked UNODC recommendations are consistent with the Global Commission and a surprisingly broad and rapidly-emerging coalition of stakeholders who are calling for drug decriminalization, including the World Health Organization, American Public Health Association, Organization of American States, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, NAACP, Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union, and National Latino Congreso. In a report published last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a clear call for broad drug policy reforms, including decriminalization of drug use, harm reduction practices such as syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy, and a ban on compulsory treatment for people who use drugs.
Decriminalizing drug possession can provide several major benefits for public safety and health, such as:
-- Significantly reducing the number of people arrested and incarcerated;
-- Increasing uptake into drug treatment;
-- Reducing criminal justice costs and redirecting resources from criminal justice to health systems;
-- Redirecting law enforcement resources to prevent serious and violent crime;
-- Addressing racial disparities in drug law enforcement and sentencing, incarceration and related health outcomes;
-- Minimizing stigma and creating a climate in which people who use drugs are less fearful of seeking and accessing treatment, utilizing harm reduction services and receiving HIV/AIDS services; and
-- Protecting people from the wide-ranging and debilitating consequences of a criminal conviction

In 2001, Portuguese legislators enacted a comprehensive form of decriminalization of low-level possession and consumption of all illicit drugs and reclassified these activities as administrative violations. After more than a decade, Portugal has experienced no major increases in drug use, while seeing reduced rates of problematic and adolescent drug use, fewer people arrested and incarcerated for drugs, reduced incidence of HIV/AIDS, reduced opiate-related deaths, and a significant increase in the number of people receiving drug treatment.
In the U.S., 17 states have reduced or eliminated criminal penalties for personal marijuana possession. Some states, such as California, have recently passed reforms to lessen penalties for possession of other drugs as well. Sixteen states, as well as Washington, DC and the federal government, now treat personal possession of drugs other than marijuana as a misdemeanor.
U.S. jurisdictions and other countries that have adopted less punitive policies toward drug possession have not experienced any significant increases in drug use, drug-related harm or drug-related crime relative to more punitive countries. In fact, many states that treat possession as a misdemeanor have slightly lower rates of illicit drug use and higher rates of admission to drug treatment than states that consider it a felony.
Getting arrested for drug possession is no small matter -- it creates a permanent criminal record, easily available to banks, schools, employers, landlords, and licensing and other government agencies, that can haunt a person for life. Hopefully today's developments will help accelerate the global trend toward ending the criminalization of drugs. That certainly would make an enormous difference in the U.S.
Jag Davies is the director of communications strategy for the Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jag-davies/did-the-us-just-quash-a-u_b_8332566.html
 
B

Bobmonk388

Member
the generation in power now was brought up on lies and fear these mofos will be gone soon maybe a more enlightened generation can takes steps to end the waste of time money and life that the war on drugs has become
 
ChaosCatalunya

ChaosCatalunya

5.2 club is now 8.1 club...
Veteran
dddaver said:
Dammit, this is good... probably. A step in the right direction anyway. So why do I question his motive? I just don't trust that guy.
Click to expand...

You should, Richard Branson is a great guy, a close friend worked for him for 20 years, so I heard a lot of things that are not public knowledge.

Also, as a despatch rider you get used to shithead security guards treating you like shit, my oldest friend, also working as a DR has had the door opened for him twice by Richard while delivering to Virgin, he really is a cool cat.
 
G

GrinStick

Active member
Tudo said:
More just in:

Did the U.S. Just Quash a UN Report Calling for Drug Decriminalization?
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Doug Menuez via Getty Images
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<!-- Article Text Body -->
<!-- Entry main text --> <!-- AD ads_sharebox_260x60 -->

<!-- Entry Text --> The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) appeared set to call on governments to end the criminalization of drug use and possession, according to DPA Honorary Board Member Richard Branson -- but in a dramatic turn of events withdrew its briefing paper under pressure from at least one country, according to the BBC.
The UN document, printed on formal UNODC letterhead with no mention of it being a draft, was apparently released this past Friday with an embargo. Confidential sources say that when a journalist violated that embargo, the UNODC decided to walk back the report, apparently under pressure from the U.S. government.
Considering that the American public and leaders such as President Obama are now calling for major drug policy reforms that reduce the role of criminalization in drug policy, it would be remarkable -- and some might say, hypocritical -- for the U.S. to play an active behind-the-scenes role in suppressing this document.
Yet it's encouraging that such a powerful statement about the need to decriminalize drug use and possession made it this far in the UN process. Hopefully the UNODC will eventually move forward and release this document, which reflects growing recognition that global drug control policies must reflect not just the punitive provisions of international drug control treaties but also the UN's health and human rights mandates.
More than 1.5 million drug arrests are made every year in the U.S. - the overwhelming majority for possession only. Roughly two dozen countries, and dozens of U.S. cities and states, have taken steps toward decriminalizing drug use and possession.
In April 2016, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on drugs (UNGASS) - an initiative proposed in 2012 by the then-president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon - to conduct a comprehensive review of the successes and failures of international drug control policy. Whereas the previous UNGASS in 1998 was dominated by rhetorical calls for a "drug-free world" and concluded with unrealistic goals regarding illicit drug production, the forthcoming UNGASS will undoubtedly be shaped by recommendations such as those in the UNODC report.
Political will for a major overhaul of global drug policy has been gaining unprecedented momentum, both in the U.S. and abroad. Distinguished leaders such as Kofi Annan, Paul Volcker and Richard Branson have joined with former presidents of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Mexico, Poland and Switzerland and other members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy in calling for an end to the criminalization of people who use drugs.
The leaked UNODC recommendations are consistent with the Global Commission and a surprisingly broad and rapidly-emerging coalition of stakeholders who are calling for drug decriminalization, including the World Health Organization, American Public Health Association, Organization of American States, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, NAACP, Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union, and National Latino Congreso. In a report published last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a clear call for broad drug policy reforms, including decriminalization of drug use, harm reduction practices such as syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy, and a ban on compulsory treatment for people who use drugs.
Decriminalizing drug possession can provide several major benefits for public safety and health, such as:
-- Significantly reducing the number of people arrested and incarcerated;
-- Increasing uptake into drug treatment;
-- Reducing criminal justice costs and redirecting resources from criminal justice to health systems;
-- Redirecting law enforcement resources to prevent serious and violent crime;
-- Addressing racial disparities in drug law enforcement and sentencing, incarceration and related health outcomes;
-- Minimizing stigma and creating a climate in which people who use drugs are less fearful of seeking and accessing treatment, utilizing harm reduction services and receiving HIV/AIDS services; and
-- Protecting people from the wide-ranging and debilitating consequences of a criminal conviction

In 2001, Portuguese legislators enacted a comprehensive form of decriminalization of low-level possession and consumption of all illicit drugs and reclassified these activities as administrative violations. After more than a decade, Portugal has experienced no major increases in drug use, while seeing reduced rates of problematic and adolescent drug use, fewer people arrested and incarcerated for drugs, reduced incidence of HIV/AIDS, reduced opiate-related deaths, and a significant increase in the number of people receiving drug treatment.
In the U.S., 17 states have reduced or eliminated criminal penalties for personal marijuana possession. Some states, such as California, have recently passed reforms to lessen penalties for possession of other drugs as well. Sixteen states, as well as Washington, DC and the federal government, now treat personal possession of drugs other than marijuana as a misdemeanor.
U.S. jurisdictions and other countries that have adopted less punitive policies toward drug possession have not experienced any significant increases in drug use, drug-related harm or drug-related crime relative to more punitive countries. In fact, many states that treat possession as a misdemeanor have slightly lower rates of illicit drug use and higher rates of admission to drug treatment than states that consider it a felony.
Getting arrested for drug possession is no small matter -- it creates a permanent criminal record, easily available to banks, schools, employers, landlords, and licensing and other government agencies, that can haunt a person for life. Hopefully today's developments will help accelerate the global trend toward ending the criminalization of drugs. That certainly would make an enormous difference in the U.S.
Jag Davies is the director of communications strategy for the Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jag-davies/did-the-us-just-quash-a-u_b_8332566.html
Click to expand...
they could have been more accurate in reporting...
good on mr. branson !
 
bombadil.360

bombadil.360

Andinismo Hierbatero
Veteran
lol @ the UN... what a joke it really is, the source of tons of ills and it pretends they want to fix said ills... the UN needs to go or at least it needs to be re-made minus all the old farts with dinosaur mentality.
 
J

Jon 54

Member
The cats out of the bag, now here's the proof that the US Govt. is a anti drug nation that is using economics as a weapon against legalization of Cannabis.

Jon54 :plant grow::plant grow:
 
bombadil.360

bombadil.360

Andinismo Hierbatero
Veteran
You guys can't be serious and just use the u.s as the single member country that opppsed...

Think it through, there's tons of countries, specially those in the so-called security cabinet that would shoot any legalization proposals down in a second...

The world is more full of idiots in powerful places than you'd like to think.
 
armedoldhippy

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
bombadil.360 said:
You guys can't be serious and just use the u.s as the single member country that opppsed...

Think it through, there's tons of countries, specially those in the so-called security cabinet that would shoot any legalization proposals down in a second...

The world is more full of idiots in powerful places than you'd like to think.
Click to expand...

yeah, we know. Russia comes to mind, as they have been blocking access to websites about cannabis. i don't think it was them this time though. the US would have pointed it out had it been anyone other than themselves... "huh uh, not me! it was THEM!" i hate the entrenched unelected cocksuckers in my govt...
 
bombadil.360

bombadil.360

Andinismo Hierbatero
Veteran
Could be brother aoh, I just can't imagine China at the U.N giving an OK to legalization, lets not forget England and their HSBC bank that basically functions as money laundering for the cartels...

Peace
 
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