Phillipine President Duterte is waging a bloody war on drugs, and whilst his methods are more violent and callous than those used in the US or Australia, it’s a logical extension of the same thinking: Drugs might ruin your life, so we’ll do it first.

Former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria bluntly admits to his own failures in prosecuting the war on drugs in Colombia:

Illegal drugs are a matter of national security, but the war against them cannot be won by armed forces and law enforcement agencies alone. Throwing more soldiers and police at the drug users is not just a waste of money but also can actually make the problem worse. Locking up nonviolent offenders and drug users almost always backfires, instead strengthening organized crime.

That is the message I would like to send to the world and, especially, to President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

We Colombians know a thing or two about fighting drugs. Our country has long been one of the world’s primary suppliers of cocaine. With support from North American and Western European governments, we have poured billions of dollars into a relentless campaign to eradicate drugs and destroy cartels. I was personally involved in taking down the planet’s most notorious drug trafficker, Pablo Escobar, in 1993. While we managed to make Colombia a bit safer, it came at a tremendous price.

My government and every administration since threw everything at the problem — from fumigating crops to jailing every drug pusher in sight. Not only did we fail to eradicate drug production, trafficking and consumption in Colombia, but we also pushed drugs and crime into neighboring countries. And we created new problems. Tens of thousands of people were slaughtered in our antidrug crusade. Many of our brightest politicians, judges, police officers and journalists were assassinated. At the same time, the vast funds earned by drug cartels were spent to corrupt our executive, judicial and legislative branches of government. [emphasis added]

No one cares when a commentator like me calls for an end to the war on drugs, after all, what would I know?

And fair enough too. But when the former president of one of the most drug-ridden countries in the world, and former advocate of the war on drugs comes out with the above… I think it’s time to sit up and listen.

Usually when I say drugs should be decriminalized there’s at least a few people who assume I must be a pot-head or hard drug user, so let me make a full disclosure: I have never, and I mean EVER, used any drugs which are illegal in Australia. I’ve never smoked pot, never tried a ‘party drug’, hell, I haven’t even had a cigarette in my life! I have three vices when it comes to substances: Coffee (I’m from Melbourne, the caffeine dealers are excellent down here!), Port, and (occasional) Cigars. And never all at the same time. (Although some Grandfather Tawny Port and a Romeo and Juliet Wide Churchill Cigar are a brilliant way to pass a summer evening!)

That’s it.

But as a total non-user I can see clearly that the ‘war on drugs’ is doing more harm than the drugs are. People’s lives are being ruined by the police, preemptively, to save them from ruining their lives later on. The police and legal system are destroying lives and futures just as surely as substance abuse does. It’s not as bad in Australia (our soft legal system has at least some upside) but in the US there are hundreds of thousands of humans in prison for non-violent drug possession or trafficking offences.

They hurt no one. At worst they sold a substance to willing buyers, who in most cases also hurt no one… and now their lives are being systematically destroyed by the legal system.

“But what about drug fueled crime?” Good question, deal with it the same as any other criminal. Once someone has been harmed in some way, find and prosecute the suspect, and if convicted apply a penalty appropriate to the crime.

Did you know people steal to fuel all sorts of behaviors? People steal to fund shopping addictions, food addictions, lavish lifestyles, endless gifts for their friends with benefits… you name it. Deal with the crime when it happens, don’t criminalize victimless behavior.

And the end of the war on drugs would come with numerous benefits. Huge savings in law enforcement, reductions in legal system costs and incarceration, reductions in violence (drug gangs are a major source of shootings and other violence in Australia) and a de-escalation in the rising tensions between police and populace.

And even if you don’t agree that full decriminalization is a positive step, surely you must agree that the current approach needs to be rethought. And if not, then perhaps you’d like to tell former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria how you know more about it than he does?

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