With Guatemalan president calling for a debate about drug legalization, Uruguay planning the legalization of Marijuana and Colorado and Washington voters approving marijuana legalization initiatives by wide margins, 2012 will become a tipping point for global drug policy reform. We review the major events of 2012 and look at prospects for drug policy reform in 2013 and beyond.

1. 2012,
a tipping point for
global drug policy?
A momentous year in review

2. Prelude
Three key events paved the way for the
momentous developments of 2012

3. March 2009: Report of the Latin
American Commission on Drugs and
Democracy.
http://www.drogasedemocracia.org
“Breaking the taboo, acknowledging the failure
of current policies and their consequences is
the inescapable prerequisite for the discussion
of a new paradigm leading to safer, more
efficient and humane drug policies.”

4. “Prohibitionist policies based on the
eradication of production and on the
disruption of drug flows as well as on the
criminalization of consumption have not
yielded the expected results. We are
farther than ever from the announced
goal of eradicating drugs.”

5. Commissioners include:
• César Gaviria Trujillo, president of Colombia
(1990-94) and secretary general of the
Organization of American States (1994-2004)
• Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, president of
Mexico (1994-2000)
• Fernando Henrique Cardoso, president of
Brazil (1995-2002)

6. June 2011:
Global Commission on Drug Policy
Report
http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/
"The global war on drugs has failed, with
devastating consequences for individuals and
societies around the world."

7. “End the criminalization, marginalization and
stigmatization of people who use drugs but
who do no harm to others. Challenge rather
than reinforce common misconceptions about
drug markets, drug use and drug dependence.
Encourage experimentation by governments
with models of legal regulation of drugs to
undermine the power of organized crime and
safeguard the health and security of their
citizens.”

8. Commissioners include:
Aleksander Kwasniewski, Former President of Poland;
César Gaviria, Former President of Colombia; Ernesto
Zedillo, Former President of Mexico; Fernando
Henrique Cardoso, Former President of Brazil; George
Papandreou, Former Prime Minister of Greece; Jorge
Sampaio, Former President of Portugal; Ricardo
Lagos, Former president of Chile; Ruth Dreifuss, Former
President of Switzerland; Paul Volcker, Former
Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, US; George
Shultz, Former Secretary of State, US; Richard
Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, United Kingdom

9. December 6, 2011
“Tuxtla System for Dialogue”
First region-wide official expression of
discontent with the War on Drugs
Attended by the presidents of Guatemala,
Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
Dominican Republic, and Chile, as well as First
Vice-President of Costa Rica, and the Ministers
of Foreign Affairs of Belize, Colombia, and El
Salvador.

10. “What would be desirable, would be a
significant reduction in the demand for
illegal drugs. Nevertheless, if that is not
possible, as recent experience demonstrates,
the authorities of the consuming countries
ought then to explore the possible
alternatives to eliminate the exorbitant
profits of the criminals, including regulatory
or market oriented options to this end. Thus,
the transit of substances that continue
provoking high levels of crime and violence in
Latin American and Caribbean nations will be
avoided.”

11. 2012:
A year of first-time ever
for drug policy reform

12. January 14th, 2012:
Otto Perez Molina
4 days after taking office
on January 14th, 2012, Guatemalan president
Perez Molina started Otto Perez Molina
talking about drug
policy reform.
“I believe that drug
legalization would have
to be a strategy agreed
by the whole region”

13. February 11: Guatemala calls for a
tightly regulated marketplace
• On February 11th, Guatemalan president Perez
Molina announced that he will propose drug
legalization and control in Central America at
the next meeting of regional leaders, the
Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana
(SICA). Members: Belice, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y
Panamá

14. April 14-15: Drug legalization debated
at the summit of the Americas
At the request of Guatemala and
with the support of Colombia, the
34 countries of the Organization of
American States debated drug
legalization at the Summit of the
America in Cartagena, Colombia.
For the first time ever, drug legalization is debated at a major
international summit, with 34 heads of states from the Americas
and Caribbean, including
USA, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentine, Chile

15. June 19: Uruguay unveils plans to
legalize marijuana under state control

16. Proposal: marijuana to be legally available under
government control through a user registry
and subject to quality control and traceability.
Objective: to combat insecurity and violence by
separating the markets of mj and hard drugs
The proposal was drafted by President José
Mujica and his government and requires
parliamentary debate before final approval. If
adopted, Uruguay would become the first
country in the world to establish a controlled
marketplace for marijuana.

17. August 12 –September 12:
Javier Sicilia & Caravan for peace
To protest the violence ravaging his country and
alert public opinion in the US, Mexican poet
and activist Javier Sicilia led a month-long
caravan for peace with justice and dignity
throughout the US from San Diego to
Washington DC.

18. September 26: request for global drug
policy debate at the UN
Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala request an
open global debate on drug policy reform at
the UN General Assembly.

19. October: Portugal debating legalization
of cannabis social clubs
The Portuguese parliamentary group Bloco de
Esquerda (BE) is debating a project of law of
regulation of marijuana along a Spanish-style
cannabis club model. The project is still in its
draft phase.

20. November 6: Marijuana legalization in
Colorado and Washington
Voters in Washington and Colorado approved
marijuana legalization initiatives by wide
margins.
Massachusetts became the 18th state to legalize
medical marijuana in a landslide victory.
The historic vote sent shockwaves throughout
the world and provoked strong reaction in
Latin America.

22. November 17: Ibero-American Summit
call for drug policy debate
Spain, Portugal and the majority of Latin
American governments call for drug policy
reform at the Ibero-American Summit in
Cadiz, Spain.

23. November 27: UN to hold an
emergency drug policy summit
The UN General Assembly adopted a proposal to
hold an emergency drug policy
summit, scheduled for early 2016 after an
intensive preparatory process that will begin next
year.
• The proposal was introduced to the UN general
Assembly by Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala
on September 26 and backed by the majority of
Latin American governments, as well as those of
Spain and Portugal at the Ibero-American Summit
in Cadiz, on November 17.

24. December 5: Breaking the taboo
Launch of “Breaking the Taboo”, a global grass-roots
campaign against the War on Drugs, by the
Beckley Foundation, The Global Commission on
Drug Policy, Virgin Unite, Avaaz and Sundog
Pictures. The Mission Statement of the
campaign, the Beckley Foundation Public
Letter, calls for a new approach to the War on
Drugs. It is signed by nine ex-Presidents, twelve
Nobel prize winners, and many other world
figures.
http://www.world-war-
d.com/2012/12/14/breaking-the-taboo-2/

25. Breaking the Taboo reached over 1,300,000 views and was
released in Spanish (narrated by Gael Garcia Bernal).
The petition has been signed by 670,000 people worldwide

26. December 6: Czech Parliament
Approves Medical Marijuana
The Czech Republic's lower house of Parliament
has approved legislation to legalize cannabis
for medical purposes. The bill still needs to be
approved by the upper house to become law.
Cannabis is already decriminalized and widely
tolerated in the Czech Republic.

27. December 13: Senate Judiciary
hearing on MJ federal policy in 2013?
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, is planning a hearing
next year to discuss federal policy towards
Colorado and Washington post-marijuana
legalization. He offered a compromise solution to
drug czar Gil Kerlikowske: “One option would be
to amend the Federal Controlled Substances Act
to allow possession of up to one ounce of
marijuana, at least in jurisdictions where it is legal
under state law.”

28. December 14: Obama has "bigger fish
to fry"
Under pressure to react, President Barack
Obama declared that federal law enforcement
agencies have "bigger fish to fry" than
prosecuting marijuana users in Colorado and
Washington. “we're going to need to have is a
conversation about, How do you reconcile a
federal law that still says marijuana is a federal
offense and state laws that say that it's legal?"

29. Global trends at the end of 2012
Harm reduction practices, such as needle exchange,
maintenance and substitution programs are being
implemented in a growing number of countries.
Drug use is decriminalized across most of Latin
America
Medical marijuana is legal in Canada, the
Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Finland, Italy,
Spain, Israel and Portugal and soon Czech
Republic.

30. 2013: What to expect
Uruguay should finalize its controlled legalization of
Marijuana. Other countries may follow
The number of medical marijuana states is likely to
reach 20, with Illinois, New York and New
Hampshire likely candidates.
States such as Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont,
Massachusetts, California, Oregon and Montana
may try the state legislature route to marijuana
legalization.

31. The Organization of American States is reviewing
the impact of current drug policy on the
region, with report expected in June. Will
more Latin American countries break away
from the War on Drugs orthodoxy?
Already legal in Spain, cannabis social clubs are
spreading all over Europe, a trend likely to
accelerate in 2013. In France, between 150 to
200 cannabis social clubs plan on coming out
of the closet next February.

32. The fight is just starting
While there is a definitive change in public
attitude, the fight is far from over. In many
ways, it just started. The victories of 2012 will
mobilize opposition to reform and while
prohibitionism may just eventually crumble
under the weight of its own contradictions, we
need to ready ourselves for a long fight. After
the heady victories of 2012, we must get
ready to go down to the trenches.

33. What you can do
The groundbreaking victories of 2012 didn’t fall
from the sky. They were the result of the hard
work and dedication of activists fighting in the
trenches, working with legislators, educating the
public, implementing harm reduction programs in
the field. More than ever, they need your
support. Underneath is a link to the major
advocacy groups out there. http://www.world-
war-d.com/legalization-activism/legalization-
advocacy-groups/

34. Stay informed
The surest path to change starts with educating yourself
and people around you, dispelling the lies, the myths
and propaganda, getting a clear vision of the issues and
the challenges.
"World War D – The Case against
prohibitionism, roadmap to controlled re-legalization"
is the most comprehensive book on the issue; the
reference book on the War on Drugs and
prohibitionism; a guide to psychoactive substances and
substance abuse; a pragmatic blueprint for global drug
policy reform and controlled legalization -
http://www.world-war-d.com/