In a report issued by the commission, the 19-member panel said it wanted to encourage governments to legalise drugs like marijuana in an effort to 'undermine the power of organised gangs'.
The report states: 'The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.'
The commission, whose panel members include former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and businessman Sir Richard Branson, argued that decriminalisation does not always result in significant increases in drug use.
Y LEAN ESTO SOBRE MÉXICO:
El artículo finaliza diciendo "Calderón tiene muy poco ya para hacer de su combate un legado y no una carcajada"
Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s war on drugs is failing.
Last year the drug-related death toll in Mexico stood at 15,273 after skyrocketing a massive 60 per cent on the previous year.
In the four years since Calderon’s first wave of 6,500 troops went into battle with the cartels, 34,612 people have died.
That figure includes 30,913 execution-style killings, 3,153 deaths in shootouts between gangs, and 546 deaths involving attacks on authorities, according to federal security spokesman Alejandro Poire.
The violence was so intense in the country in 2008 that the Pentagon warned Mexico was on the verge of becoming a failed state.
A bolster of more troops – some 50,000 are now fighting the war on drugs – has done little to reduce the death toll.
And despite U.S. funding trade in marijuana, ecstasy and methamphetamine grew last year, the National Drug Threat Assessment said.
The wholesale value of drug sales ranges from $13.6billion to a staggering $48.4billion annually, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Leader of Sinaloa drug cartel Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman has even made it onto the Forbes billionaire list.
This year his net worth stands at $1b according to the financial authority.
He is believed to be spending more money than in previous years however to defend the cartel because of stepped up security.
Calderon freely admits his strategy needs to be overhauled.
'We are aware that we are going through a very difficult time on security issues,' he said at a meeting with anti-crime groups last year.
‘I know that the strategy has been questioned, and my administration is more than willing to revise, strengthen or change it if needed.
‘What I ask, simply, is for clear ideas and precise proposals on how to improve this strategy.’
Mexican presidents are limited to one six-year term so Calderon has until 2012 to turn his war on drugs into a legacy, rather than a laughing stock.
