The 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) is set to address the worldwide drug epidemic. More than 1,000 world leaders and activists sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for an end to the devastating war on drugs. “Humankind cannot afford a 21st-century drug policy as ineffective and counter-productive… The drug control regime that emerged during the last century,” the letter says, “has proven disastrous for global health, security and human rights. Focused overwhelmingly on criminalization and punishment, it created a vast illicit market that has enriched criminal organizations, corrupted governments, triggered explosive violence, distorted...
