Drugs and Development Policies: a discussion with the Global Commission on Drug Policy

What can be done to mitigate the negative consequences of drug policies on development, and what reforms are suggested? This high-level discussion explores the experiences of four former heads of state or government, from four regions in the world, to discuss the medium and long-term solutions to the harms created by current drug control policies. #LSEPolicy
🔴 This event was streamed live on Facebook on 29 March 2021:
/ live
🔴 Find out about more of our upcoming events:
www.lse.ac.uk/E...
Speakers:
🔴 Juan Manuel Santos Calderón
🔴 Helen Clark
🔴 Ruth Dreifuss
🔴 Kgalema Motlanthe
Chair:
🔴 Professor Andrés Velasco
ℹ️ More info: www.lse.ac.uk/...

[@KenBarun]

I am a former heroin addict. I am 73 years old, I have more experience in the area of substance abuse than anyone I can imagine, from personal use to working as a Deputy Asss't sec at the USDHHS, the White House under the Reagan admin, on both President Bush's teams, I was aa Corp SVP for 20 years at a major corporation where I ran a very large charitable organization and now in ministry where I see the problem from many angles. I am truly a veteran of the War on Drugs. And can say we will never win this war unless people understand the user and the demand for drugs. Eliminate that issue and the war is won. Nobody asks the right questions.

[@KenBarun]

I listened again to this distinguished group of individuals, all who made excellent points. However going back to my White House Days in 1983-1986, I was instrumental in setting up with Nancy Reagan, the First Lady's Conference on Drug Abuse. Held in Washington DC, Atlanta, and in New York at the UN. Also briefings with the CIA and other government agencies interested in solving this problem for any number of reasons, it was clear that the exact same discussions that were held then are just being repeated today. Look at the number of people who have commented. I believe I was number 9 and 10. Therein lies the challenge. People do not want to deal with the ugliness of this until it strikes home. There are so many psychological reasons for a person to use drugs that parents do not get actively involved until they are surprised by an overdose or an arrest in their family. I wrote a book in 1989 titled "When Saying No isn't enough, How to Keep the Children you love off drugs", yet my oldest daughter died of an overdose at 38 and two of my sons became addicted to opioids or heroin. Why? I could speculate for hours. I would hope someone would contact me to ask a few questions. I have all of the qualifications to answer them. I have an excellent resume, but since I do not travel in the world of Academics or government agencies, I am not asked to advise. I can tell you I do know a few ways to reduce the problem. I hope someone would legitimately reach out to me, if you are all truly trying.