So Donald Trump has declared round 13 of the war on drugs. His administration has released this one page global call to action which is as indecipherable as it is short. It does a lot of reaffirming of old commitments then has a few platitudinous statements about education, treatment and law enforcement cooperation.
For a guy who thinks that Philippine hard man Rodrigo Duterte whose forces regularly shoot suspected drug dealers the announcement is weird.
Jacinda Ardern has announced that New Zealand will not be signing it. From Radio New Zealand:
New Zealand will not be signing the United States’ document calling for global action on the war on drugs, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
Ms Ardern is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly this week, along with about 140 other world leaders.
US President Donald Trump is kicking off his week at the UN by holding an event to promote the US document called the Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem.
The document requires the countries which sign to develop national action plans to reduce the demand for illicit drugs, cut off supply at their borders and strengthen international cooperation.
US media are reporting that some countries will sign it, not because they agree with it but because they don’t want to antagonise Mr Trump.
But Ms Ardern said New Zealand would not be among them.
“No it’s not our intention to and there are a number of other countries who haven’t either.”
Ms Ardern said New Zealand had its own specific challenges around drug use, and it would prefer to take a health approach to the issue.
Guess how Simon Bridges replied? In a similarly nuanced manner? Nah just joking.
From Newshub:
Simon Bridges says National would be an ally in Donald Trump’s War on Drugs.
At least 124 countries have signed on to the President’s ‘Global Call to Action on the World Drug Problem’, which Mr Trump is promoting at the UN this week, but New Zealand has said no.
The Opposition leader says he can’t understand why Jacinda Ardern won’t back the new drug war, calling it puzzling.
“Very strange. I really can’t work out why the Coalition Government wouldn’t sign up to this,” he told RadioLIVE.
“It’s American, yes, but it’s very much under the auspices of the United Nations.”
Mr Trump would require countries to develop national plans to cut demand for illegal drugs, stop supply at their borders and increase international cooperation. The policy has a special emphasis on synthetic drugs.
The really stupid thing is that the announcement adds nothing new. It is an attempt for Donald Trump to claim credit for things that are already happening. And it really does minimise the health aspect of dealing with drug addiction.
Russell Brown has a typically nuanced and damning view of the announcement:
Trump’s announcement is especially weird coming from someone who is so anti International institutions and International law.
As said by Hannah Hetzer in Common Dreams:
But as Trump, speaking from the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Monday, called on other world leaders to follow his lead on drug policy, critics like Hannah Hetzer of the Drug Policy Alliance said they should do no such thing.
“President Trump is the last person who should be defining the global debate on drug policy,” she declared ahead of the event. “From his support of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug war to his call for the death penalty for people who sell drugs, Trump has shown complete disdain for human rights and international law.”
Hetzer described Trump’s call to action as “a unilateral move” by the administration “that shows utter disregard for multilateralism and regular U.N. processes of negotiation and consensus.” Urging other governments to be “wary” of backing the president’s call, she concluded, “This is clearly an example of Trump attempting to wade into the international drug policy debate and create a splashy camera-ready opportunity, carefully orchestrated to create the appearance of support from dozens of other countries.”
What we need is an acknowledgment that the war on drugs has failed and that a health approach needs to be tried urgently. What we will no doubt get is regurgitation of the tough on crime debate and a further attempt by the right to score political points whatever the consequences are.
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