Richard Branson is one of the most respected and influential men in the world. He’s also one of the richest. And now the founder and owner of the Virgin Group is calling on his native Great Britain to end its war on drugs and decriminalize currently banned substances.
In an op-ed that Branson co-wrote with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and published in “The Guardian” newspaper, Branson said the cost-benefit analysis of continuing a prohibition on drugs in England makes no sense, writing:
“As an investment, the war on drugs has failed to deliver any returns. If it were a business, it would have been shut down a long time ago. This is not what success looks like.”
The editorial comes as the British prepare to go to the polls for a general election on May 7. While Clegg and the Liberal Democrats are not expected to win, the timing is still notable, according to?Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, who said:
“Doing this in advance of the election is symbolically important.?It’s rare for such a significant party to take such a bold stance on drug policy.”
Citing the recent legalization of marijuana in four American states and other European nations, Branson and Clegg argue that Great Britain has largely stood still. They specifically pointed to the success that Portugal has experienced with their decriminalization efforts:
“The Portuguese system works, and on an issue as important as this, where lives are at stake, governments cannot afford to ignore the evidence. We should set up pilots to test and develop a British version of the Portuguese model.”
In 2001, Portugal introduced a sweeping drug decriminalization act. In the 14 years since that move, the rates of?teenage drug use, drug-induced deaths. and HIV/AIDS ?have declined dramatically.
Recent polling data in Great Britain shows that 84 percent of Britons think the war on drugs is a bad idea, and 88 percent think marijuana should be either legalized or decriminalized.
