Some simple facts:

One day soon, Joe Biden, and the rest of the so called 'drug warriors', will all stand trial as drug war criminals.

* Colombia, Peru, Mexico or Afghanistan with their coca leaves, marijuana buds or poppy sap are not igniting temptation in the minds of our weak, innocent citizens. These countries are duly responding to the enormous demand that comes from within our own borders. Invading or destroying these countries, thus creating more hate, violence, instability, injustice and corruption, will not fix our problem.

* A rather large majority of people will always feel the need to use drugs such as heroin, opium, nicotine, amphetamines, alcohol, sugar, or caffeine.

* The massive majority of adults who use drugs do so recreationally - getting high at the weekend then up for work on a Monday morning.

* Apart from the huge percentage of people addicted to both sugar and caffeine, a small minority of adults (nearly 5%) will always experience the use of drugs as problematic. - approx. 3% are dependent on alcohol and approx. 1.5% are dependent on other drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, heroine etc.

* Just as it was impossible to prevent alcohol from being produced and used in the U.S. in the 1920s, so too, it is equally impossible to prevent any of the aforementioned drugs from being produced, distributed and widely used by those who desire to do so.

* Prohibition kills more people and ruins more lives than the drugs it prohibits.

* Due to Prohibition (historically proven to be an utter failure at every level), the availability of most of these mood-altering drugs has become so universal and unfettered that in any city of the civilized world, any one of us would be able to procure practically any drug we wish within an hour.

* Throughout history, the prohibition of any mind-altering substance has always exploded usage rates, overcrowded jails, fueled organized crime, created rampant corruption of law-enforcement - even whole governments, while inducing an incalculable amount of suffering and death.

* Apart from the fact that the DEA is the de facto enforcement wing of the pharmaceutical industry, the involvement of the CIA in running Heroin from Vietnam, Southeast Asia and Afghanistan, and Cocaine from Central America has been well documented by the 1989 Kerry Committee report, academic researchers Alfred McCoy and Peter Dale Scott, and the late journalist Gary Webb.

* It's not even possible to keep drugs out of prisons, but prohibitionists wish to waste trillions of dollars in an utterly futile attempt to keep them off our streets.

* The United States jails a larger percentage of it's own citizens than any other country in the world, including those run by the worst totalitarian regimes, yet it has far higher use/addiction rates than most other countries.

* Prohibition is the "Goose that laid the golden egg" and the lifeblood of terrorists as well as drug cartels. Both the Taliban and the terrorists of al Qaeda derive their main income from the prohibition-inflated value of the opium poppy. An estimated 44 % of the heroin produced in Afghanistan, with an estimated annual destination value of US $ 27 Billion, transits through Pakistan. Prohibition has essentially destroyed Pakistan's legal economy and social fabric. We may be about to witness the planet's first civil war in a nation with nuclear capabilities. - Kindly Google 'A GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF NARCOTICS-FUNDED TERRORIST GROUPS' Only those opposed or willing to ignore these facts want things the way they are.

* The future depends on whether or not enough of us are willing to take a long look at the tragic results of prohibition. If we continue to skirt the primary issue while refusing to address the root problem then we can expect no other result than a worsening of the current dire situation. - Good intentions, wishful thinking and pseudoscience are no match for the immutable realities of human nature.

* Many important advancements in human society (even the reasonable requirement that gynecologists wash their hands before examining a patient) have been vehemently resisted by unconscionable, selfish individuals who were willing to use outright mendacity, specious logic and fear mongering to sacrifice the well-being of the rest of us.

Never have so many been endangered and impoverished by so few so quickly!

* The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-face for the urge to rule it. - H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American editor, essayist and philologist.

The War on Drugs is the biggest price support mechanism ever devised for agriculture. It provides a market for what are basically road weeds, cannabis, opium and coca, taking them from free to very expensive with a simple stroke of the pen.

Historically the prohibitions stem from racist legislation, anti-Mexican, anti-Chinese and anti-Native American and nothing to do with any intrinsic dangers of the various substances.

A multi-national industry of production and supply is matched by an even bigger detection and enforcement industry. Both sides are mutually dependant, if the drugs were produced in an entirely free market their value would be hundreds or even thousands of times cheaper than currently. For example a kilo of psuedoephedrine is about $250 from a manufacturer but the same kilo is worth $100,000-250,000 when converted to speed (a simple and cheap process costing less than $100). This level of profitability is unheard of outside the strange world of drug trafficing.

A recent survey among cannabis growers estimated they could make a nice profit selling at $5 per ounce - they don't of course because they can easily get $200-300. This level of profitibility naturally attracts a lot of participants increasing the supply. On the enforcement side there are police, lawyers, judges, prison officers, prison builders and service providers all making above average incomes. Even without the corruption which comes from a wide-spread illegal industry the enforcement side has no interest in change.

It has been estimated that 80% of the currently prison population are there on drug related crime, either for actual drug offences or offences relating to gaining money for drugs. If the drugs were freely available at cost plus 100% the crime rate would drop over time to 20% of current level, this would result in an 80% unemployment rate for the police, lawyers, judges etc. Not an appealing prospect, on the supply side a lot of middle-men would also drop off seeing a decline in criminal organisations such bikies and mafias and ordinary street dealers.

A recent local survey in my locality showed 27 dealers in a 10 block area in the Housing Commission section of my suburb. None of these dealers had a job or were even likely to get one so the other benefit of the War on Drugs has been the provision of a money making system available to the sub-working class.

In short the War on Drugs has been a great success. Drugs have never been more available or more valuable, more people on both sides are making even more money. The justice system has become more democratic allowing money to have influence rather than just the old school tie system that used to prevail.

Many unemployable people have found their niches and a secure future is assured for all. Ok there are a few casualties but they are just druggies and don't actually count...or do they?

Sooner or later, Australians will realise that it is better to divert $2.24 billion dollars a year from the black market to taxes (this is estimated profit according to http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/blogs/crime-and-punishment/winning-the-war-on-drugs-the-costs-20110510-1egbj.html).

Sooner or later, Australians will look at US states that have legalised medical marijuana and realise these states haven't fallen apart. They have seen a 9% reduction in road fatalities [https://theconversation.edu.au/fewer-road-deaths-after-medical-marijuana-legalised-4561] and seen a 5% reduction in suicide rates [ftp.iza.org/dp6280.pdf].

I don't think we'll save any money in policing costs - instead drug police will be free to perform increased patrols or solve other crimes. Perhaps some money will be saved in the helicopter patrols

Sure, cannabis has negative consequences for a minority of individuals (science points to under-age use), but this percentage is so small we don't have any accurate statistics (that I know of). In any case, this should be treated as a health problem and not a criminal problem - we don't treat people who have problems with fast food, alcohol or pharmaceuticals as criminals!

We have to balance this up against safer roads, extra police patrols and an extra 2 billion a year in tax revenue. Let me write that number out: $2,000,000,000 - that's quite a sum of money to be earning annually! Remember this figure the next time you hear the government cutting projects/jobs in order to save money.

Even if the figure turns out 'only to be one billion', is it not better to divert this from the black market to taxes?

Interesting to see the effect of decriminalisation in Portugal and Switzerland... none.

This "war on drugs" notion comes straight from the puritanical swamp of the USA where prohibition is the first stone of choice. And it has deeply racist roots.

It has been imposed by duress and threat on many countries - made contingent on trade and aid. It has spread misery, violence and organised crime - as ever - takes the field.

But I'm not holding my breath for a sensible evidence based political response. This makes gay marriage look like a proposal from the P&C.

Still it is heartening to see such a bunch of luminaries making a sensible contribution and getting a few facts on the table.

But this is not a reasonable or rational discussion.

I agree Peter, i wouldn't hold my breath.

While the US can still push military bases on us, they're still going to influence any law reforms in regards to drugs.

They make too much money to allow rogue countries such as australia to steal their wealth.

The Labour govt has shown they're no different to the Liberal govt when it comes to enforcing US world policy.

We may have to wait another generation for the baby boomers to get out of the way, with all their hangups and fears, before common sense finally prevails.

Awesome Article, Legalise and tax, instead of locking up these non violent non criminal people in a violent criminal training ground (Jail) we should rehabilitate them - surely it will cost less to rehabilitate and re-introduce people into society allowing them to be productive than it is to condition them into criminals?