We ask the UN to establish the right of every adult citizen of the world to grow and possess natural plants for personal use and non-commercial purposes, using all technical equipment that is available for this.
Photo: Paul von Hartmann
For thousands of years, people around the world have been growing cannabis, coca leaves, opium and other plants in order to use them as a medicine for body and mind, or for other useful purposes. Today, at least 35 million people in the European Union and more than 200 million worldwide continue to use some of these plants.
Since 1961, however, following the dictates of a UN Convention that is applied in almost all countries of the world, these plants are prohibited. People have been killed, tortured, imprisoned, stigmatised and ruined for growing, trading or consuming them.
The consumption of drugs can cause problems – especially among young people. But the fact that drugs are prohibited has disasterous consequences. It forces drug users into lifestyles that can become harmful to themselves and others too, and creates health problems that could easily be avoided. Drug prohibition surrenders the control over the drugs market to organised crime. While large amounts of public funds are being spent in fighting a war on drugs, all evidence proves this endeavour to be ineffective and counterproductive.
ENCOD is a European platform of citizens who want an intelligent and effective approach to drug problems. We believe that only a legal regulation of the drugs market will reduce these problems. Such a regulation will improve the living standards of millions of people, while significantly diminishing one of the world’s major criminal income sources. One of our goals is to modify the 1961 Convention on drugs. We ask the UN to establish the right of every adult citizen of the world to grow and possess natural plants for personal use and non-commercial purposes, using all technical equipment that is available for this. At the same
The War on Drugs must end!
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