The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem, taking place this April, is a meeting of the UN member states to discuss drug control, assess the effectiveness of current efforts to control drugs, and debate opportunities for reform. The most recent UNGASS on drugs, held in 1998, boasted the slogan “A Drug Free World -- We Can Do It!” and set goals for drastic reduction in drug supply and demand through criminalization, eradication, and military interventions in producer and transit countries.

Nearly two decades later, these strategies have not only failed to reduce drug supply and demand, but they have resulted in more dangerous drug markets, vastly detrimental rates of incarceration, and wide-ranging human rights abuses.

We can do better. Countries the world over are rejecting the old paradigm and recognizing that a health-based approach founded in scientific evidence, compassion, and respect for human rights results in healthier and safer communities.

President Obama and his Administration have made substantial reforms to America’s approach to drugs by offering clemency to certain non-violent drug offenders, reducing or eliminating mandatory minimums, and developing a drug control strategy and budget that slightly emphasizes treatment over incarceration.

Sign our petition to ask President Obama to represent his bold vision for a more humane drug policy at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session!