Afrika. The critical frontlines of drug policy in Africa

“Do not repeat our mistakes, do not militarize your response to drug supply, do not try to police your way out of drug demand and consumption,” warned the Guatemalan government’s representative, José Briz Guttierez, at the launch of the West Africa Commission on Drugs by Kofi Annan (kofiannanfoundation.org/changingdrug-policy/west-africa-has-a-drug-problem-2776/) and Olusegun Obasanjo in Dakar in 2014. Back then, he was reminding that West Africa and the Eastern Coast of the continent including South African points of entry, respectively hailed as the new cocaine and heroin trafficking routes (globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WACD_Fr_Report_WEB_051114.pdf), face the same drug-related problems Central America experienced in the 1980s. He insisted that rather than a repressive response that fueled violence, corruption and other illicit economies, African countries are the new forefront to design and adopt drug policies that are both respectful of human rights and more effective in reducing the illegal drug market. Where every other continent failed, Africa has the opportunity to design the 21 century drug control. (Modern Ghana, Ghana, 26.02.2023)

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