War on Drugs a failure - study author

A major joint study by Johns Hopkins University in the US and the British medical journal The Lancet, has criticised the War on Drugs, saying the punitive approach to drug offending has done more harm than good. The report argues that counter-narcotic policies across Europe and the United States relating to drug use and dependence have no basis in science. Next month the United Nations will hold a special General Assembly on Drugs - the first since 1998. Dr Chris Beyrer of Johns Hopkins' Blooomberg School of Public Health is one of the lead authors of the report.