Kathy Gyngell
Were Kofi Annan and the other signatories to the Global Commission on Drugs Policy Report misled by the Report’s exaggerated claim of rising global drug use?
This is the question asked by Kathy Gyngell in ‘Misleading and irresponsible drug prevalence statistics’, a CPS Factsheet.
Estimates published by the recent Global Commission on Drug Policy Report led to extensive media reporting of a substantial increase in drug use globally over the last ten years and thus of a failed ‘war on drugs’. Their estimates were attributed to UN data. Having contacted the UNODC, we have since found that (in UNODC’s own words) “the GC calculated those figures based on flawed methodology.”
Media impact:
- Daily Mail: Celebrity campaign backing drug legalisation was based on ‘flawed’ figures, says UN and Legalise drugs, Mr Dimbleby? Try telling that to the children neglected by junkie parents
- CPS blog: Were Kofi Annan and Sir Richard Branson misled
- Conservative Home: The Global Commission on Drug Policy’s consumption statistics are both wrong and misleading
- The Commentator: The real drug use is in the detail: why a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy was misleading