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One day currently illegal drugs will be legalised.
Can you imagine what that would look like?
We can.
In fact, we have spent nearly two decades researching and refining our vision of how to responsibly control and regulate drugs.
As the world wakes up to the tragic waste of lives, and the billions of dollars spent every year on the unwinnable war on drugs, there is an urgent need for a guide to what will replace it, including for the most widely used illegal drug of all - cannabis
No one has produced a book like this before - it will be a vital step towards delivering global change.
This guide will demonstrate how the fatally flawed policy of cannabis prohibition can be replaced by a system of responsible market regulation rooted in science, human rights and public health principles. We will lay out the aims and principles behind effective cannabis regulation, how to overcome barriers to reform, and give policy makers the practical detail of how to do it - using real-life, best practice examples of cannabis regulation in action.
Regulated market models are already being pioneered, such as Spain's cannabis social clubs, Dutch 'coffee shops', various medical cannabis models, and the brand new regulatory frameworks being developed and implemented in the US states of Washington and Colorado, and in Uruguay. This book will be the definitive guide to cannabis regulation for policy makers and campaigners alike. It will help turn these local reforms into global change, so cannabis becomes the first drug to be legalised and regulated across the world.
We have already raised half the money for the book and production is well under way. We are fundraising for another £5,000 to finish the job, print it and make sure it gets into the hands of people that can really make change happen. The book is being launched in October, so we have a month to raise the match-funding we need.
Support our work and you can help make change happen.
More about Transform and why to invest in change now
"As someone who has been responsible for the UK’s drug policy, I believe Transform’s campaigns are undoubtedly worthy of support."
-- Rt Hon Bob Ainsworth MP, former Secretary of State for Defence and Drugs Minister
Transform has been campaigning for an end to the war on drugs for nearly 20 years, because we believe there are better ways to manage the reality of drug use in society.
We believe that in a legalised and responsibly regulated cannabis market:
- health will be better protected through safer products and targeted risk information
- consumers will be able to buy from licensed vendors serving from licensed outlets
- the criminal cannabis trade and its associated harms will shrink dramatically
Change is happening. Sitting presidents are for the first time calling on the UN to review its punitive drug policy. Countries and states all over the world are either debating legalisation and regulation or actively reforming their cannabis legislation. Transform is working with many of these progressive governments, advising on the best way to establish effective and safe legal markets. Most recently, we have been advising the government of Uruguay on how to progress its cannabis regulation plans.
Cannabis reform is just the beginning. Transform's role is to convince change makers across the globe that a controlled and regulated market is the best way forward - and show how it can be done. Like US alcohol prohibition before it, we know drug prohibition cannot work - it just gifts the market to criminals, and no drug is safer in their hands.
In 2009, our groundbreaking book 'After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation' for the first time described how a regulated drug market would work. It has been downloaded over half a million times and translated into four different languages.
"Blueprint is the most evidence-based balanced discussion of drug control policy that I have seen. It should be compulsory reading for all policy makers"
-- Professor R Morgan, Former HM Chief Inspector of Probation
'Blueprint' showed people that the unthinkable was in fact thinkable. 'How to Regulate Cannabis: a Practical Guide' will show that legalising cannabis is not just thinkable, it is doable.
A majority of the population in the US and UK now support cannabis law reform, but we have to make it as easy as possible for politicians of all parties to back change. And describing in plain English how our health, communities, young people, and taxpayers' money can genuinely be safeguarded with a well thought out, evidence-based cannabis regulation model does just that.
Help us bring control and safety back to cannabis policy.
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We regularly invite supporters to book launches and other events, and offer free merchandise and a monthly newsletter with exclusive content.
Visit our website to find out more about Transform.
Find out more about the unintended consequences of prohibition on our campaign website.
Find out more about 'After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation'.