Criminalisation of drug possession does not help to decrease illicit drug consumption. Instead, it distracts the attention and energy of the police from the real originators of the problem: mass producers and major and minor drug dealers – write the signatories of the letter of support, including former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, for liberalizing drug policy in Poland.
In the first comprehensive European report on the attitudes of adults on drug policy, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and its partners have found that the vast majority of adults in seven EU countries are not deterred by drug laws, but they think that drug laws may have a deterrent effect on other people.
Drug policy was not among the burning campaign issues at the 2009 EP elections in most countries of the EU – most political parties were silent about drugs. Citizens often have no or few information about the drug policy preferences of parties they intend to vote for.