Dakar, Senegal – In a joint declaration, the West Africa Commission on Drugs concludes that drug trafficking, consumption and production in West Africa undermines institutions, threatens public health and damages development efforts. This is the key finding of the Commission’s report Not Just in Transit: Drugs, the State and Society in West Africa.
The scale of the cocaine trade alone through West Africa (estimated at $1.25 billion) dwarfs the combined state budgets of several countries in the region.
“We call on West African governments to reform drug laws and policies and decriminalize low-level and non-violent drug offences”, Olusegun Obasanjo, Chair of the Commission will say.
“West Africa is no longer just a transit zone for drugs arriving from South America and ending up in Europe but has become a significant zone of consumption and production” Mr Obasanjo will say. “The glaring absence of treatment facilities for drug users fuels the…