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Previous reports by the Global Commission on Drug Policy have shown how the potential harms of drugs for people and communities are exacerbated by repressive drug control policies at local, national and international levels. The present report, while fully acknowledging the negative impact that problematic drug use often has on people’s lives, focuses on how current perceptions of drugs and people who use them feed into and off prohibitionist policies.

Indeed, drug policy reforms have sometimes been difficult to carry out, design or implement because current policies and responses are often based on perceptions and passionate beliefs, and what should be factual discussions – such as the efficiency of harm reduction – are frequently treated as moral debates. The present report aims to analyze the most common perceptions and fears, contrast them with available evidence on drugs and the people who use them, and on that basis recommend changes that can be enacted to support reforms toward more effective drug policies.