The new drug warriors

THE war on drugs, it seems, is edging towards a truce. Half of Americans want to lift the ban on cannabis, the world’s favourite illicit drug. Four states have legalised it, as has Washington, DC. Latin American presidents whose countries once battled narcos with helicopter gunships now openly wonder if prohibition was a mistake; Uruguay has legalised weed. Much of Europe has decriminalised it; Portugal has decriminalised all drug-use (though not drug-dealing). Heroin addicts in Western countries usually have access to clean needles, substitutes such as methadone and, in parts of Europe, heroin prescriptions. Many governments are starting to believe that managing drug use causes less harm than trying to stamp it out.

In Indonesia, things look very different. On April 29th eight convicted drug offenders, seven of them foreign, were executed by firing squad. Joko Widodo, the president, became convinced of the need for a hard line on drugs as mayor of Solo, a city in central Java, and governor of Jakarta, the capital. Since taking office he has promised “no clemency” for traffickers, despite intense lobbying by other governments and the UN. His seven months in office have seen 14 executions, more than twice as many as in the previous 15 years.