TY - JOUR T1 - Older addicts JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 522 LP - 522 DO - 10.3399/bjgp11X588547 VL - 61 IS - 589 AU - Mike Fitzpatrick Y1 - 2011/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/61/589/522.abstract N2 - The conviction that ‘the war on drugs has failed’ is widely shared among those of liberal and enlightened opinion. Yet the same people seem to be unaware that their favoured alternative to the military approach — the medicalisation of addiction — has been equally unsuccessful.Two prestigious initiatives last month commemorated the 40th anniversaries, respectively, of the anti-drugs crusade launched by President Richard Nixon in the US and the Misuse of Drugs Act in the UK, by declaring these historic attempts to combat the use of illicit substances, including heroin, cocaine, and cannabis, as failures. In New York, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a body including three former South American presidents, the former secretary general of the United Nations, the current prime minister of … ER -