Drug Legalization: British Countess courts rich and famous to end drug war

We had the pleasure of meeting the Countess of Wemyss recently at the International Drug Policy Conference in Los Angeles. Amana Fielding--her given name--is one of those wonderfully eccentric and therefore independent thinking British nobles.  Her status and wealth give her freedom from needing to please others and the ability (like entertainment stars) to occupy public platforms--she recently helped convene a meeting in the House of Lords--such that she can gain attention for drug legalization that us commoners can never achieve.

Scotsman.com: "THE neo-classical splendour of Gosford House, one of Scotland’s finest stately homes, would appear to be a far cry from the misery caused by armed drugs cartels in Mexico. But an aristocratic member of the family which owns the Robert Adam mansion in East Lothian is leading a high-profile campaign to decriminalise drugs in the belief that it is the only way to tackle the suffering and violence caused by the illicit drugs trade.

Celebrities including Sting and Yoko Ono, a string of Nobel Laureates and the former US president Jimmy Carter are among those supporting the Countess of Wemyss in her bid to reform drugs policy. Her impressive list of backers, which includes the Nobel Prize-winning scientists Sir Harold Kroto and Sir Anthony Leggett, are calling on the British government to recognise that the global war on drugs has failed and look at taking a new approach.

Wemyss said she felt “passionately” that it was her “social duty” to persuade the government of the merits of decriminalising drugs." read more