Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2001
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Jeff Lee
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA, VANCOUVER MAYOR SAYS

But Philip Owen Tells A Senate Committee That Hard Drugs Need A Different 
Approach

Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen added his name Wednesday to the list of those 
who believe that marijuana should be decriminalized. But he told a special 
Senate committee reviewing Canada's anti-drug laws that hard drugs such as 
cocaine and heroin need a different approach. Owen was one of the few 
speakers who told the committee he doesn't believe the "war on drugs" has 
been lost. The city, its police force, social workers and others strongly 
believe in a comprehensive drug policy that revolves around prevention, 
treatment, enforcement and harm reduction, he said. But he admitted in an 
interview that policy doesn't necessarily apply to soft drugs such as 
cannabis, and he told the committee that legalization of such drugs is 
likely inevitable. Owen said in the interview that he personally favours 
decriminalization of marijuana, but supports the police department's 
program of busting marijuana-growing operations, given that laws exist that 
must be enforced. "It is not if we will do it [decriminalize marijuana], it 
is when will we do it," he said. "I think the public wants to have public 
discussions about soft drugs and hard drugs separately. I support that 
public discussion." His comments struck a chord with committee member 
Senator Pat Carney. "Philip Owen hit the nail on the head when he said 
there were two debates that need to happen, one around soft drugs and the 
other around hard," she said during a break. The common theme of many of 
the speakers -- who included doctors, drug abusers and lawyers -- is that 
drug abuse is largely a personal medical and societal problem, rather than 
a criminal one. Although the committee is interested in the issues around 
hard drugs, it was formed with the intent of reviewing Canada's anti-drug 
laws, particularly as they apply to cannabis.

The committee is expected to table its report before the Senate in August 
2002. Dr. Mark Tyndall, director of epidemiology at the B.C. Centre for 
Excellence in HIV/AIDS, told the senators there was no better example of 
the conflicting problems facing abusers than what happens at his agency. 
The centre has been following 1,400 injection drug abusers in the Downtown 
Eastside since 1996. Most are on some form of social assistance. Almost all 
have now tested positive for hepatitis C. Nearly half are HIV-positive. 
They face a revolving door in which they overdose, are patched up by 
doctors and returned to the same environment where they overdosed in the 
first place, he said. He said that while Vancouver is light years ahead of 
the United States in recognizing drug addiction as a medical problem rather 
than a law-enforcement issue and has invoked a number of harm-reduction 
strategies such as the needle-exchange program, the city still isn't close 
to solving its problem. "It is ironic that we expend most of our efforts 
and nearly all of our resources on combatting crime, reducing public drug 
use, restricting prostitution and treating drug-related illnesses as we 
allow the underlying causes of this problem to go largely neglected." 
Hilary Black, founder of the B.C. Compassion Club Society, which 
distributes cannabis for medicinal purposes, said her group fears 
government and corporate intervention when the drug is decriminalized. The 
club's proposal for a research project with some Vancouver scientists was 
turned down because it refused to allow the use of a placebo, she said, 
adding that helped reinforce distrust of government involvement. Health 
Canada's priority is to fund research that will result in patentable, 
marketable products, she said. "These legal products can be used to fortify 
the oppression of access to unprocessed cannabis.

Those who need medicinal cannabis must have the option to use manufactured 
products or whole plant medicine as they wish, not as determined by a 
political agenda," she said. The societal culture against legalization of 
drugs isn't limited to cannabis. David Mossop, a lawyer with the Community 
Legal Assistance Service, said public opposition has made it impossible so 
far to open safe injection houses, even though they would help reduce the 
number of overdoses. Dean Wilson, a member of the Vancouver Area Network of 
Drug Users, told the committee addicts resent the way governments and 
social agencies take an elitist approach to dealing with them. - - - WHAT 
THE SENATORS HEARD ABOUT SOFT DRUGS "Prohibition is not protecting 
Canadians from the evils of cannabis; prohibition is destroying Canadians' 
lives.

The stigma, shame and criminal record can ruin one's ability to succeed in 
life, families are torn apart by children being seized, or a parent may be 
taken away. So many good people are caged in jail, people we need in our 
society.

The laws, not the plant, cause what violence there may be around cannabis." 
- - Hilary Black, founder and co-director of the B.C. Compassion Club 
Society. "Vancouver has been the site of a horrible natural study in drug 
use and more recently, HIV and hepatitis transmission. If we continue to be 
stalled in providing even the most modest services and interventions, we 
will be known as the city that did nothing when the epidemic occurred." - 
Dr. Mark Tyndall, director of epidemiology at the B.C. Centre for 
Excellence in HIV/AIDS. "We live in a society where drug use is common.

Legal drugs are everywhere and readily available to help us through the day 
if we need them -- to kill the pain, keep us awake, to help us sleep and so 
on. As with licit drugs, illicit drugs are also here to stay and are an 
issue that we will have to come to grips with and . . . learn to manage in 
a way whereby harm to individuals and communities as a result of substance 
misuse is reduced. Acknowledging the problem is the first step to problem 
solving and I believe that in Vancouver we have done that." - Donald 
MacPherson, drug policy coordinator, city of Vancouver. "Our justice system 
and prisons are filled with people that would not have had any contact with 
the system had we treated the issue as a social problem. We must remember 
that drugs do not cause social ills but are a coping mechanism used by some 
to deal with those ills." - Dean Wilson, Vancouver Area Network of Drug 
Users. "Over the last four years, the city of Vancouver and its citizens 
have come to realize that we cannot ignore the illegal drug problem and 
associated property crime in our community.

We can neither incarcerate our way out of it nor can we liberalize our way 
out of it. We cannot ignore it. We need to manage it through a 
comprehensive system of care that leads to safe and healthier communities." 
- - Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen. " I am not alone when I go on the record in 
support of the removal of criminal penalties for small private possession 
of cannabis as a means of reducing the economic costs of law enforcement, 
and the social costs of arrest of people who are otherwise not criminally 
involved." - Inspector Kash Heed, commanding officer of the vice/drug 
section, Vancouver police department. "All that is lacking is the political 
will. The federal government should not only license safe injection 
facilities forthwith, but they should also fund them as well. Addicts may 
have charter rights to treatment and to safe injection sites." - David 
Mossop, Community Legal Assistance Service.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Lou King