Pubdate: Tue, 04 Apr 2006
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2006 Calgary Herald
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Philip W. Owen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Note: Philip Owen, a former Vancouver mayor, is a drug policy reform activist.

JAIL NOT ANSWER IN DRUG BATTLE

The Safe Streets Safe Cities conference, which begins today and runs 
through Thursday, will tackle chronic social problems afflicting 
urban society and propose ways to make cities safe. International 
experts will examine modern scourges, including drugs, crime, 
prostitution, poverty and homelessness. See safestreetssafecities.com 
for details.

- - - -

The "war on drugs" doesn't work. The facts from the United States 
show it's a disaster and countries cannot jail their way out of defeat.

In every major city across Canada and around the world, prohibition 
has proven to be a bust. The consensus globally is that drug policy 
reform is the only way to go.

We can't ignore drugs but we can and must manage drugs. The users are 
sick, many are teenagers, and Canada has a national health-care 
system to help them.

The drug dealers and pushers are evil and must go before the courts 
for stiff jail sentences. The system isn't working to change the 
reality that illegal drugs are a public health and public safety issue.

We need to put drugs into a regulated market environment. Governments 
control gambling, tobacco, alcohol, morphine and codeine. It's time 
they did the same thing with street drugs and introduced a program to 
regulate them.

When crack cocaine seriously surfaced in the mid-1990s, associated 
crime and suffering jumped. As mayor of Vancouver, I realized that 
the status quo wasn't on.

The people wanted change, but the federal government had no protocol 
and no programs that worked. We moved toward a reasoned solution, 
establishing a dialogue with more than 40 different groups and voices 
throughout the city.

We borrowed from other countries that had seen some success such as 
Germany and Switzerland, which provided treatment on demand.

As a result, Vancouver developed the Four Pillars Document, which 
focused on prevention, treatment, enforcement and harm-reduction.

Prevention includes early education in the schools. There are 
effective programs for students about smoking, drinking and sex 
education, but minimal ones on drugs. These kids are smart; they can 
be informed.

Treatment involves options and programs for those on drugs. All drug 
addicts go through phases when they can't stand it anymore.

Treatment on demand must be available. It works in Switzerland, where 
it is the law.

Harm reduction applies to both the community and the user. Safe 
injection sites, needle exchanges as well as many other 
harm-reduction programs have proven to be supportable and effective in Europe.

In Canada, the federal government authorized safe injection sites for 
Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal in 2003.

In Vancouver, the changes were huge: deaths due to overdoses dropped 
from 191 to 47 in less than two years.

It's crucial to separate the user from the dealer and get early 
contact and early intervention. That's far more successful -- and 
less complex -- than trying to rehabilitate a six-year user.

The potential to rehabilitate through innovative drug programs and 
treatments could ultimately lead to far less jail time with only the 
habitual criminal and dealer behind bars. The reality is that 80 per 
cent of crimes are caused by just five per cent of the criminal population.

Rehabilitation in jail should involve drug treatments and education 
programs. Put those convicted into workshops where they talk about 
their behaviour and avenues for change.

The goal is abstinence, but that's not completely realistic. We 
expect the courts to solve the drug problem. Judges, who are simply 
interpreting the la w, get criticized for lenient sentencing.

We can't just hope that drugs will go away and leave the whole 
activity to organized crime and unregulated dealers.

That's what we have now.

The global drug trade is a multibillion-dollar enterprise, especially 
benefiting terrorists and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush said America wasn't going to 
allow drugs into the country. Yet the following year, $7.1 billion 
worth of heroin landed in the U.S. from Afghanistan.

Marijuana, which should be decriminalized, is a minor drug compared 
to the highly addictive hard drugs. Canadians want separate 
discussions about hard and soft drugs. (See the reports of both the 
House of Commons and the Senate from the fall of 2002.)

To seriously tackle hard drugs, every city in Canada, and indeed, 
North America, needs to adopt Vancouver's Four Pillars approach. The 
results are in; it works.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman