Pubdate: Wed, 30 Jan 2008
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Province
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Suzanne Fournier, The Province

UN-BACKED DEBATE ON DRUG HARM HITS VANCOUVER SHORTLY

Drug prohibition is killing people, according to some Vancouver experts.

And they'll get their say when a UN-endorsed conference starts in 
Vancouver next week, which will ask non-governmental organizations 
what they think about drug-control policy.

About 70 delegates, ranging from Drug-Free America to the Vancouver 
Area Network of Drug Users, as well as a host of NGOs, will debate 
the issues and get back to the UN.

"The cost of prohibition to communities all over the world is 
heartbreakingly cruel," said Gillian Maxwell, chair of Keeping the 
Door Open, a local group that holds "dialogues" on substance abuse.

"Third-world countries are devastated by the violence of organized 
crime and some suffer from their crops, children and animals being 
sprayed by toxic chemicals; in Vancouver we are devastated by the 
violence of organized crime and our most vulnerable suffer from the 
hopelessness of poverty, disease and stigma."

Maxwell and Dan Reist of the University of Victoria's Centre for 
Addictions Research pointed out that the toll of HIV and AIDS, as 
well as hepatitis C, drug overdoses and violence related to drug 
trafficking have all been more deadly and harmful to society than the 
simple use of drugs.

They also agreed that drug addiction is a symptom of social problems 
such as mental illness and poverty.

"The gap between rich and poor is getting wider," said Maxwell, 
noting that the gap contributes to drug addiction.

Jerry Paradis, a retired B.C. provincial court judge, said 
prohibition does not work and that hard drugs could be better 
regulated through law and taxation. "The sky didn't fall when alcohol 
prohibition ended, but crime and even fetal alcohol syndrome did 
drop," he said.

"Let's be honest, alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous and have 
caused far more harm than all the illicit drugs put together," said 
Paradis, now a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, with 
10,000 members.

Reist said he welcomes all "dialogue" next week and hopes the UN 
heeds the advice of the NGOs who will speak out at conferences all 
over the world, including New Zealand, Lima Budapest, Cairo, Dhaka, 
Nairobi and Macau. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake