Pubdate: Fri, 10 Feb 2012
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Derek Abma
Cited: Canadian Drug Policy Coalition: http://drugpolicy.ca/

DECRIMINALIZE DRUG USE, NEW COALITION URGES

It's A Social Issue, Not Criminal, Group Says

Canada needs to give up the war on drugs and start treating drug use 
as a health and social issue rather than something for the criminal 
justice system to deal with, according to a policy group formally 
launched Thursday.

The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition is, among other things, calling 
for the government to decriminalize drug use and not stand in the way 
of harm-reduction programs, such as safe-injection sites.

"In western legal systems, the criminal law has long been seen as the 
instrument of last resort to be used when other means of social 
control has failed," Eugene Oscapella, a University of Ottawa 
criminology professor and member of the group's policy committee, 
said at a news conference on Parliament Hill. "Unfortunately, in the 
case of certain drugs -- cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, heroin and 
hundreds of other substances for that matter -- it has been used as 
the principal vehicle of social control."

The coalition argued this approach does not reduce drug use, but 
creates more problems such as making criminals out of drug users, 
creating a lucrative black market for real criminals and preventing 
measures that could help those struggling with addictions.

Oscapella said Bill C-10 -- crime legislation already approved by 
Parliament and under review in the Senate -- would make things even 
worse. He estimated that 10 to 20 per cent of his students would be 
affected by new provisions relating to the sharing of drugs in areas 
frequented by youth.

"If, under the legislation, one of my students was to pass a tab of 
ecstasy to a friend on campus -- this is for no money, just sharing 
with a friend -- that is the offence of trafficking and it's 
occurring in an area normally frequented by youth. Mandatory minimum 
penalty (is) two years (in a) federal penitentiary," he said, noting 
that students as young as 17 are common at university.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, in response to this group's 
assertions, said the government's drug policies are focused on 
penalizing drug dealers, not users.

"We are not looking to go after substance-abuse victims or 
experimenting teenagers," he said in a statement emailed by his 
staff. "We are making no changes to the laws with regards to simple 
possession. The Safe Streets and Communities Act goes after the 
source of the illicit drug trade -- the drug traffickers."

Other countries' failed experiences should prove a 
law-enforcement-focused approach to drug policy does not work, 
coalition members said.

Oscapella said the United States has spent about $1 trillion on its 
"war on drugs" since it was launched in 1971. Donald Macpherson, 
director of the coalition, added that 50,000 people in Mexico have 
been killed by drug cartels since the government there tried to crack 
down on them in 2006.

The group argues that drug injection sites such as Insite in 
Vancouver save lives.

"Leadership at all levels within the community is needed to implement 
a broad range of harm-reduction approaches that will indeed save 
lives and help people stay as healthy as possible while they struggle 
with an addiction," Macpherson said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom