Pubdate: Thu, 19 Apr 2012
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: 
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134

DRUG WAR LOST, NEW TACK NEEDED

Like so many major conflicts, the war on drugs has created such 
devastating collateral damage that even now, should there be a sudden 
turning of the tide in favour of law enforcement and government, 
there is no real victory to be celebrated.

And since the prospects for a momentum shift are negligible, there is 
instead a crucial reckoning dead ahead, one that demands a complete 
rethink on the calamitous issues of transnational drug production, 
distribution and consumption. Forget winning, forget escalation; the 
war on drugs that then U.S. president Richard Nixon declared in 1971 
cannot and should not be fought a moment longer using only current strategies.

Cartels are still operating with impunity in Latin America - aided as 
they are by government and police corruption - and drugs are still 
flowing north to the United States and Canada where their abuse 
further marginalizes already downtrodden segments of society.

It is nearly impossible to reconcile the current state of the global 
problem with the estimated trillion dollars and 40 years that various 
governments have spent fighting the enemy. More money must be spent, 
but differently. And until the voices at both ends of the supply 
chain are united in a two-pronged strategy that works to regulate 
rather than restrict supply and control rather than prohibit demand, 
the 40-year war on drugs will continue to claim victims, both 
criminal and innocent.

Last year the Global Commission on Drug Policy concluded "the war on 
drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and 
societies around the world."

The esteemed panel included UN envoy Kofi Annan, as well as the 
former leaders of Poland, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Greece and 
Switzerland. Since that report was made public, the tone of 
high-level political conversation has undergone a gentle 
metamorphosis. A softening was evident at the just-completed Summit 
of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, a fitting backdrop for 
dialogue given that South American country's prominence in the cocaine trade.

Positioned as they are in countries at the other end of the supply 
chain, and mindful of shifting opinion, Canadian Prime Minister 
Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama expressed a 
willingness in Cartagena to open dialogue on a new policy tack 
through a panel of experts convened by the Organization of American 
States. However, neither is about to endorse decriminalization or 
legalization of narcotics.

"They're illegal because they quickly and totally, with many of the 
drugs, destroy people's lives and people are willing to make lots of 
money out of selling those products," said Harper.

"I don't mind a debate around issues like decriminalization," Obama 
said. "I personally don't agree that's a solution to the problem. I 
don't think that legalization of drugs is going to be the answer."

But there are two answers, one for the consuming nations and another 
for the producing countries, and both Obama and Harper must invite 
and explore solutions reflecting that dual reality. For now, 
admitting the war has been lost is a politically expedient first step 
for many world leaders, and even those who dare voice a specific new 
proposal are loath to wander beyond the tilled ground of 
decriminalizing marijuana possession, which has been done with 
success in The Netherlands. Tolerance for that initiative is 
spreading, though slowly.

Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina is a rare exception: a sitting 
leader who has called for the legalization and government regulation 
of illicit drugs as a means of putting murderous, moneyed drug 
cartels out of business. Some Central American leaders as well as 
those from Mexico and Colombia fell in behind Perez Molina, happy to 
have their positions fostered.

While the co-operation of American, Canadian and European governments 
is still seen as a necessary component of any new strategy, Latin 
American leadership won't wait forever; their drug problem is far 
more graphic and grave than ours. In Mexico, it is estimated that 
50,000 people have died during the six years of outgoing President 
Felipe Calderon's military crackdown on half a dozen cartels.

If only violent criminals were dying, the outcry would be muted. If 
the socio-economic toll wasn't so high, the politicians could 
sidestep the issue for years to come.

But a 2011 report from the Congressional Research Service in the U.S. 
stated "criminality related to drug trafficking has replaced 
political and regional conflicts as the primary source of citizen 
insecurity in the Americas."

The global market for illicit drugs is worth $300 billion U.S. 
annually. An unlimited supply of money and a culture of corruption 
allows cartels to buy police protection and wield political power 
over entire regions of some Latin American countries. Though some 
cartel leaders have been captured and others killed, there are always 
willing replacements in an organized criminal enterprise.

As a result, the war on drugs has not substantially reduced the 
production or distribution capabilities of those syndicates in Latin 
America. Worse, the drug trade is burgeoning in the most unstable 
regions of Africa.

The war is unwinnable and spreading to new fronts. The rules of 
engagement must change.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom