Pubdate: Sat, 10 May 2014
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Author: Douglas Quan
Page: A12
Referenced: http://mapinc.org/url/t4FrTmuU

TORIES URGED TO HEED REPORT ON FAILURE OF DRUG WAR

Resources better used elsewhere, experts claim

The Conservative government seriously needs to pay attention to a new
London School of Economics report that concludes the global war on
drugs has failed, drug-policy experts said Friday.

The 82- page report, titled Ending the Drug Wars and signed by five
Nobel Prize economists, urges countries to redirect massive resources
away from law enforcement-centred policies toward "public health based
policies of harm reduction and treatment."

Under strict monitoring, states should also be encouraged to
"experiment" with alternative drug policies - such as the recent
legalization and regulation of marijuana in Colorado and Washington
state - to determine which ones work best, the report said.

"Continuing to spend vast resources on punitive enforcement-led
policies, generally at the expense of proven public health policies,
can no longer by justified," the authors state.

Simon Fraser University professor Benedikt Fischer, who holds a
research chair in applied public health with the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research, said Friday the latest report adds to a growing
list of seminal studies that have shown the immense "collateral
damage" of current prohibition- and policing-centred policies.

The consequences, he said, include teenagers being forced into the
underground black market to buy drugs, drug related overdose
fatalities, the spread of HIV infection because of unhealthy
conditions, people burdened with criminal records for simple marijuana
possession and large amounts of money "wasted" on futile
drug-enforcement operations.

Yet, Fischer said, the Conservative government has adopted a "more of
the same" attitude, referring to the government's adoption of
mandatory minimum sentences and other tough-on-crime policies.

"They should be reacting (to this report) by categorically and
un-ideologically reviewing and accepting that this approach has failed
and to consider sensible alternatives," he said. "I'm not talking
about policy tinkering to try to touch up what we're doing, but to
fundamentally step away from this pretence that we can criminalize and
police drug-use behaviour."

Paloma Aguilar, press secretary for Justice Minister Peter MacKay,
said in an email Friday that the production and trafficking of illicit
drugs is the most significant source of money for gangs and organized
crime.

"That is why we are combating the source of the illicit drug trade by
targeting drug traffickers and those who import drugs into Canada,"
she said.

"Furthermore, our approach allows for the use of drug treatment courts
to ensure that non-violent offenders can have access to the treatment
they need."

Aguilar said the government has "no intention" of legalizing
marijuana. Globally, treatment for drug dependence and harm-reduction
services remain severely underfunded or unavailable, despite evidence
that they help to save lives and prevent the spread of disease, the
report said.

The report cited research highlighting the benefits of needle-
exchange programs (where used injection equipment can be exchanged for
sterile equipment) and safe injection sites ( where individuals can
inject illicit drugs in the presence of health professionals). Such a
facility in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, called Insite, has helped
to reduce overdose-related deaths in the area, the report noted.

The Harper government had attempted to shut down the facility and took
the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. But in September
2011, the top court said the facility had saved lives and should be
exempted from drug laws.
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MAP posted-by: Matt