Pubdate: Sun, 01 Mar 2015
Source: Sunday Times, The (Sri Lanka)
Copyright: 2015 Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.sundaytimes.lk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4598
Author: Thalif Deen
Report: http://drugsense.org/url/xDdYZWbl Casualties of War: How the 
War on Drugs is Harming the World's Poorest - PDF

DESPITE UN TREATIES, WAR AGAINST DRUGS A LOSING BATTLE

Drug Crop Eradication Devastates the Environment and Forces Producers 
Underground, Often to Areas With Fragile Ecosystems.

UNITED NATIONS, (IPS) - As the call for the decriminalisation of 
drugs steadily picks up steam worldwide, a new study by a British 
charity concludes there has been no significant reduction in the 
global use of illicit drugs since the creation of three key UN 
anti-drug conventions, the first of which came into force over half a 
century ago.

"Illicit drugs are now purer, cheaper, and more widely used than 
ever," says the report, titled Casualties of War: How the War on 
Drugs is Harming the World's Poorest, released Thursday by the 
London-based Health Poverty Action.

The study also cites an opinion poll that shows more than eight in 10 
Britons believe the war on drugs cannot be won. And over half favour 
legalising or decriminalising at least some illicit drugs.

The international treaties to curb drug trafficking include the 1961 
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on 
Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 United Nations Convention 
Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

But over the last few decades, several countries have either 
decriminalised drugs, either fully or partially, or adopted liberal 
drug laws, including the use of marijuana for medical reasons.

These countries include the Netherlands, Portugal, Czech Republic, 
Uruguay, Brazil, , Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Honduras 
and Mexico, among others.

According to the report, the governments of Mexico, Colombia and 
Guatemala seek open, evidence-based discussion on UN drugs policy reform.

And "both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS not only 
share this view, but have called for the decriminalisation of drugs use."

Asked if the United Nations was doing enough in the battle against 
drugs, Catherine Martin, policy officer at Health Poverty Action, 
told IPS, "The problem is that the UN is doing too much of the wrong 
things, and not enough of the right things."

She pointed out that an estimated 100 billion dollars worldwide is 
poured into drug law enforcement every year, driven by UN conventions 
on drug control.

"However, this approach hasn't reduced drug use or managed to control 
the illicit drug trade. Instead, it keeps drugs profitable and 
cartels powerful (fuelling corruption); spurs violent conflict and 
human rights violations; and disproportionately punishes small-scale 
drug producers and people who use drugs," she added.

The report says UK development organisations have largely remained 
silent, while calls for drugs reform come from Southern counterparts, 
British tycoon Sir Richard Branson, current and former presidents, 
Nobel prizewinning economists and ex-UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.

The charity urges the UK development sector to demand pro-poor moves 
as nations prepare for the UN general assembly's special session on 
drugs next year.

Many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including British groups, 
have no lead contact or set process for participating in the session, 
says the report. The report claims many small-scale farmers grow and 
trade drugs in developing countries as their only income source.

And punitive drug policies penalise farmers who do not have access to 
the land, sufficient resources and infrastructure that they would 
need to make a sustainable living from other crops.

Alternative crops or development programmes often fail farmers, 
because they are led by security concerns and ignore poor 
communities' needs, the report notes.

The charity argues the militarisation of the war on drugs has 
triggered and been used to justify murder, mass imprisonment and 
systematic human rights violations.

The report stresses that criminalising drugs does not reduce use, but 
spreads disease, deters people from seeking medical treatment and 
leads to policies that exclude millions of people from vital pain relief.

Less than eight per cent of drug users have access to a clean needle 
programme, or opioid substitution therapy, and under four per cent of 
those living with HIV have access to HIV treatment.

In West Africa, people with conditions linked to cancer and AIDS face 
severe restrictions in access to pain relief drugs, amid feared 
diversion to illicit markets, according to the study.

Low and middle-income countries have 90 per cent of AIDS patients 
around the globe and half of the world's people with cancer, but use 
only six per cent of morphine given for pain management.

Health Poverty Action states the war on drugs criminalises the poor, 
and women are worst hit, through disproportionate imprisonment and 
the loss of livelihoods.

Drug crop eradication devastates the environment and forces producers 
underground, often to areas with fragile ecosystems.

Meanwhile, the report says that drug policy, like climate change or 
gender, is a cross-cutting issue that affects most aspects of 
development work: poverty, human rights, health, democracy, the environment.

And current drug policies undermine economic growth and make 
development work less effective, the report adds.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom