Pubdate: Tue, 12 Sep 2017
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2017 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Andrea Woo
Page: S1

SINGH VOWS TO DECRIMINALIZE PETTY DRUG CHARGES AT NDP DEBATE

A federal New Democratic leadership hopeful has pledged to make it
party policy to decriminalize petty drug possession if he is elected
leader, supporting calls by an increasing number of health officials
who say it would help lift the stigma around addiction.

Jagmeet Singh made his pledge on Sunday at an NDP leadership debate in
Vancouver, a city that had recorded nearly 250 suspected overdose
deaths by the end of August. Across British Columbia, 876 people died
of illicit-drug overdoses from January through July of this year.

"I worked in the criminal-justice system for a number of years and I
can tell you that people who are charged with personal possession
offences are often those who are poor, are often those who have
mental-health issues and are often those who are addicted," he said.

"That does not sound to me like a criminal-justice problem; that
sounds to me like a social justice problem and a healthcare problem. I
would call for the immediate decriminalization of all personal
possession offences when it comes to drugs, period."

Mr. Singh had been asked about Portugal's approach to drugs - the
country decriminalized the purchase, possession and consumption of all
psychoactive drugs for personal use in 2001 - and said he would
immediately follow suit if elected.

The three other leadership hopefuls varied in their support of
decriminalization but none was as committal.

"Addiction cannot be treated as a crime; it has to be treated as a
disease. It has to be treated as an illness," Guy Caron said. "This is
why the idea of decriminalizing is a good idea to be studied."

Niki Ashton said, "We should be looking at the Portuguese model" and
"moving straight ahead toward full support for harm-reduction measures."

Charlie Angus said fentanyl has brought Canada into uncharted
territory that demands a new strategy.

"It's not just about having safe sites. We have to find a way to have
access," Mr. Angus said. "I don't know if it's decriminalization or
some kind of program to work with addicts who are suffering, who can
have safe access to drugs, while putting the investments into other
methods to get people off these addictions."

Speaking with reporters after the debate, Mr. Singh added that he has
witnessed first-hand how much drug criminalization disproportionately
affects already marginalized populations - "so it offends me that we
in any way want to continue down a path that's not helping people out,
that's not actually making a better society."

The federal Liberal government, which has pledged legalize
recreational marijuana by Canada Day, 2018, says there are no plans to
decriminalize or legalize any other drugs.

Portugal's policy decriminalizes the purchase, possession and
consumption of all psychoactive drugs for personal use, defined as 10
days' worth for an average person.

Those found using appear before a local Commission for the Dissuasion
of Drug Addiction, which then considers individual circumstances and
can impose a noncriminal sanction such as a referral to treatment or a
monetary fine. It remains illegal to manufacture, sell and distribute
drugs.

A 2016 report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug
Addiction found that fatal overdoses in Portugal fell to levels among
the lowest in the European Union, as did new cases of HIV and AIDS
among drug users.

In Canada, calls for decriminalization have grown louder as
fentanyl-fuelled overdose deaths continue to climb. In British
Columbia, supporters include provincial health officer Perry Kendall
and Vancouver Coastal Health chief medical health officer Patricia
Daly. B.C. Health Minister Judy Darcy said it's time the federal
government had a conversation regarding decriminalization, and that
"sometimes governments need to be pushed."

Some others, including Vancouver Kingsway NDP MP Don Davies and BC
Centre for Disease Control executive director Mark Tyndall, are
calling for not only decriminalization but the full legalization and
regulation of some drugs. A report released by the BCCDC last month
listed decriminalization as an initial goal and full legalization and
regulation as a longer-term goal, noting the latter "is necessary to
address contamination of the drug supply."

On Monday, Dr. Tyndall lauded Mr. Singh for his "very progressive
thinking."

"I don't think that other political leaders have gone anywhere near
that, although … that should be the obvious conclusion when many
politicians will say that the war on drugs is a failure, like [former
federal health minister Jane Philpott]," Dr. Tyndall said.

Don MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy
Coalition and former drug policy co-ordinator for the City of
Vancouver, said it was "great" that Mr. Singh made such a promise.

"At a time when the overdose crisis is taking such a toll, the real
story is how many politicians including the Prime Minister are not
talking this way," he said. "It is very tough to defend the status quo
- - criminalization - at this time but most politicians are by their
silence, or opposition to changing our broken drug policy.
Decriminalization and how to better regulate these substances should
be what we are talking about."
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