Pubdate: Fri, 05 Mar
2004
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
U. N.
AGENCY BACKS A FAILED APPROACH ON DRUG ABUSE
The war on drugs
has millions of casualties and few victories; we have
to do what we think is
best for our communities
The International Narcotics Control Board
oversees international
agreements on what is colloquially known as the war on
drugs.
By the board's reckoning, the agreements are part of a campaign
that
has been waged for 80 years, although the most important
convention
was first signed a little more than 40 years ago.
In its
annual report released in Vienna this week, the United Nations
agency levels
a broadside that may explain a lot about why the war on
drugs has been waged
for so long with millions of casualties but not
many victories.
The
board takes aim at Canada for three initiatives it says are either
not in
compliance with agreements we have signed or are not helpful to
the war
effort.
The board argues that Vancouver's safe injection site, which
opened
last September in the Downtown Eastside, violates the
fundamental
principle that illicit drugs only be used for "medical or
scientific
purposes."
The board also takes issue with the proposed
changes to the federal
marijuana laws, which it claims will "contribute to
the mistaken
perception that cannabis is a harmless
substance."
Finally, the board is opposed to the medical use of marijuana
until
its efficacy as a treatment can be proven.
Canada is not singled
out for criticism. Safe injection sites in
Germany and other countries are
also criticized as being in violation
of the international
treaties.
Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell, a former coroner who has seen
too many
casualties of the war on drugs, dismissed the UN study as merely
an
arm of United States drug policy.
We won't go that far, since it
has wide international representation
and it is financed by the
UN.
But it is clear the board is backing a failed approach to drug
abuse
that still looks at the problem as primarily an issue of crime
and
punishment.
In its annual report, the board travels around the
world, continent by
continent, detailing what it sees as advances and
setbacks in the war
on drugs.
On the whole, the report is primarily a
dreary compendium of
failure.
In the U.S., a country that has put more
energy than most into trying
to punish drug abusers and their suppliers, the
latest indicators for
cocaine and heroin abuse do not show any signs of
easing off.
In Vancouver, we know the cost of the failure. We know we
have to find
new ways to curb this age-old blight.
That's why The Sun
has supported the four-pillar approach undertaken
by the city, which includes
harm reduction measures such as the
safe-injection site.
The
International Narcotics Control Board says it does not in
principle oppose
harm reduction programs, but it refuses to recognize
the safe-injection site,
which is clearly saving lives, as a
legitimate and legal approach.
How
are we to deal with such criticism?
First, the international drug trade
is still based on supply and
demand. While there are examples of areas of the
world where supply
chains have been successfully attacked and curtailed, the
drug problem
will remain with us as long as there is a demand.
So
while we have to continue to vigorously prosecute suppliers, the
greatest
benefit to our health as a community will come through
curbing the demand for
drugs.
Second, it is important to note again that the convention on drugs
was
first signed in 1961 and it was last updated 15 years
ago.
Eventually, we have to ask whether the international
conventions
controlling narcotics and psychotropic substances are having
the
desired effect. But any change in those treaties will be years in
the
making.
In the meantime, let's have the courage of our convictions
and do what
we think is best for our communities across the
country.
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