War on drugs a failure: economists
Canadian experts urge Conservative government to heed London School of Economics report
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. BENEDIKT FISCHER PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSOR AT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
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 healthbased 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 enforcementled policies, generally at the expense of proven publichealth 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, drugrelated 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.”
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 needleexchange 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.