Pubdate: Tue, 04 Mar 2003 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2003 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Jim Bronskill DON'T 'GIVE UP' ON DRUG FIGHT: DEPUTY MINISTER Whether Liberals Decriminalize Cannabis Or Not, It Harms Lives, Says Bureaucrat Named To Global Drug Panel Canada must continue to discourage the use of cannabis and other illegal drugs to ensure a healthy society, a senior federal official says in spite of recent government rumblings about softening penalties for marijuana possession. While drug consumption will never be eliminated, governments cannot abandon efforts to control the cultivation, movement and sale of narcotics, says the Solicitor General Department's Paul Kennedy, who is helping lead hemispheric actions on the issue. "I don't view this as something that you give up on," he said in an interview. Mr. Kennedy, a senior assistant deputy minister, was recently elected vice-chairman of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission, an agency of the Organization of American States that helps co-ordinate the anti-drug efforts of the 34 member countries, including Canada. He will be at the head of the table when OAS representatives gather this fall in Canada -- the city has not yet been chosen -- for an annual meeting. Canada's national drug strategy focuses on education aimed at prevention, treatment for drug users, measures to assist communities and efforts to restrict the availability of illicit substances. The Liberal government has hinted at relaxing laws against possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use by removing them from the Criminal Code. Infractions essentially would become ticketable offences. Some argue the government should go further and legalize marijuana use, regulating it much like the sale of alcohol. Whatever the legal penalties, illicit drugs -- even marijuana -- can harm lives, Mr. Kennedy insists. "For the life of me, I can't see how a citizen, if you're a young student in a school, let's say, and you're high on marijuana, how you're going to function," he said. "You're going to miss the best, formative years of your life. "Whether or not the drug would be legally available to you, it is clearly going to negatively impact on your ability to function in society," he added. Through the Canadian Community Health Survey and other data-collection initiatives, Canada is trying to assemble a picture of drug consumption. However, there is limited information available on the average age at which individuals begin to inject drugs, says the Drug Abuse Control Commission's latest report on Canada. In addition, there has been an increase in use of speed and rave-type drugs such as ecstasy. "As Canada intensifies its efforts to develop the full picture of the drug situation, it appears there has been a weakening perception of risk of harm in drug use among the nation's youth," the report says. "This perception correlates with increasing rates of use among the youth population." In Ontario between 1997 and 1999, the percentage of students reporting that cannabis was easy to obtain increased to 53 per cent from 41 per cent. Despite his commitment to reducing use of illegal substances, Mr. Kennedy objects to the oft-used phrase "war on drugs" because it suggests the battle will some day end. "If you look at the human condition, we've always had anti-social behaviour of some kind. And that's a fact of life. We'll always have within society people who, for instance, steal. Are we going to have a war on theft?" he asked. "There will be substance abuse problems. Our challenge is to look at that and try to reduce it to the point where societies can function successfully. "The commission is a drug control commission. It's not a drug elimination commission." The commission's detailed annual reports on OAS countries have helped each nation focus on individual weaknesses and, in some cases, work together to devise regional solutions to stem drug cultivation, Mr. Kennedy said. "I'm very optimistic as to where we can go." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens