Pubdate: Wed, 30 Nov 2011
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Copyright: 2011 The Vancouver Sun
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Donald MacPherson And John Carsley, Vancouver Sun 

MIDDLE PATH IS THE RIGHT APPROACH TO REGULATING DRUGS

The Supreme Court of Canada recently instructed Ottawa to issue a 
federal exemption to Insite, North America's first, recognized 
supervised injection site. The Court highlighted evidence of Insite's 
achievements in saving lives, reducing the spread of infections and 
improving the health of people who inject drugs. This important 
decision will open the door to a more humane, pragmatic and 
evidence-based approach to drug problems in our communities. Too 
often, important public policy decisions about drugs are made with 
little regard for the evidence and over reliance on ideology, 
political expedience and/or opportunism. The need to change this 
practice is critical as each day of delay costs lives and results in 
human suffering.

This year, many of Canada's leading experts in drug policy formed the 
Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) a national civil society 
organization to advance changes in Canadian policy. CDPC is comprised 
of researchers, public health officials, front-line harm reduction and 
treatment providers, people who use drugs, HIV/AIDS ser-vice 
organizations, youth organizations, parents, and community members, 
all concerned with the health and safety outcomes of our drug strategies.

Based at Simon Fraser University's Centre for Applied Research in 
Mental Health and Addiction, the Coalition's key goals include: 
shining the light of evidence on all drug problems, fostering informed 
discussion on drug policy and supporting leader-ship to develop 
effective responses to problems stemming from substance use and 
related policies.

Today, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition launches a national program 
of public discussion, education and advocacy for reform of Canada's 
drug policies and legislation in partner-ship with the Health Officers 
Council of B.C. (HOC). In their discussion paper: Public Health 
Perspectives for Regulating Psychoactive Substances HOC articulates a 
vision of how public policy on all psychoactive substances, whether 
legal or illegal, should be developed if health, safety and social 
development outcomes are a priority.

The negative health and social effects of the use of, and polices 
related to, alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and illegal 
substances are substantial and largely preventable. Human and health 
care costs are huge. The use of non-prescription substances is 
estimated to account for 21 per cent of all deaths in Canada and costs 
$40 billion a year. Of this, tobacco contributes 43 per cent, alcohol 
36 per cent and other substances 21 per cent. These numbers are shocking.

Evidence shows that both prohibition of psychoactive substances at one 
extreme and unregulated, free-market access, at the other, increase 
the harms from use. Somewhere between these two extremes lie models of 
regulated access guided by public health principles that balance costs 
and benefits for individuals and society.

This does not necessarily mean legalization of currently illegal 
substances, nor does it reject that possibility. A public health 
approach uses the best evidence and focuses on promoting health and 
preventing illness, injury, premature death and disability.

HOC has three recommendations. First, governments should use our 
public health framework to evaluate and update laws on all 
psychoactive substances so they encompass a public health approach to 
regulation including taxation. Second, governments should lead by 
including all those groups with interests in the production, 
dissemination, or use of these substances to develop solutions, which 
respect economic and public health principles. Finally, we call for a 
national inquiry to recommend exactly how to proceed using the growing 
body of evidence of what works (and what doesn't) for reducing the 
harm, and increasing the benefits associated with psychoactive substances.

Donald MacPherson is the director of the Canadian Drug Policy 
Coalition, and author of Vancouver's Four Pillars Drug Strategy. Dr. 
John Carsley is a public health and preventive medicine specialist and 
a member of the Health Officers Council of B.C.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.