Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2012
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2012 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400

EVIDENCE-BASED POLICIES NEEDED

Canada's drug strategy has came under attack by two international 
reports that point out a "tough on drugs" approach creates more 
problems than it solves.

In separate and independent reports this week, the World Health 
Organization and the Global Commission on Drug Policy, which is led 
by six former national presidents, business magnate Richard Branson 
and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, 
detailed how the global war on drugs not only has failed but also 
fuelled and sustained the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

As Mr. Branson put it, the drug war is "perhaps the greatest failure" 
of public policy in the past 40 years.

WHO estimates that five per cent of adults - or about 230 million 
people worldwide - used illicit drugs in 2010, with 27 million 
suffering from severe drug problems. By refusing to recognize drug 
dependence as a health problem instead of a criminal matter, the 
agency says countries have heightened the stigma and discrimination 
associated with drug use and increased the barriers to appropriate 
treatment programs.

Of course none of this is new either to the Canadian government, 
which is dogmatic in its approach despite evidence of the policy's 
ultimate failure, or to Canadians, who've got accustomed to being 
governed on ideology rather than pragmatism or evidence.

Julie Di Mambro, a spokeswoman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, 
told the Globe and Mail Tuesday that the government's National 
Anti-Drug Strategy will continue to be "tough on drug dealers and 
producers who threaten the safety of our youth and communities."

It is basically the same lecture that Prime Minister Stephen Harper 
delivered to world the leaders during a recent Organization of 
American States summit, where there was overwhelming support for 
ending the drug war, legalizing and controlling drugs, and eroding 
the economic basis of the violent and disruptive drug cartels.

While Mr. Harper's determination to stick to a demonstrably failed 
drug strategy in spite of the evidence should concern Canadians as 
much as it does some world leaders, of even greater concern should be 
his government's consistent eschewing of evidence and attacking the 
sources of criticism in trying to protect its ideological positions.

Such was the case last week, for example, when Foreign Affairs 
Minister John Baird and Treasury Board President Tony Clement 
attacked parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page for repeatedly and 
accurately identifying government policy failures. It was Mr. Baird, 
one of the government's most influential cabinet members, who also 
suggested scrapping the National Roundtable on the Economy and 
Environment because its advice often ran counter to the Conservatives' views.

And during the recent Rio+20 summit, Environment Minister Peter Kent 
complained that Canada has been a victim of "misinformation and 
mischaracterization" when it comes to balancing economic development 
with environmental probity. He represents a government that pulled 
funding and sent auditors to probe organizations whose opinions 
contradict its narrow view.

Unfortunately for the government, attacking the messengers and 
sacking scientist observers doesn't change the outcomes. Change can 
be achieved only by listening to the experts and basing public policy 
on the best evidence.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom