Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jan 2014
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2014 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Jordan Cooper

WAR ON DRUGS WRONG APPROACH

Unlike politicians who are riding high in the polls, I have never used
pot, or any other illegal drug for that matter. That puts me out of
touch with voters both north and south of the border, which more or
less is the story of my life.

I am in good shape locally, as Saskatoon has the highest percentage of
arrests for pot possession in the country. In Halifax you have an 82
per cent chance of being let off by the police if you are caught with
a small amount of marijuana, while in Saskatoon you have an 82 per
cent chance of being charged. You are 35 per cent more likely to be
charged if you are in possession of some pot in Saskatoon than
anywhere else in Canada.

It's hard to disagree with the Saskatoon Police Service. The service
is open about having a zero (well, 12 per cent) tolerance for illegal
drug possession. Pot is an illegal substance, and police are doing
what they are sworn to do, which is to uphold the law. The added bonus
is that it also keeps the chip and snack aisle at my local convenience
store safe from being plundered.

Drug policy in North America historically has been that we want to
punish those who have illegal drugs. Police officers make the arrests
and the courts decide on punishment, which often is probation or a
fine for small amounts. Larger quantities of drugs often are connected
to trafficking and offenders are treated more severely.

Jean Chretien's Liberal government attempted to take a different
approach, which was to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. You
would be fined, but not charged with a felony offence for possessing
small amounts. That notion died when Paul Martin's quest for power
forced out Chretien.

The tough-on-crime Conservatives have cracked down even more on drug
related offences including possession, and introduced mandatory
minimum sentences. More people are sent to jail, but with the
reduction of funding to Corrections Canada, drug treatment behind bars
is even harder to get. If the goal is rehabilitation and a reduction
in drug use, the government's approach isn't working.

While Colorado and Washington have received a lot of attention for
doing what Chretien failed to do in decriminalizing marijuana, there
is an interesting example that we should look at. Portugal has
decriminalized all drugs.

In 2001, the Portuguese government was faced with a rising number of
drug abuse-related deaths. Instead of cracking down further on drug
use, which had proven ineffective, it decriminalized not just
marijuana but even heroin, cocaine, LSD and other Schedule 1 drugs.

By focusing on treatment and prevention rather then jailing people it
hoped to reduce the number of deaths and sexually transmitted
infections. However, the laws related to selling drugs were unchanged.
Law enforcement would come after drug dealers, but addicts were
allowed to have a small amount of drugs in their possession - defined
as enough for 10 days.

By changing the focus to prevention and treatment, overdoses related
to drugs fell by more than half. STIs declined by 75 per cent. Drug
use fell as well, with more people able to seek treatment without
fearing criminal penalties.

The War on Drugs has shown that jail time isn't an effective deterrent
to drug use. The United States government has published several
studies that show the approach has never worked, and made drug dealing
more profitable. While the supply of drugs ebbed and flowed, use
remained about the same.

The risk of STIs and other societal issues that come with drug use
haven't been a deterrent, either. Saskatoon has the highest rate of
drug possession charges in Canada, yet the province also is known
internationally for its high incidence rate of HIV and STIs.

After decades of the futile war on drugs, do we think that cracking
down even more will work? A growing chorus of leading political
figures are calling for a better solution to combat drug use and addictions.

Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, former U.S. secretary of state
George Schultz, a veteran of the war on drugs, and even embattled New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who made a name for himself as a criminal
prosecutor, are calling for approaches ranging from regulation to
decriminalization. Even the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs is
calling for the option to issue tickets for pot possession instead of
laying charges for minor pot possession.

If our goal is to reduce drug use and its consequences, then we should
be taking steps toward that end. The way to win the war on drugs is to
stop waging it and have Ottawa look at alternatives that actually work.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D