Pubdate: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) Copyright: 2014 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Authors: Norman Temple and Joy Fraser Note: Both authors are full professors at Athabasca University. Norman Temple, a nutrition professor, has a PhD in biochemistry. Joy Fraser is a professor of nursing and director of health administration. She has as PhD in education administration and is an education consultant for the World Health Organization. Page: A13 'WAR ON DRUGS' AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY Efforts Should Focus on Reducing Demand, Not Trying to Curb Sales The "war on drugs" has been waged for 40 years and by any objective assessment is very far from being won. The growing realization of this fact is fuelling the gradual move seen across many countries to decriminalize some aspects of drug production, sale and use. We argue here that pretty much all efforts to stop the production, transport and sale of drugs are a waste of time and money. Instead, we need a radical change in policy. Drugs are a commodity and follow the laws of market economics, much like most other commodities. The effectiveness of attempts to suppress the sale of illegal drugs should be assessed from that perspective. If the war on drugs was achieving real success, there would be a shortage of supply. But evidently the opposite is true as shown by the ongoing violence between rival gangs engaged in the sale of drugs. Gang wars serve to eliminate competition and thereby expand market share. This clearly indicates that the drug gangs have a surplus of supply of popular drugs relative to the size of the market. If the drug gangs had a lack of supply, then they would not waste their time and risk long prison sentences by murdering members of rival gangs. Instead, they would focus on finding better ways to bring more drugs to the marketplace. The abundance of supply is also demonstrated by the fact that in the many stories reported in the media about the problems experienced by drug users, the one challenge they never seem to face is finding a drug dealer ready to sell drugs. Drug users face many challenges (finding money to buy drugs, the risk of disease or arrest by the police) but if they have the money, the search for someone willing to sell drugs seems the least of their problems. The above evidence clearly demonstrates that despite the best efforts by the police and customs officials, efforts to stop or even slow the flow of drugs have been to no avail. It is true that impressive amounts of drugs - sometimes multi-ton shipments - are regularly seized. But we should avoid the mistake of believing that this has any meaningful impact on the flow of drugs. Drug smuggling can be compared with the supply and sale of fruit in a supermarket. Around 10 per cent is unfit for sale and is thrown away. This has no impact on sales as supermarket managers plan for this and order an amount exceeding expected sales. Drug kingpins apply the same planning with their supply-chain management. "Success" by police and customs means merely that drug mules spend years in prison. The war on drugs is driven by a combination of ideology and wishful thinking. So what is the alternative? Quite simply, all resources should be concentrated on reducing demand. This strategy is based on the principle that a 10-per-cent reduction in demand for drugs will reduce consumption by 10 per cent. Reduced demand can be achieved by such means as education, counselling and drug rehabilitation. About 20 years ago, the medical profession woke up to the realization that many treatments that had long been used by physicians are ineffective. This led to the birth of "evidence-based medicine." We desperately need "evidence-based drug policy." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom