Pubdate: Mon, 10 Aug 2015
Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Vancouver 24 hrs.
Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/letters
Website: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837
Author: Brent Stafford
Note: Brent Stafford is a veteran television producer and marketing 
specialist. His company ShakyEgg.com works in the brand, 
entertainment and resource space.
Page: 4

The duel

Columnists Petr Pospisil and Brent Stafford battle over the issues of 
the day. The winner of the last Duel on Insite was Petr with 66%.

This week's topic: Do we need another 'War on Drugs" to fight the 
recent outbreak of fentanyl overdose deaths?

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, BUT CRACK DOWN ON THE HARDER DRUGS

The recent outbreak of fentanyl-laced overdose deaths is an ominous 
warning of what lies ahead if the strategy of tolerating illicit drug 
use and leniency continues.

I was a supporter of the City of Vancouver's Four Pillars drug 
strategy. The approach is based on harm reduction, prevention, 
treatment and enforcement, with the latter begrudgingly accepted by 
supporters as a compromise.

Why the push back against enforcement? Because enforcement is the 
tactical execution of the much-reviled "War on Drugs" first declared 
by U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1971. The strategy was popularized 
in the 1980s under President Ronald Reagan and soon many countries, 
including Canada, adopted the approach.

It's understandable why the War on Drugs is now considered a failure. 
Hundreds of thousands of drug users have been thrown in jail, lives 
ruined, and families destroyed. Efforts have done little to reduce 
illicit drug use or stem the growing global market, which according 
to the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy reached $350 
billion in 2013.

So what to do? Illicit drug use is on the rise- StatsCan reports a 
13% rise in police reported drug offences from 2003-2013. Prevention 
through education isn't working. And the Downtown Eastside is still 
awash in heroin and meth. Now people are dying by fentanyl overdose.

The answer is not capitulation, as the Four Pillars, harm reduction 
zealots advocate. The answer is re-strategizing the War on Drugs and 
then doubling down.

The first step is to legalize marijuana. The original War on Drugs 
failed in large part because of the prohibition on pot. According to 
StatsCan there were 109,000 drug offences reported by police in 2013 
and 67% were related to cannabis, primarily possession. This is 
madness. Legalizing marijuana would save billions and change the 
entire battlefield for the War on Drugs. Then we need to clamp down 
on the hard drugs that destroy lives and communities - heroin, meth, 
cocaine and other opiates. Yes, we should be lenient on first time 
non-violent offenders. But no leniency for repeat offenders and the 
dealers who feed them - no matter how far down the trafficking chain they are.

A crackdown is the only answer. Legalizing hard drugs would only 
prompt innovative illicit drug manufacturers to concoct new 
combinations - creating even more potent mixtures of drugs to feed 
the black market.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom