Pubdate: Fri, 22 Apr 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Andrea Woo
Page: A3

OFFICIALS CALL FOR DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION

Treating addicts as if they are criminals doesn't help them, nor does 
it stem public appetite for illicit substances, health experts say

Top health officials in British Columbia are calling for a 
significant change in drug policy that would ensure people who use 
illicit drugs do not face criminal charges for it.

Dr. Perry Kendall, B. C.' s provincial health officer, said he 
supports decriminalization because treating users as criminals has 
been costly and ineffective.

"Focusing on people who have become dependent on drugs as criminals 
means we spend a lot of money on law enforcement, which doesn't 
actually appear to have stemmed the appetite for drugs," he said. "It 
hasn't helped move people who are dependent on drugs into health-care 
facilities; in fact, they have become very marginalized over time. 
Because they are marginalized, their use of drugs has often gone up, 
and has been accompanied by HIV and hepatitis C infections."

Dr. Kendall and other B. C. health officials' call to decriminalize 
personal drug use and possession echoes that of the John Hopkins 
University - Lancet Commission on Public Health and International 
Drug Policy. The international commission of medical experts recently 
asserted that the "war on drugs" has undercut public health and 
resulted in collateral harms while doing little to affect drug 
markets or address drug use.

Canada and the United States are currently grappling with 
opioid-related crises; B. C. declared a public health emergency last 
week over a significant increase in illicit drug overdoses. In 
Kamloops on Thursday, fentanyl was suspected in six non-fatal 
overdoses in a couple of hours.

Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer and vice-president of 
public health for Vancouver Coastal Health, said she supports a 
regulatory approach to all psychoactive substances.

"Personally, I think we need to be thinking about the 
decriminalization of drug use and perhaps having legal options for 
all drug users, including opioid drug users, so that they don't have 
to go to the illicit drug market for their addiction," she said.

B. C. Health Minister Terry Lake suggested decriminalization is a 
direction worth considering.

"As Health Minister, public health is always the biggest priority," 
he said. "I'm not the justice minister, I'm not the attorney-general, 
so I don't want to speak for them, but I would say that we have 
recognized over the years that the war on drugs has largely been a failure.

"And I think all levels of government are recognizing that, so let's 
put a public health lens on this, treat it as a health and social 
issue that we need to manage ... I think there's a general movement 
in that direction."

Dr. Kendall noted that Portugal experienced significant benefits 
after decriminalizing all drugs in 2001. This included reduced rates 
of incarceration and associated harms and control of an HIV epidemic 
linked to unsafe injections. As of 2011, Portugal's total drug use is 
among the lowest in the European Union, according to the 
international public health commission.

The commission published a report on the matter shortly before this 
week's United Nations General Assembly Special Session on drugs, held 
in New York, where UN member states convened for the first time to 
discuss global drug strategies since 1998.

The commission is recommending the decriminalization of all minor, 
non-violent drug offences - use, possession and petty sale - and the 
strengthening of health and social-sector alternatives to criminal 
sanctions. Policies that criminalize drug users can further 
exacerbate problems by way of stigmatization, mass and 
disproportionate incarceration, the spread of infectious diseases 
through unsafe injections and impeded access to live-saving 
medications or treatments, the commission found.

Under decriminalization, which is different from legalization, 
manufacturing and selling illicit drugs would remain unregulated and 
illegal. Personal drug use and possession, however, would not be 
subject to criminal sanctions.

On marijuana legalization, which is expected to become law federally 
next year, Mr. Lake said a proper regulatory environment will serve 
to protect young people better than the system we have today.

Under legalization, a heroin addict, for example, could inject 
unadulterated, prescription-grade heroin in a sterile, medical 
setting as is currently done at Vancouver's Crosstown Clinic on a 
limited basis.

Dr. Thomas Kerr with the B. C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/ AIDS, 
who is a member of the John Hopkins University - Lancet Commission, 
noted that in American states where marijuana has been legalized, 
emerging research shows that prescription opioid deaths have dropped, 
suggesting a shift by users to the less harmful drug.

"In our own data, we have also seen that a number of people who are 
users of hard drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine are actually 
substituting cannabis and are feeling better and are enduring fewer 
risks as a result," Dr. Kerr said. "The whole prospect of 
decriminalization offers many interesting possibilities."

There were 476 apparent illicit drug overdose deaths in B. C. last 
year, a 30.4 per cent increase from 2014. There were 76 such deaths 
in January alone - the most in one month since at least 2007.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom