Source: The Province (Vancouver, B.C.) Contact: http://www.vancouverprovince.com/ Pubdate: Sun, 6 September 1998 Authors: Patrick Basham and Tracey Nicholls IT'S OK TO ELEVATE OUR PLEASURE WITH VIAGRA - BUT NOT MARIJUANA A recent survey of the media's drug coverage uncovered a surprise; the bulk of editorials and columns called for an end to the so-called war on drugs. Of 1,336 statements in newspapers or on television during 1997, 82 per cent of the coverage advocates reform (i.e. legalization, decriminalization, or harm reduction) while 18 per cent advocated continued criminalization. The Fraser Institute's research found the media put forth the following reform arguments: First, current legislation is hypocritical, sending mixed messages about drugs alcohol is an acceptable "party" drug, but cocaine isn't. Cigarette smokers are tolerated, yet marijuana smokers can be jailed. Mood-enhancement drugs like Prozac, and lifestyle enhancement drugs like Viagra, are cited as evidence of society's ability to improve our well-being; heroin, on the other hand, is evidence of the moral depravity of its users. According to one opinion writer, "It may be that drug users are fools, maybe they are immoral, but as long as its legal to drink and smoke yourself to death, it makes no sense to imprison some of our immoral fools and not others." Second, prohibition has been an abject empirical failure. It has not stemmed the drug supply, reduced drug use, or minimized social costs (addiction and crime) associated with drug abuse. According to one national paper, the escalating violence among biker gangs and other drug organizations makes prohibition " a state-dictated subsidy to gangsterism." One that actually fuels the availability of illicit drugs. Thirdly, since the Opium Act of 1908,our drug laws have been based on the rationale that government is obliged to curtail Canadian's drug use for their own good. But many people today say drug use is a matter of personal choice and individual responsibility. Fourth, considering the high costs of overdose, AIDS and hepatitis infection among intravenous drug users,curbing the use of drugs is a public-health issue, not a criminal one. Surveys of countries that offer heroin maintenance programs show that homelessness, unemployment, crime, disease transmission, and anti-social behaviour among addicts lessen under a system in which drug use isn't criminalized. Such programs are also attractive financially - the cost-per-patient is less than that of current enforcement and public-health costs. Taxpayer dollars currently allocated to health and policing would go a lot farther and do a lot more if our drug laws were revamped. But no matter how one prioritizes the arguments, the fact remains; the war on drugs is unwinnable. The media got that one right. The authors are researchers at The Fraser Institute, a Vancouver-based economic think-tank. * Should drug use be removed from the Criminal Code? Give us your comments at 605-2029 or fax us at 605-2786. - --- Checked-by: Rich O'Grady