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