DRUG TRAFFICKERS MISSED THE MEMO

A decade ago, world leaders at a special UN session adopted an
unrealistic but laudable goal - achieving "real progress" in reducing
illicit drug production by 2008.

"It is time for every nation to say 'no' to drugs," said then UN
secretary general Kofi Anan at the 1998 UN gathering. "It is time for
all nations to say 'yes' to the challenge of working towards a
drug-free world."

The drug cultivators, traffickers and users don't seem to have paid
any attention. "I think one would say that the situation's not getting
better," says Michel Perron, CEO of the Canadian Centre on Substance
Abuse.

The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), which sets policy on
drug-related matters, acknowledges that the goals remain distant but
it is still hoping for a drug-free world in another decade, says Perron.

And so government representatives from around the globe will gather at
a CND meeting in Vienna next week to map out a strategy for the next
10 years.

Perron is scheduled to address the plenary session - the only
presentation to be made by an NGO. He's been attending CND meetings
for years and is under no illusion that international drug policy is
about to undergo a massive transformation.

"Progress is slow at this level," he concedes. "One of the problems
with the global discussion on drug policy is that it is
hyper-politicized. And, therefore, it becomes very difficult to make
changes that are seen to be politically acceptable across the
different countries."

Not everything is impossible in the global arena, mind you. Last
summer, he brought together 300 NGOs from around the world to debate
how to improve drug policy.

Despite the widely varying ideological positions, the NGOs agreed that
illicit drug use is a public health issue and that the approaches to
address the problem should be based on evidence and the mitigation of
harm.

It doesn't mesh with Stephen Harper's plan for mandatory minimum
sentences for drug dealers, of course. Hard-core gangsters won't be
deterred by such penalties. For one thing, the drug kingpins are
rarely caught. Will the Tories ever learn?

One of the key messages Perron plans to deliver to the UN session next
week is the need for more emphasis on prevention and treatment.

"The policies made (in the past) didn't always reflect the evidence,"
he says. "The issue is not so much a drug-free world as a world free
of drug harm."

He's optimistic that the UN has reached a "tipping point" on the
issue. "I think there's an acknowledgement that they really have to
look at things in a different manner."

Educating Harper, meanwhile, continues to be a challenge. For a year,
University of Victoria drug policy researcher Susan Boyd and the
Vancouver-based Beyond Prohibition Coalition have been sending the PM
weekly readings about more effective harm reduction initiatives. They
sent their last package last month.

You can read the material at www.educatingharper.com and fire off an
e-mail to Harper if you like.

"Why should we leave the regulation of these drugs to criminal gangs
and the black market?" asks Boyd. "We would fare better as a society
regulating them ourselves."

A striking snippet from the website: In 2002 in B.C., 27 per cent of
deaths linked to various conditions were related to smoking or booze -
the legal substances. Drug-induced mortality represented only 1.4 per
cent of the deaths.

Our politicians clearly need an ideology transplant.

Mindy Jacobs is a Sun Media columnist from Edmonton.