POLICY ADDICTS

Here's Why The First-Ever World Forum On Drugs, Dependencies And Society,
Taking Place In Montreal Next Week, Will Be Bogged Down By The Weight Of
Its Own Agenda

A major international conference on drug, alcohol and gambling dependencies
opening in Montreal next week could be hijacked. Despite its $3-million
price tag, an impressive agenda and eclectic roster of participants,
fallout from the Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs' recent proposal to
legalize marijuana threatens to engulf the first-ever World Forum on Drugs,
Dependencies and Society.

Luc Chabot saw it coming when he began organizing the event three years
ago, which takes place at the Palais des Congres from September 22 to 27.
While he personally favours having a legalization debate, the forum is
neither pro nor con.

"The legalization debate will be both provided and provoked," he insists,
"but we want to ensure it is a fair and constructive debate."

"I should hope so," echoes a skeptical Marie-Andree Bertrand, professor
emeritus of the Universite de Montreal's criminology department and forum
delegate. Having served on the 1973 LeDain Commission and as president of
the International Anti-Prohibition League from 1989 to 1993, she's no
stranger to the illicit drug circus, or the conference circuit.

"Can I be frank?" she asks. "What embarrasses me about such conferences is
this consistent link organizers make between drugs and drug addiction.
There is an addiction problem to be sure, but few users become dependent."

She cites a colleague, cocaine expert Dr. Bruce Alexander, who recently
testified before the Senate Committee that only 2 to 3 per cent of cocaine
users actually develop a dependency.

"There's little room for the political, judicial or social debate," she
said. "I'm afraid we're going to be swallowed by drug addiction people."

Drowned is more like it. Most of the 3,000 delegates are academics, social
workers, behavioural scientists, therapists, high-level cops and civil
servants who - like dealers and narcs - depend on the drug trade for their
livelihood.

"The illicit drug industry is comparable to petroleum," suggests Luc
Chabot. "Excluding tobacco and alcohol, $500- to $600-billion a year is
spent on drugs. Youth are turning to tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs in
greater numbers, while problematic gambling and designer drugs are problems
we've never faced before. We're a vulnerable society."

As the legalization question percolates in the coffee klatches and
corridors of the Palais des Congres, delegates will hear a bevy of speakers
cover everything from addictive sexual behaviour to pathological gambling
and the rising cost of tobacco in Ontario.

The RCMP will speak on terrorism and organized crime, of course, while IOC
vice-president Dick Pound will address dope(s) in sports.

The Forum won't shy away from bigger questions though, vows Luc Chabot.

"We've scheduled eight 90-minute segments devoted exclusively to harm
reduction," he said.

"Harm reduction" is the official buzzword for progressive drug policies
that stop short of legalization, but which curtail some of the more
unpleasant consequences of illicit drug use and abuse. Like, say, prison.

Mme Bertrand is not impressed.

"Harm reduction is very nice," she says, "but it misplaces the political
issue and there we have a problem."

For his part, Phil Owens knows all about harm reduction... and political
issues. As mayor of Vancouver, home to Canada's largest and deadliest drug
scene, he established a "Four Pillar" policy of prevention, treatment,
enforcement and harm reduction, which treats addiction as a health problem.
Hailed a major success, with support from 90 per cent of city residents,
prohibitionists in his own party responded by forcing him off the November
ballot and into early retirement.

Refusing the traditional farewell bash, he asked supporters instead to
raise funds in support of a soon-to-be-released film by documentarian
Nettie Wild (A Place Called Chiapas etc.) entitled FIX: The Story of an
Addicted City, which portrays the tragedy of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Meanwhile, Owens will bring the lessons of his city's meaner streets to
Montreal and the world.

"This is an important opportunity to get these issues on the world stage,"
he said. "An opportunity to come up with new ideas that work." He's
optimistic about this Forum's potential and very impressed with their
program. "The program," he cheerfully points out, "doesn't even mention law
enforcement."

He shares some of Mme Bertrand's reservations and the need for a new
mindset when it comes to drugs and addiction.

"Treatment works for some and not for others," he explains. "You need
treatment but you also need harm reduction. The user's not a criminal. The
dealer is the murderer - the user's just sick... accept that and we can
move on."

When he mounts the podium in Montreal next week, the first thing the former
Vancouver mayor and all-around urban drug warrior will do is remind
delegates precisely why they've come.

"The public," he said, "wants something done."

The public can attend the six-day forum. For information, go to
www.worldforumdrugs-dependencies.com