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A new report from Canada suggests lifting the heavy penalties associated with drug offenses in an effort to increase revenue and combat drug abuse.
The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC), a network of nongovernmental organizations devoted to improving the country's drug policies, suggests tackling drug abuse by decriminalizing marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines.
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Released Thursday, the report "Getting to Tomorrow: A Report On Canadian Drug Policy" says that the country's strict drug enforcement policy has done nothing to quell widespread drug abuse .
"While countries all around the world are adopting forward-thinking, evidence-based drug policies, Canada is taking a step backwards and strengthening punitive policies that have been proven to fail," says the report.
According to Canada's National Post, the CDPC is dissatisfied with Ottawa's and provincial governments' failure to decrease the flow of drugs into Canada, as well as their interference with the alleviation of drug-related health harms.
"Despite Canada's significant investment in drug control efforts, drugs are cheaper and more available than ever," the report says. "Canada still relies on the criminal law to curb illegal drug use and stem the growth of illegal drug markets."
Underground marijuana business generates an estimated $357 million annually in British Columbia, an amount that the CDPC urges the government to tap into by regulating and taxing the drug. More controversially, the drug reform group also suggests decriminalizing all other drugs as well, citing the success of countries like Portugal and the Czech Republic, who have both ended the prohibition of all drugs. Drugs in Portugal are not legal, but they have been decriminalized, meaning that people don't face harsh criminal penalties for drug use.
"In Portugal decriminalization has had the effect of decreasing the numbers of people injecting drugs, decreasing the number of people using drugs problematically, and decreasing trends of drug use among 15 to 24 year olds," the report adds.
The drug group's claims seem preposterous at first, but they may be onto something.
The only legal, government-funded facility in North America where people can inject illegal drugs is in Vancouver, British Columbia. The facility in Vancouver doesn't supply drugs, but does supply clean needles, medical staff, and drug counselor. Drug use, needle sharing, and HIV infection rates have all lowered in Vancouver, a decline that has been attributed to the facility
Read more at http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/15903/20130525/drugs-marijuana-cocaine-decriminalization.htm#uduAxQL7Q6cgpdMv.99
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