In the Know: Approaches to the drug problem

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, composed of 23 political leaders and leading thinkers, recommends several ways to end the drug war:

• Put people’s health and safety first.
• Focus on the prevention and treatment of drug abuse.
• Reduce harms associated with drug use.
• Ensure equitable access to essential medicines, in particular opiate-based medications for pain.
• Decriminalize drug use and possession.
• Stop imposing “compulsory treatment” on people whose only offense is drug use or possession.
• Craft drug policies that are health-centered.
• Refocus enforcement responses to drug trafficking and organized crime.
• Focus on reducing the power of criminal organizations and deprioritize nonviolent and minor players in the market.
• Direct enforcement resources toward the most disruptive and violent elements in the drug trade.
• Allow and encourage diverse experiments in legally regulating markets for currently illicit drugs, beginning with but not limited to cannabis, the coca leaf, and certain novel psychoactive substances.

In the United States, 23 states have legal medical cannabis markets, while 17 states have decriminalized personal possession of cannabis for nonmedical use.

Reforms are also underway to end the mandatory minimum sentence for low-level drug offenders.

Portugal has also removed criminal penalties for personal possession of all drugs, and implemented a more health-centered approval of drugs based on proven harm reduction measure/s.

Similarly, the Czech Republic has removed criminal penalties for personal drug possession, following an impact assessment that demonstrated how previous punitive approaches had failed.

In Canada, a number of provinces have made public commitments to improve their support system for people who use drugs.  Among its initiatives is the integration of mental health and substance use services into its primary health care services, such as in family doctors and community clinics.

Also being stressed are more health promotion and prevention  through early intervention programs, attention to the needs of people living in rural and remote areas, and collaboration with service providers, especially for people with complex needs.

–Inquirer Research

Sources:  “Taking Control: Pathways to Drug Policies that Work;”  “Getting to Tomorrow: A Report on Canadian Drug Policy”