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Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy | ||||
Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs | ||||
Volume 3 - Public Policy Options |
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Chapter 21 - Public policy optionsIneffectiveness
of
the current approach
No clearly
defined federal or national strategy exists. Some provinces have developed
strategies while others have not. There has been a lot of talk but little
significant action. In the absence of clear indicators accepted by all
stakeholders to assess the effectiveness of Canadian public policy, it is
difficult to determine whether action that has been taken is effective. Given
that policy is geared to reducing demand (i.e. drug-use rates) and supply (by
reducing the availability of drugs and pushing up drug prices), both these
indicators may be used. A look at
trends in cannabis use, both among adults and young people,
forces
us to admit that current policies are ineffective. In chapter
6, we saw that trends in drug-use are on the increase. If our estimates do
indeed reflect reality, no fewer that 2 million Canadians aged between 18
and 65 have used cannabis at least once over the past 12 months, while at least
750,000 young people between the ages of 14 and 17 use cannabis at least once
per month; one third of them on a daily basis. This proportion appears, at least
in the four most highly-populated provinces, to be increasing. Statistics
suggest that both use and at-risk use is increasing. Of course,
we must clearly establish whether the ultimate objective is a drug-free society,
at least one free of cannabis, or whether the goal is to reduce at-risk
behaviour and abuse. This is an area of great confusion, since Canadian public
policy continues to use vague terminology and has failed to establish
whether it focuses on substance abuse as the English terminology used in several
documents seems to suggest or on drug-addiction as indicated by the French
terminology. It is all
very well to criticize the “trivialization” of cannabis in Canada to “explain”
increases in use but it must also be established why, if this is indeed the
case, this trivialization has occurred. It is also important to identify the
root cause of this trivialization against a backdrop of mainly anti-drug
statements. The courts and their lenient attitude might be blamed for this.
Perhaps the judiciary is at the forefront of those responsible for cannabis
policies and the enforcement of the law. It must also be determined whether sentences
are really as lenient as some maintain. A major issue to be addressed is whether
harsher sentences would indeed be an effective deterrent given that the
possibility of being caught by the police is known to be a much greater
deterrent. Every year, over 20,000 Canadians are arrested for cannabis
possession. This figure might be as high as 50,000 depending on how the
statistics are interpreted. This is too high a number for this type of conduct.
However, it is laughable number when compared to the three million
people who have used cannabis over the past 12 months. We should not think that
the number of arrests might be significantly increased even if billions of extra
dollars were allocated to police enforcement. Indeed, such a move should not
even be considered. A look at
the availability and price of drugs forces
us
to admit that supply-reduction policies are ineffective. Throughout Canada,
above all in British Columbia and Québec, the cannabis industry is growing,
flooding local markets, irritating the United States and lining the pockets of
criminal society. Drug prices have not fallen but quality has improved,
especially in terms of THC content – even if we are sceptical of the reported
scale of this improvement. Yet, police organizations already have greater powers
and latitude – especially since the September 11, 2001 tragedy– in relation to
drugs than in any other criminal matter. In addition, enforcement now accounts
for over 90% of all illegal drug-related spending. To what extent do we want to
go further down this road? Clearly,
current
approaches are ineffective and inefficient – it is throwing taxpayers’ money
down the drain on a crusade that is not warranted by the danger posed by the
substance. It has been maintained that drugs, including cannabis, are not
dangerous because they are illegal but rather illegal because they are
dangerous. This is perhaps true of other types of drugs, but not cannabis. We
should state this clearly once and for all, for public good, stop our crusade. |