Here is the Vancouver Sun's take on Harper's "new" drug strategy. Harper loves to follow the US. Maybe his aim is to catch up with and surpass the US in incarceration levels. The US is world leader. Perhaps Harper is aiming for the bronze medal at least.
Reduction of harm programs are not given any new funds although a Vancouver injection site was given a six months reprieve.
At least those who are involved in prison building and perhaps advocates of private prisons may feel that the news is bullish and no doubt law enforcement will hope to swell their ranks.
First Take: The newspaper's view
Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, October 04, 2007
Canada's worst kept secret was revealed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Winnipeg today, and not surprisingly, the National Anti-Drug Strategy offers few surprises.
As the Conservatives had previously announced, in their annual budget, an additional $64 million to fight illicit drug use, the only question concerned how that money would be spent. And to no one's surprise, the Conservatives divided the money between prevention and treatment on the one hand, and law enforcement on the other.
In fact, despite all the rhetoric surrounding the strategy, it can really be described as more of the same - the same failed, enforcement-heavy approach toward illicit drugs that the Liberals took when they were in power.
Of the $64 million, $22 million will be directed toward enforcement, $10 million toward prevention programs and $32 million will be earmarked for treatment. The extra money for treatment and prevention are welcome, but it's clear that enforcement will continue to get the lion's share of funds, just as it did under the Liberals.
That's because the $64 million is only a small addition to the money already invested in the drug war. For example, in the 2004-2005 fiscal year, Canada devoted $271 million toward enforcement, compared with $51 million for treatment and $10 million for prevention.
The additional funds will therefore do little to tilt the emphasis away from the failed war-on-drugs approach. And while the Conservatives have painted the Liberals as having been soft on drug crime, it's clear that they were anything but.
As just one example, the City of Vancouver noted that between 1992 and 2002, the marijuana offence rate rose nearly 80 per cent, due mainly to an increase in possession offences. But while the Liberals were enthusiastic foot soldiers in the war on drugs, the Conservatives clearly want to take the lead.
Making good on a previous promise, Harper said the Conservatives will introduce legislation with mandatory sentences for those convicted of trafficking in drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine.
After the 1996 cocaine-related death of basketball star Len Bias, the U.S. introduced mandatory sentences, which have proved disastrous. In addition to failing to reduce drug use, the sentences have swelled the prison population, and non-violent drug offenders now comprise 25 per cent of the American prison population.
As a result, many U.S. jurisdictions have now begun dismantling mandatory sentence regimes. But not content to learn from U.S. failures, the Conservatives forge ahead.
And the entire strategy is based on the myth that there is a sharp distinction between drug dealers and drug users. Yet many addicts become (low-level) dealers because it provides them with a steady source of income and a steady supply of drugs. And the most severely addicted are the ones most likely to take up dealing. It is these people who are most likely to be subject to mandatory sentences since high level dealers are good are insulating themselves from the police. And when large-scale traffickers are caught, they are often able to provide valuable information to prosecutors in exchange for lighter sentences.
That the Conservatives are interested in ramping up the war on drugs is also evident in that the $64 million contains not a cent for proven, life-saving harm reduction programs. The feds did grant another six-month extension to Vancouver's supervised injection site this week, but that was likely a political move to avoid controversy in advance of the announcement of the drug strategy.
The failure to include harm reduction will also likely work against any efforts to treat drug addicts. After all, the most seriously addicted people tend to be highly marginalized and do not therefore seek treatment. But initiatives like the supervised injection facility are proven to act as a point of first contact where marginalized users are introduced to the system in a non-threatening way. And as a consequence, many eventually seek treatment.
In introducing the strategy, Harper said "Breaking Canada's drug habit will require a huge effort. But as of today our country is on the road to recovery."
In reality though, we're on the same road that we've been on for decades. We're merely going a little faster, which is unfortunate since it's a dead end.
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