Author: Donald MacPherson

Will Hemispheric Leaders Change Course on Drug Policy?

This winter the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition was invited to participate alongside 45 other representatives of government, business and civil society organizations in a process to create different scenarios for what could happen in the hemisphere related to drugs and drug policies over the next 15 years.

The commitment to undertake such a forward thinking exercise was made by leaders at the 6^th Summit of the Americas held in Cartagena, Colombia in 2012, where they agreed to review current approaches to illegal drugs and to consider alternative futures for drug policy in the region. Through a process of transformative scenario planning, a diverse array of participants came together to create different scenarios that each tell a story of what could happen in the next 15 years – not what should happen or what we want to happen – but what could happen in the area of drugs and drug policy. The OAS has also prepared an analytical report that looks at the situation on the ground.

The agreement to undertake this process stemmed from the urgency Latin American leaders expressed this past year in response to the increasing levels of violence in the region. For several years the voices of former and sitting political leaders in Latin America have been becoming more insistent that drug policies must be reviewed because of the death and destruction being witnessed related to the ongoing war on drugs. Even Canada’s cautious and conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that “It is clear that what we are doing is not working” at the closing press conference of the Summit. He is not alone.

Sitting leaders in Colombia, Uruguay, Guatemala and the former leaders of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia have all called for dialogue on alternative approaches including considering the legal regulation of drugs, decriminalization, and shifting illegal crops such as poppies and coca to legal cultivation regimes for medical and industrial uses. Is change really in the wind or is this a policy window that will slam shut with a few changes of leadership? Dialogue is an ongoing process and the commitment by the OAS to undertake scenario building is a great start. But where will it lead?

On May 15^th, the OAS will release its analytical report and a set of four scenarios developed through the scenario planning process. This release is another marker on the path towards drug policy reform in the hemisphere and the scenarios presented will provide an opportunity for dialogue and public engagement on the future of drug policy in the region. The release of a the scenarios is the next event in a string of opportunities that are coming up over the next 3 years that may help to turn the tide on the war on drugs.

In early June, a Summit of Foreign Ministers will be held to discuss and craft a declaration to strengthen and update drug policies in the region including considering some alternative approaches. In 2014, the United Nations will complete a mid-term high-level review of the Plan of Action that came out of the 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs. In 2015, the next Summit of the Americas will take place in Panama, which will provide a serious opportunity for leaders to consider new directions in drug policy. And in 2016, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on Drug Policy in New York. The road ahead provides a number of critical opportunities for politicians to show leadership and support efforts to learn from new ideas and approaches. Let’s see if they can rally the support and courage to do so.

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April 23, 2013
Reading between the lines at the 56th Commission on Narcotic Drugs

I fully expected the 51^st Commission on Narcotic Drugs to be as depressing as others that I have attended in recent years. With so many organizations in the world working to change drug policies and refocus attention on the harms that arise from global drug polices on individuals, families, communities and countries, attending the CND is often a reality check on the slow, sometimes microscopic pace of change in this international forum on drug policies.

As the meeting commenced it became clear that there was something different in the air this year. For one the usual buzz around the presence of the US Drug Czar was strangely missing from the proceedings – his travel budget a victim of sequestration cuts, Gil Kerlikowski stayed home this year. Not a bad one to miss given the torturous task his staff might have had writing speaking notes to explain the recent situation in Colorado and Washington where voters passed resolutions to bring into existence a legal regulatory regime for adult non-medical use of cannabis.

Evo Morales, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, in his opening address to the Commission thanked the delegates for allowing Bolivia to re-join the conventions with a reservation that addressed Bolivia’s constitution, which upholds the use of coca leaf as a part of Bolivia’s cultural heritage. President Morales went on to ask whether there was tension in the room and he wondered if it was related to the knowledge that “the fight against drugs has failed globally?” He went on to chastise the US for trying to force Bolivia to curb its coca farming with threats and by tying eradication of coca to the building of schools in the 1980s. Morales’ words were strong in that he pointedly noted that efforts to control drug trafficking are intertwined with other geopolitical goals of “mastery” and “dominance”. Such bold statements are rare in the public forum at CND.

UNODC Director, Yuri Fedetov’s opening remarks were an interesting mix of the old and the new. While asserting that progress is being made on the global drug problem Fedetov acknowledged that international drug control policy cannot remain isolated from needed improvements in HIV services nor can it ignore discrimination and the lack of evidence-based services for people who use drugs. During the civil society session with the Director, Fedetov was animated and seemed to welcome the openness of the debate at this session where a number of questions focusing on drug policy reform surfaced.

Another fresh breath of air in this years event was New Zealand’s Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne who addressed the Commission and explained the new and innovative legislation that will be coming before the New Zealand parliament in the fall that will address the many new psychoactive substances that are appearing almost daily that are unscheduled within the treaties. Under the proposed legislation, the Psychoactive Substances Bill, all of these new substances will be banned unless a manufacturer can prove that they pose no more than a low risk of harm. Rather than ban all new substances immediately the New Zealand government plan to put the onus on the industry to ensure the safety of their products and if they pass muster they will be placed in a regulatory schedule that will allow retail sales of the products under certain conditions. When asked how this scheme was received by other delegations Minister Dunn said there was a great deal of interest in the proposed legislation and countries are watching closely to see the outcomes.

The Organization of American States review of drug policy in the western hemisphere that was mandated by the last Summit of the Americas in April 2012 was also a topic of interest as expectations begin to mount now that the review is coming to conclusion in the next couple of months.

All in all this years CND had some interesting moments if you read the tea leaves and listened to the buzz in the corridors. My take is that there is an implicit if not explicit recognition that the drug policy landscape is indeed changing, new approaches are being considered, and countries are beginning to demand a wider debate on policy. For the CND to remain relevant, these debates should be welcomed as an important opportunity at future meetings of the Commission.

March 27, 2013
A Seismic Shift in Drug Policy

Watching the vote in last night in the U.S. was quite an amazing experience. We watched history being made yet again and not just with the re-election of America’s first black president.

Yes, a second term for Obama was a rare feat given the poor economic situation in the U.S. and the vulnerability that brings for an incumbent president. A second term for Obama is without a doubt a historical event. But there was more – there was a seismic shift in the world of drug policy. In the belly of the beast of the war on drugs, in the country that historically has promoted a vigorous global assault on drugs and drug users, citizens of Washington state and Colorado sunk a wedge a mile wide into the monolithic paradigm of drug prohibition. In both states the voters have overwhelmingly supported the regulation of marijuana for adult use.

Prohibition is upheld by a global consensus enshrined in international drug treaties. Much like the mortar that held the Berlin Wall together, it holds fast as long as no one challenges the logic of the system in a significant way. As long as things stay the same and no one has the courage to confront the absurdity of the status quo, the status quo prevails. But once the wall starts to be dismantled by ordinary citizens and the authorities stand aside, it is over. The mortar crumbles like dust. What was inconceivable only a few years ago seems like common sense today. Just like that wall in Berlin came tumbling down on November 9^th, 1989, prohibition is collapsing before our eyes. The citizens of the U.S. have peacefully voted to overthrow the tired and worn out policy of drug prohibition and common sense has prevailed. It’s about time.

There are many questions about how these two states will move forward and actually implement the regulations they have proposed. As they say, the devil is in the details. But that’s the grinding day-to-day work of finding the best regulatory regime that meets the many competing goals that are important to our communities – public health, public safety, civil liberties, education about the harms and benefits of substance use and the stewardship of our youth within a culture that has so many mixed messages around drug use. This is important work that we believe will improve the quality of life in those states that made this decision to move forward. The fact that resources will be focused on how to best regulate marijuana rather than whether to regulate this ubiquitous product is the most important point for those of us in Canada.

Now that the U.S. has opened the door and started down that path towards regulation, the old excuse that Canadian politicians always use – that we can’t change anything until the Americans do, is gone. So let’s get on with it.

November 7, 2012
New Directions for Drug Policy in Bogota, Colombia

On September 5^th and 6^th I had the opportunity to participate in a public dialogue on drug policy in Bogota, Colombia initiated by Mayor Gustavo Petro Urrego: Conversatorio 2012 sobre ”New alternatives of intervention in the consumption of drugs and psychoactive substances”.

It was an amazing event and reminded me very much of my days at the City of Vancouver where I had the opportunity to work with then-Mayor Philip Owen in 2001 as he launched the City of Vancouver’s Four Pillars Drug Strategy with a series of public dialogues that brought people together to share views on his proposals for addressing drug problems in Vancouver.

Held in the beautiful auditorium at Bogota City Hall, throughout the day we heard from international experts, academics, public health officials and the Mayor himself, all of whom were focused on potential solutions to Bogota’s serious drug problem.

One big difference between Vancouver’s process and the one unfolding in Bogota is the speed at which change is taking place in Colombia. Mayor Gustavo Petro Urrego has decided that his beautiful mountain city needs some new ideas and is moving quickly to implement new approaches to Bogota’s drug problems. Mayor Petro speaks of a creating a new democracy where people with addiction problems are included in society and brought in from the cold, so to speak.

In late July of this year, Colombia passed national legislation decreeing that addiction is a public health issue and “Any person suffering mental disorders or any other pathology derived from the consumption, abuse, and addiction to legal or illegal psychoactive substances has the right to receive comprehensive care from the entities that comprise the General System of Social Security in Health and the public or private institutions specialized in the treatment of said disorders.”

This new legislation is a significant development and shifts the focus of government responses to drug problems in Colombia towards a health approach and away from the traditional response through the criminal justice system. Of course, mustering the finances to create a comprehensive system is a major challenge for Colombia just as it is here in Canada.

One of the innovations that Mayor Petro is moving quickly to implement is the establishment of a series of drug consumption rooms in three areas of the city. Consumption rooms are widely available in Europe as part of a comprehensive approach to marginalized people who use drugs. There is a growing body of evidence that supports these kinds of programs as important components of a comprehensive approach. For Mayor Petro this would begin to demonstrate that Bogota was changing its policy and reaching out to provide assistance to drug users in a new way.

For thirty years authorities in Bogota have tried to address inner city drug problems without much success. In 2000 they even tried draconian measures such as leveling the main neighbourhood where the urban drug scene was located, “El Cartucho”, to create a new park with the hope that the problem would disappear. Unfortunately and somewhat predictably the drug scene reappeared, only this time in four different areas of the city. Instead of one “problem” neighbourhood they now had four! These new areas of town, El Bronx, a section of Maria Paz en Kennedy, San Bernardo and Las Cruces, are the main problem areas in Bogota and mostly remain out of the control of municipal authorities.

El Bronx is the most notorious and has been abandoned by the authorities. It is controlled by organized crime and houses thousands of severely addicted people. El Bronx is an extremely dangerous place to venture into if you are not involved in the drug scene in some way, either as a user or a dealer. While I was there a police officer was killed in El Bronx while investigating an incident. City staff were very clear that they did not want to simply displace the problem again but wanted to begin to stabilize the situation in these neighbourhoods.

The establishment of consumption rooms is part of the Mayor’s strategy to change the culture in these areas rather than abandoning them and giving in to the local “drug mafia”. He is advocating a health and social approach be taken – one that would begin to establish harm reduction and treatment services and provide options to people to leave the drug scene. The primary drug that is used at the street level in Bogota is a substance called basuco or coca paste or paco. It is very cheap and is a product that is derived from the intermediate stages of cocaine production.

Last week Mayor Petro met with President Manuel Santos to discuss his ideas to implement consumption rooms. Early reports suggest that the door is open for the Mayor’s proposal to prescribe illegal drugs to users within a regime of treatment as a way of intervening in the drug market and coming between people with addictions and the drug mafia. This is a bold approach and we will follow how things develop in Bogota over the coming months.

September 24, 2012
Towards a North American Strategy to End the War on Drugs

I met Javier Sicilia at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City last February while at a conference on drug policy organized by Mexico Unido Contra la Delincuencia, a civil society group working on crime prevention strategies. Gillian Maxwell, a member of our Executive Committee, and I made the trip to share our experiences working on drug policy issues in Vancouver, to improve our understanding of the situation in Mexico and to make connections with Mexican NGOs and business groups. We were also keen to meet with Javier Sicilia who was working with colleagues in Mexico and the US on an ambitious new project.

Sicilia is a well-known poet, writer and journalist who was thrust into the spotlight when his son was brutally murdered in Cuernavaca after being caught in the crossfire between drug gangs. Upon this tragedy, he became one of the tens of thousands of innocent victims of the war on drugs being waged across this magnificent country. I had heard how Sicilia had stopped writing poetry and taken to the streets, igniting large protests that saw a hundred thousand citizens marching from Cuernavaca to Mexico City, demanding an end to the drug-related violence that has shaken the foundations of Mexican society.

Javier Sicilia

I spotted Sicilia in the foyer of the museum and approached him from behind, calling out his name as he walked towards the museum auditorium. As I had no Spanish and knew he did not speak any English, I wasn’t sure how our meeting would begin should I get his attention. Finally he heard my calling, spun around, reached out and embraced me tightly with both arms and welcomed me into his space. Such a fulsome greeting offered to a complete stranger surprised me but over the next few hours I saw that Sicilia was an intense, committed individual who embraced many.

Our conversation was limited but we had a good connection and agreed to meet again with his organizers. We wanted to speak with them about the meeting the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition was organizing with American and Mexican groups to work on the idea of a North American coalition. The coalition would work together to highlight the negative impacts our current drug policies are having on Canada, the US and Mexico, with a specific focus on how the criminalization of drug use has created such a pervasive and violent underground market in all three countries.

Sicilia was interested in the concept of a North American strategy to end the violence in Mexico as he was already working to organize a Mexican/US project; the Caravan for Peace with Dignity and Justice. Which was about to traverse the US with a hundred or so victims of Mexico’s drug war.

The main objective of the Caravan is to bring to the streets and communities of the US the reality that Mexicans are facing – the loss of life, the destruction of communities, the culture of fear that permeates so many localities, and the unrelenting violence that takes place each day.

In the coming months CDPC will be exploring the connections between Canada, the US and Mexico and how our so-called drug problems are interrelated. We will be supporting the Caravan for Peace with Dignity and Justice through our blog, social media channels, and by travelling to Baltimore, Maryland to participate in a drug policy town hall meeting when the Caravan visits on September 8^th and 9^th.

We hope you will begin to think about how Canadians can become involved in supporting efforts to stop the violence in Mexico and look forward to your thoughts and ideas over the coming months.

August 28, 2012
Caravan for Peace with Dignity and Justice

60,000 killed, 10,000 disappeared and 160,000 displaced.

This is the ongoing tragedy that has been wrought upon the Mexican people in the few short years since Felipe Calderón declared a “war on cartels” in December, 2006.

Javier Sicilia, the famed Mexican poet, stopped writing poetry after his son was gunned down in Cuernavaca in March, 2011. On the day his son died he wrote one final verse before putting down his pen: “the world is not worthy of words, they have been suffocated from the inside, just as they suffocated you.”

CC photo by Caravan4Peace

Since then he has been taking to the streets of Mexico, with hundreds of thousands of other citizens in a dramatic plea to the drug cartels and the government to stop the violence that has been tearing apart their country. Sicilia, as he is known in Mexico, led two Caravans for Peace – one from Cuernavaca to Mexico City and the other through the north of Mexico, where the violence has been beyond comprehension.

On August 12^th, Sicilia led close to a hundred victims of the drug war in Mexico across the border from Tijuana to San Diego to begin a month-long Caravan for Peace across the southern and north eastern US. The overarching message of the Caravan for Peace is that the war on drugs continues to devastate his country and is the result of drug policies initiated in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. CDPC will be joining the Caravan for Peace in Baltimore, Maryland on September 9^th as it stops to hold a Town Hall Meeting on drug policy that will look at how all three countries have much to gain by considering alternatives to a failed war on drugs.

Follow our blog in the coming weeks to read more about the Caravan for Peace, Javier Sicilia, and Canada’s relationship to Mexico’s drug war.

August 22, 2012
AIDS 2012 Director’s Summary

The dust has settled on the most recent International AIDS Conference that took place July 22 – 27th in Washington DC. The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition was there on the ground, taking part in the many sessions and events that took place at this bi-annual gathering. Holding the event in DC, ground-zero for the war on drugs, is what made this year’s conference so special and yet so disappointing at the same time.

Donald MacPherson and Alan Clear at CDPC booth

In recent years, a strong argument has been made by the world’s leading HIV/AIDS scientists, physicians, and activists that global drug policies, directly responsible for one third of new HIV infections in the world, must be reviewed if efforts to slow or halt the epidemic are to be successful. The emergence of initiatives like the Vienna Declaration , organizations like International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policies, and the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy are testaments to the concern about the harms that global drug policies are causing world-wide.

What was most disappointing about the conference was the lack of focus on drug policy and its contribution to the global epidemic.

AIDS Action Now

There was little in the official program that acknowledged that the criminalization of drugs and those who use them is a key driver of increased risk of HIV transmission. There was absolutely no mention of this issue in any of the opening ceremonies of the conference. On the other hand, in the Global Village (the community organized venue that takes place parallel to the conference but outside the main event) there were many events, actions, discussions, and panels that highlighted the importance of finding alternative drug policies that worked better to protect public health, reduce stigma and uphold the human rights of people who use drugs.

Canada’s Federal Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq, was given a hostile reception by many of the Canadians in attendance over the federal government’s lack of support for harm reduction, cuts to HIV AIDS organizations and the denial of health care benefits for refugee claimants. The video of this action can be found here http://www.aidsactionnow.org/

CDPC created a live-blog for AIDS 2012 to follow the issues raised at the conference. Check it out for stories, videos and commentary on the relationship between drug policy and HIV/AIDS.

Watch Now

We also delivered a newspaper that flew off the stands at the CDPC booth in the Global Village. Thanks to the wonderful design team that helped us put it together. It was a real hit!

Watch Stephen Lewis on drug policy and HIV here on our live blog.

August 15, 2012
Director’s Report

The past three months have been a blur of activity as we further establish our presence and connect with organizations and individuals across the country and around the world. There truly is something bigger going on and momentum is building towards considering new and innovative approaches to addressing drug problems.

Mexico Unido Contra la Delincuencia

In February, I was invited to speak at an international conference in Mexico City – Drogas: Un balance a un siglo de su prohicion, organized by the crime prevention group Mexico Unido Contra la Delincuencia. The forum provided a thorough consideration of possible alternatives to the devastating consequences of the Mexican government’s war on drugs. Speakers came from around the world to share stories of innovation, legislative changes and practices that have moved their drug policies towards a public health approach and away from a failed criminal justice model.

Integrating Supervised Injection Into Health Services and Community: A National Knowledge Exchange

CAHR 2012 Montréal

In April, CDPC organized a forum on supervised injection services in partnership with the Dr. Peter Centre in Vancouver and Cactus Montreal as an ancillary event at the Canadian Association of HIV Research meeting in Montreal. The event was held in the beautiful Biblioteque et Archive National du Quebec and was a chance for organizations to share their experiences and review the current state of the discussion in their jurisdictions. CDPC will be working with a number of organizations to keep this national discussion moving forward as different localities explore implementing these services.

North American Drug Strategy Meeting – San Francisco, April 12, 13

San Fransisco

As part of CDPC’s international work we co-hosted a meeting in partnership with the Drug Policy Alliance in the US and CUPHID from Mexico City to explore the development of a coordinated North American drug policy dialogue. The San Francisco meeting was the initial exploratory session to see how we can work together to bring forward alternatives to North America’s current drug policies. In an effort to strengthen our ties across the continent, CDPC is currently looking for Canadian allies interested in supporting our work in Mexico.

Visit to the Maritimes

People & Policies Conference Halifax

As part of our ongoing efforts to build a national coalition I visited Atlantic Canada in May, attending events and meetings in Halifax, Saint John, New Brunswick and Charlottetown. Atlantic Harm Reduction Research Network invited CDPC to be a part of their public session – People and Policies: How do Drug Policies Impact the Health of our Communities? In addition to this, a day-long session with service providers and researchers also considered how best to integrate harm reduction services into shelter and emergency ward settings.

In Saint John, NB, AIDS Saint John, the Urban and Community Studies Institute at University of New Brunswick and CDPC co-hosted an event – Drugs and the City, which featured a panel discussion on drug policy with Tim Christie, Ethics Director, Saint John Health Region and Bill Reid, Chief of Saint John Police Department.

In Charlottetown, I met with a number of parents who are concerned about the lack of youth treatment on the Island and are interested in organizing a provincial “addictions movement” to generate discussion, share experiences and engage the provincial government in dialogue on improving services for people with drug problems.

Thunder Bay Municipal Drug Strategy

Pot, Pills and Parties Thunder Bay

On May 24^th Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Thunder Bay Drug Strategy put on the event – Pot, Pills and Parties. The event focused on the impact of Bill C-10 on young people and included a presentation from CDPC – Changing the Frame: A New Approach to Drug Policy in Canada.

As CDPC reaches out across the country we are finding new and innovative ways to strengthen and build our national coalition to improve Canada’s approach to drug problems. We will continue to engage Canadians and work at the international level towards this end.

Photo Credits:
Mexico – Steve Rolles
Montréal – Caroline Mousseau
San Fransisco – CC Flickr evoo73
Halifax – Wooden Shoe Photography

June 29, 2012
Health authority releases new cannabis harm reduction resource

Last week, Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of Victoria’s Centre for Addictions Research of BC published a valuable resource for individuals who use cannabis recreationally.

Take Care with Cannabis is a user friendly, concise, accessible one-page information source that outlines the potential risks of smoking and ingesting cannabis. Intended to protect the well being of individuals, Take Care with Cannabis provides insight into the impact of using the plant on a smoker’s lungs, cognitive abilities, and brain development during adolescence and early adulthood. It discusses how to stay safe when using cannabis and how to avoid toxic effects.

Take Care with Cannabis

John Carsley, Medical Health Officer for co-author Vancouver Coastal Health said,

“It’s our responsibility as health care professionals to ensure that anyone who chooses to use cannabis has clear information about how they can take better care when using.

While cannabis is illegal in Canada, the reality is that a significant portion of the population uses it. And when they use it, it’s our desire to see them be as safe as possible.”

‘Harm reduction’ refers to policies, programs and practices that aim to reduce the negative health, social and economic consequences of using legal and illegal psychoactive drugs, without necessarily reducing drug use. Raising awareness about the realities and benefits of harm reduction for individuals, families and communities is core to the work of the CDPC.

We know that the more informed people are, the more support there will be within communities for a comprehensive approach to reducing the harm from drug use.

We hope you will join us to get the word out and help scale up harm reduction in communities across Canada.

May 2, 2012