U.S. drug czar lacks credibility

[KanMan]

U.S. drug czar lacks credibility

Friday, March 2, 2007

U.S. drug czar lacks credibility

By MINDELLE JACOBS
Edmonton Sun

U.S. drug czar John Walters is the public face of America's war on drugs -- a debacle that has imprisoned staggering numbers of Americans with no upside in sight.

His visit to Canada last week was an unsettling reminder of the deep divide over drug policy between blinkered political ideology and long-established science.

Walters is fond of claiming marijuana is a dangerous drug and that most addicts are hooked on pot.

He popped north of the border to pat the Harper government on the back for its "co-operation" on the anti-drug front.

And he made the peculiar declaration -- with no context -- that there are more American teens seeking treatment for marijuana dependency than any other drugs, including booze.

Walters made it sound like there are hundreds of thousands of U.S. teens who can't get through the day without a couple of s.

It's great for whipping up anti-pot hysteria, but the truth is rather banal, says Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance.

Yes, most people in drug treatment in the U.S. are there for using pot, he says. But most of them are in treatment not because they're addicted to pot, but because they got caught toking up by the cops or school officials or their employers.

For most of them, going for help was the only alternative to jail, being booted out of school or losing their jobs, says Nadelmann.

Walters also reiterated his displeasure at the flow of so-called B.C. bud to the U.S. What he neglected to mention is that Canada plays an infinitesimal role in feeding the appetite of U.S. potheads. Most of the marijuana available in the U.S. is produced domestically or imported from Mexico.

So how credible is Walters, the director of U.S. National Drug Control Policy, in helping shape effective anti-drug strategies and winning over the public?

Well, you be the judge. Let the facts speak for themselves. In 1980, there were 50,000 people in jail in the U.S. for non-violent drug offences. Now, there are almost 500,000 in prison.

"My message for Canadians is if you want to look south, the thing to keep in mind is that the dominant context of American drug policy is arrest and incarceration," says Nadelmann.

Like Canada, the U.S. spends three-quarters of its drug war resources on policing, prosecution and prisons.

Of the $368 million spent in Canada in 2004-05 on fighting illicit drugs, only $51 million went to treatment programs and only $10 million each was targeted at harm-reduction and prevention initiatives.

Similarly, drug treatment is badly underfunded in America. Health professionals estimate that only one in 10 people receive the treatment they need, according to the U.S. Drug Policy Alliance.

Ironically, while the Harper government plans tougher sentences for drug offenders, individual U.S. states are thumbing their noses at Washington and liberalizing their drug laws.

Over the past decade, more than 150 drug-policy reforms have been enacted by voters and legislators in 46 states. The changes include allowing people to grow and use pot for medical purposes and diverting non-violent drug offenders from prison into treatment.

"These (reforms) are bubbling up all across the country," says Nadelmann.

Walters may be Uncle Sam's top drug prohibitionist, but it seems Americans are increasingly tuning him out.

Contact: mailbag@edmsun.com

Edmonton Sun
_________________
Calgary 420 Cannabis Community
http://Calgary420.ca/

[KanMan]

I wonder if my actions had even a little something to do with the change at the Sun media here in Alberta?

I sent the links to 7 Russel Barth youtube videos to big and small media oulets around Alberta and the mayor of Calgary and Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart on Feb. 23 / 07.

Video: DPA/ CFDP Press Conference in Ottawa, Canada (re: US Drug Czar's speech)

February 22 / 2007 press conference in Ottawa:

Part 1 - Eugene Oscapella & Ethan Nadelmann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Em5vG0kDzs

Part 2 - Eugene Oscapella & Senator Larry Campbell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8dWVB7zq7A

Part 3 - Eugene Oscapella & Line Beauchesne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHiitv8hLSA

Part 4: Eugene Oscapella & Dr. David Marsh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsF87ptcC88

Part 5: Q&A from reporters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J3__aIFT-o

Part 6: Q&A continued

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JGCPxAM-g

Part 7: Q&A continued

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk1zTbEcvk8

Then I followed up with the complete article from Drug Policy Alliance mailing list on Feb. 27 / 07. I sent all this very credible information to many big and small media outlets across Alberta and to the mayor of Calgary and a certain nasty city alderman (woman). See http://www.aldermandiane.ca/

Experts Urge Canada Not to Embrace U.S. Drug Policy During Drug Czar Visit

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Drug Policy Alliance
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/022707canada.cfm

Drug Czar John Walters paid a visit to Canada on Thursday, February 22, talking up U.S.-style drug policies and thanking Canada for its increased cooperation on drug policy issues since a Conservative administration took power last year.

Walters studiously avoided any debate but his comments were challenged in both an op-ed piece by DPA executive director Ethan Nadelmann in that morning's Ottawa Citizen, and at a press conference hosted by Eugene Oscapella of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy. The overarching opposition message was that Canada should not follow the U.S. down the path of criminal justice-based, unscientific drug policies.

Nadelmann opened his remarks at the press conference with an analysis of Walters' comments, describing them as "a soft-pedal that seemed to be designed for a Canadian audience." He noted that Walters' speech talked about health, science, and helping addicts, but added, "The problem is, it's not very true of U.S. drug policy. Overwhelmingly, U.S. drug policy focuses on punitive approaches, something that John Walters did not talk about."

Noting reports in the Canadian press that Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper had expressed support for new legislation to require mandatory minimum sentences, Nadelmann pointed out that such sentences were inconsistent with Harper’s desire to also be "fiscally responsibile and tough and smart on crime." A growing number of U.S. conservatives in both Congress and on the Supreme Court, Nadelmann observed, now favor reform of these laws, which are costly and result in tremendous injustice.

Nadelmann described incarceration as "the dominant context of U.S. policy today," noting that the U.S. has 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prison population. He also emphasized the extent to which drug policy and even research had become politicized in the United States, noting how difficult if not impossible it would be to proceed with research studies on heroin maintenance, supervised injection facilities and other important harm reduction approaches.

Other speakers reinforced and elaborated on this message. Senator Larry Campbell, the former mayor of Vancouver and as well as a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, now associated with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), urged Canada to remember and embrace the four pillars that make up the country's approach to drug policy: enforcement, treatment, prevention and harm reduction. He said, "I think that Canadians as a whole have realized that addiction is a medical problem, not a criminal problem," and urged Canadians not to forgo the harm reduction component of the four pillars.

Professor Line Beauchesne of Ottawa University took on Walters' claim that U.S. drug policies protect young people. She explained that Walters confuses the negative effects of the black market with the negative effects of drugs themselves. Beauchesne also debunked Walters' often-cited figure that more young people enter treatment for marijuana than for any other drug. She explained to supporters that the figure comes from young people being offered a choice between treatment and jail time--a situation in which treatment is clearly the preferable choice, regardless of whether the person has a drug problem.

The last speaker was Dr. David Marsh, the past head of the Canadian Society for Addiction Medicine. He emphasized the importance of basing policies on scientific evidence, urging that law enforcement be viewed with the same “evidence-based” standard that is applied to other areas of drug policy. In advocating for not only conducting research on drug policy but acting on the findings, Marsh turned Walters’ message around. He said, "Director Walters said we should look at what we know works, and do more of it. And I think that's an important message for Canada."

The speakers fielded questions from reporters skeptical of the Walters message, and the opposition view was well covered in the Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070223.DRUGS23/TPStory/National as well as the Canadian Press.

Read Nadelmann's piece in the Ottawa Citizen http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/ottawa022207.cfm, and watch video of Nadelmann at the press conference http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/ottawapc022307.cfm.
_________________
Calgary 420 Cannabis Community
http://Calgary420.ca/

[KanMan]