Begin forwarded message:
From: "Sardar" <sar...@spiritone.com>
Date: March 12, 2009 6:31:00 PM PDT
To: "Sardar" <recon1968br...@yahoo.com>
Subject: Mike Trace: The global drug charade | Comment is free | The
Guardian
The global drug charade
Flying in the face of all the evidence, the UN is about to recommit to
the tried and failed approach
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a.. Mike Trace
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Ten years ago, I represented Britain at a UN general assembly special
session in New York, where political leaders reviewed progress in
tackling the illegal drug market, and set out a 10-year plan to
eliminate the illicit production and use of drugs such as cannabis,
heroin and cocaine. Fast forward to this week in Vienna - where a
similar gathering is tasked with reviewing progress and setting out a
framework for international drug controls for the decade to come - and
the lack of headway is striking.
Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over
again and expecting different results. So far in Vienna, the meeting
appears to have been struck by a similar affliction.
Yes, it is every politician's nightmare: a controversial subject that
the electorate cares about and that the media write about (some might
say) obsessively. But evidence of the failure of policy is
overwhelming. All credible studies conclude that there has been no
overall reduction in the scale of production or use, and that in many
parts of the world the problem has got significantly worse. There are
at least 200 million users of controlled drugs. The illegal market
generates an estimated $300bn turnover for organised crime. Overall
rates of addiction are probably rising, as is transmission of the Aids
virus through shared needles. States as diverse as Mexico, Afghanistan
and Guinea-Bissau struggle to maintain control as profits from
trafficking foment violence and disorder.
Thirty countries still have the death penalty for drug offences and
many continue to use it despite clear advice that this breaches the UN
charter.. The forced eradication of crops in countries such as
Colombia condemns whole communities to poverty and ill health. Legal
clampdowns increase drug users' marginalisation, and the social and
health risks of their behaviour. Perhaps all this "collateral damage"
would be justified if the drug market was being reduced. The
inconvenient truth is, it is not.
How will the international community respond? Well, the head of the UN
drugs agency, Antonio Maria Costa, has issued a report claiming
"undeniable success", and governments are on the verge of signing a
political declaration that meekly reports: "Some progress has been
made." The declaration is essentially a reiteration of the objectives
and activities agreed in 1998 - no recognition of a decade's evidence;
no new ideas or initiatives. Privately, delegates are acutely aware of
the weaknesses and divisions, but have no answers to offer.
Some countries have tried to push for a more honest assessment.
Britain is one - we may still be prone to rhetorical posturing and
have tied ourselves in legislative knots over cannabis classification,
but we do not send lots of people to prison for using drugs. We
prioritise treatment for addiction and promote harm reduction
approaches to improve the life chances of drug users and to prevent
the spread of blood-borne viruses. We also accept that our law
enforcement agencies cannot save the country from drugs. This is
modern, pragmatic thinking. It will be drowned out in Vienna by a
series of exhortations for tougher action in the "war on drugs".
Tomorrow, representatives of all UN member states will adopt a
declaration that commits them to another decade of the same strategy,
in the hope of achieving different results. Einstein's definition
seems to ring true. We're about to witness another walk up the
political and diplomatic path of least resistance. It will do nothing
to help the millions whose lives are destroyed by drug markets and
drug use - and, depressingly, we can all book our seats for 2019, to
go through this charade again.
... Mike Trace is the chairman of the International Drug Policy
Consortium and the former deputy UK drug tsar
Idpc.info
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This article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 00.01 GMT on
Wednesday 11 March 2009. It appeared in the Guardian on Wednesday 11
March 2009 on p32 of the Comment & debate section. It was last updated
at 00.16 GMT on Wednesday 11 March 2009.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/11/drugs-policy-un
