Criminal activity and drug trafficking. Distressingly, those are dominant discussion points at this week’s annual UN drug policy conference – the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).
As a result, public health considerations have been somewhat sidelined, but not, thankfully, among UN agencies, where a number of key representatives called for the removal of criminal sanctions associated with drug use, and the realignment of drug use as a public health issue.
Back in Canada, the federal government is considering changing Canada’s marijuana laws to allow ticketing by police instead of arrest, but Justice Minister Peter MacKay has insisted that even if that’s the case, “Criminal Code offences would still be available to police…. It’s not decriminalization. It’s not legalization.” What’s more, the move could be a step backwards if police begin issuing tickets, where in the past they might have turned a blind eye.
Regardless, under the current regime, simple cannabis possession charges in Canada numbered 61,406, a rate of 178 per 100,000 people as recently as 2011. This represented a 16% increase of such incidents since 2001. In BC alone, the arrest and prosecution of personal marijuana use costs taxpayers $10.5 million a year.
Contrast that criminalization framework with comments from UN agencies this week at the CND:
- UN Deputy Secretary Jan Eliasson tried to set a positive tone early by emphasizing the “public health imperative” in addressing drug use, and called for a “comprehensive and open-minded exchange” that included civil society input and that didn’t shy away from “discussing innovative ideas and perspectives.” He concluded by stressing that it is not enough to say no to drugs, “we are also saying yes… to human rights.”
- Gilberto Gerra, Chief of Drug Prevention and Health Branch for the UN’s drug control agency (UNODC) insisted that criminal sanctions are ineffective and counter-productive because they do nothing to address problematic drug use. He argued that drug policies should be based on health and not on punishment, and that nowhere do international drug conventions require that personal use should be criminalized.
- Two Scientific Working groups convened by the UNODC to advise the CND criticized criminal sanctions and implored delegates to base their policy decisions on science.The first – headed by Nora Volkow (Director of the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse) – insisted that “substance use disorders should be treated as medical and public health issue rather than a criminal justice and/or moral issue.” Imprisonment does not equate with treatment, and the group discouraged the use of “criminal sanctions” given that they “are not beneficial in addressing substance use disorders.”
The second group – headed by Michel Kazatchkine (UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS for Eastern Europe and Central Asia) – concluded that “we need to stop incarceration of people who use drugs for minor drug related offenses.” Its members highlighted the legal and regulatory impediments to implementing harm reduction initiatives and noted that the “criminalization of drug use, restrictive drug policies and aggressive law enforcement practices are key drivers of HIV and hepatitis C epidemics among people who inject drugs.” Basically, people are dying because they are treated as criminals rather than patients. - UNAIDS director Michel Sidibe echoed calls to understand drug use as a public health and human rights issue, stating: “The criminalization of millions of people for minor drug offences exacerbates vulnerability to HIV infection, and does little to protect society from the health and social harms caused by drug dependence.” He added, “We must work towards transforming laws and law enforcement officials to become bridges to connect people who use drugs to life saving health services.”
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s statement drew attention to “the intense focus of law enforcement against drug use” which “has resulted in large numbers of persons being arrested and held in prolonged periods of pre-trial detention for minor drug offences.” She condemned the “so-called ‘treatment’ in such centres” which “is frequently not based on individualized assessment and evidence-based medical practice, but rather in mass treatment with a focus on disciplinary-type interventions.”
These comments represent a striking scientific consensus on the harm created by the criminalization of drugs and those who use them. Clearly the language of public health is beginning to inform the deliberations at this forum. The real challenge for countries to put teeth into these recommendations by implementing concrete and comprehensive public health approaches to drug related harm.
