http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4249070.html
Greg Barns
"The bottom line is, and it comes as no surprise to those of us who see drugs policy through rational and empirical eyes rather than via vision that is clouded by prejudice and fear, those countries which treat drugs usage as a health and social issue, rather than a criminal justice one, have more success in reducing drug overdoses, HIV and crime.
The Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland are examples of the former approach; Sweden, the latter.
Dr João Goulão, a leading Portuguese drugs expert, says that a combined strategy of decriminalisation and a major investment in the health system have allowed Portugal to stem the growth of drugs in that country.
Fears that Portugal would become a drug trafficker's playground have not been borne out. Importantly, there is 70 per cent community support for the Portuguese policy settings, a consequence of the reforms being driven by a bottom-up approach rather than imposed by government without consultation.
The way in which drugs are viewed by a community is important in reducing the appeal to young people, as the Netherlands shows. Since the 1970s and 1980s, it has run a decriminalised policy in relation to cannabis. As the Australia 21 paper notes:
[Since] the mid-1980s, the Netherlands has reported declines in the number of drug-related problems including dependent opiate use, injection drug user-related HIV Infections and drug-induced deaths. For all drugs with the exception of ecstasy, reported use by Netherlands youth is below the European average.
In Switzerland, while drug use and possession has not been decriminalised, there has been two decades of policy focussed on health and harm-minimisation strategies which are strongly supported by the community.
By contrast, in Sweden, where a tough on drugs policy remains in place, drug usage and deaths from overdoses remain worryingly high, but even the law enforcement and welfare agencies are now working together with young people in a therapeutic way, because throwing the statute book at a young person simply does not work.
Australian drugs policy is still focussed on law enforcement and zero tolerance. When Australia 21 released its first paper in April, Prime Minister Julia Gillard dismissed it with a patronising line about drugs killing people and so forget about policy change.
But as the Australia 21 paper observes:
[As] much as we may deplore it, we must learn to live in a world where some young people use drugs. All drug use is not inherently evil. We would be better off keeping the focus on reducing the harm caused by drugs and drug policy.
This means drug services and treatment facilities in our prisons and youth justice centres, targeted intervention strategies for young people, and more nuanced communication and education rather than the ineffective "drugs are evil" type propaganda.
It also means acknowledging that prohibition is a failed policy. We have spent billions of dollars in Australia on prohibiting drugs, and yet have some of the highest rates of drug usage in the world, including so-called party drugs used by young people.
The key to reform, which the European experience demonstrates, is political bipartisanship. In other words, as is the case now with climate change policy, we need recognition from the left and the right of the political spectrum that the current policy settings are failing.
It is not only the experts from the Australia 21 forums who are saying this, but the vast majority of doctors, welfare workers, lawyers and others who work at the coalface of drugs policy each day.
We are literally killing, injuring and hurting young Australians who use illicit drugs because of our irrational obsession with prohibition. It is time to stop and produce policies that actually work.
Greg Barns is a barrister and criminal law spokesman for the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
atheism is a non prophet organization
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