Canada’s drug policy is completely inadequate

The new government has promised to table a cannabis legalization bill in April 2017. This will “keep marijuana out of the hands of children, and the profits out of the hands of criminals.” Due to this promise, Liberals now regard themselves as savants, leading a shining bastion of New Age drug laws.

Why then, is Canada’s current system so fucked up? Available treatment programs don’t help, and the same policies that underpin the government’s swank are being thwarted. Conservatives repeatedly bombarded policies hailed by the new Liberal platform, rendering them ineffective under their reign. Although Liberals won a majority, these policies remain as they were under the Harper government. Recently, this stagnation affected the Liberals’ own kin.

The ex-Liberal and now independent Honourable Hunter Tootoo resigned as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans after blaming an unspecified substance abuse problem. What else can be done for people — and public officials like Tootoo — if the resources that are available on a relatively consistent basis (unaffected by partisan politics) are a joke?

Youth drug education is entrusted to the RCMP, who then implements abstinence programs like D.A.R.E. These curriculums both misrepresent the health risks of drugs and fail to provide critical harm reduction information, even to teens. Not to mention studies have proven these programs are ineffective.

As for adult rehabilitation programs, the prognosis is not much better. In 2015, the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, in partnership with the Canadian Executive Council on Addictions, put forward an initiative advocating for mandatory formal accreditation procedures for publicly-funded treatment services. A report that motivated the initiative found that only two-thirds of public organizations offering these services participate in accreditation. However, most agencies in Canada are private.

So where are these way-paving policies that are loudly trumpeted by the Liberals? The only effective programs available are subject to the whim of party power dynamics.

One example is the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) provided by Health Canada in 2001, which permitted physician-prescribed medicinal marijuana. This access reduces the number of painkiller prescriptions, and consequentially prescription medication addictions.

Another example, praised by Health Minister Jane Philpott, is Insite. Located in Vancouver, Insite provides facilities that allow users to inject intravenous drugs in a safe, sterile environment, along with access to health and addiction counselling services in arm’s reach; this reduces the transmission of blood-borne diseases and ensures that addicts have ready access to treatment.

The previous Conservative governments have repeatedly attempted to hamper and halt these operations — they’ve denounced Insite since 2008 and attempted to close the facilities in 2011, which was stopped by the Supreme Court. Under amendments to the MMPR, introduced in 2013, Conservatives severely inhibited patients’ access to marijuana. The mandate disallowed growing for personal use, and required purchase through authorized government distributors — facilities that have been dwindling in number due to new licensing requirements. Meanwhile, the Liberals hadn’t mentioned plans to reverse these changes until a February court ruling declared the mandate unconstitutional, thus forcing them to do so. They also refuse to acknowledge police raids that blatantly  protest the sitting government’s election platform.

If the Liberals are to uphold their claims, they need to give impetus to their promises. They have already done so in regards to recreational cannabis, promising a bill in the spring of 2017, but otherwise have only promoted other existing policies without pledging action. An excellent start would be improving drug education programs and rehabilitation centers, or providing protective legislation to projects like Insite.

From Tootoo’s resignation, it’s evident that drug policy is a precedent issue in Canada. While the Liberals understand that cannabis legalization is the in-trend, they fear alienating the voter base, and therefore avoid other initiatives that would help the country greatly. Rather than preserving reputation and throwing dirty laundry under the bed, governments need to recognize their obligation to the people. Forget about appearance, peoples’ safety and well-being come first.