This is the statement that the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy released to the press when it appeared on May 10, 1994 before the Health Subcommittee examining Bill C-7. Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy calls for withdrawal of legislation intended to replace Narcotic Control Act Ottawa, May 10, 1994 -- Appearing today before the Health Subcommittee examining Bill C-7, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy called for the Bill's complete withdrawal. Foundation representatives argued that the Bill, intended to replace the Narcotic Control Act and parts of the Food and Drugs Act, perpetuates and exacerbates some of the very worst excesses of Canadian drug policy. At the same time, it ignores workable and humane alternatives being developed in other countries to reduce harmful drug use and the harmful effects of current drug policies. Foundation representatives argued that instead of proceeding with the Bill, the federal government should establish a committee completely independent of government. The committee would propose effective alternatives to criminalization for responding to drug problems. It would be required to report directly to Parliament within one year. For the equivalent cost of keeping 20 drug "offenders" in a federal institution for one year (about $1 Million), Foundation representatives argued that they could develop a workable plan to rid Canada's drug control program of many of its worst excesses. Alternative drug policies would treat dependent drug users humanely, and preserve many of the values -- including public safety -- that are important to Canadians. Among the Foundation's specific criticisms of Bill C-7: * the Bill will perpetuate the violence associated with the drug trade; criminal laws meant to protect Canadians from drug-related violence will in fact continue to be the major source of such violence by supporting the enormously profitable, corrupting and vicious black market in drugs and by increasing the use of guns as a means of regulating the illegal trade; * despite the claims of traditional law enforcement officials to the contrary, increased police powers and more police will do little to reduce drug-related violence; during the Bush administration -- one characterized by ever-increasing law enforcement activities aimed at drugs -- the murder rate in Washington D.C. rose each year, reaching 489 in 1991; between one-third and one-half of those murders related to the illegal trade in drugs, not to drug use; similar evidence comes from a 1988 study of drug-related homicides in New York City: the vast majority related to the trade in drugs, while only a few related to the actual use of drugs * the Bill will not stop -- or even seriously dent -- the flow of drugs into Canada; probably less than 10% of the drugs destined for Canada are apprehended by police now; even a massive increase in law enforcement activities would not substantially reduce this flow, as the experience of other countries, particularly the United States, has shown * the Bill will continue to turn those who use drugs and who have become dependent on drugs into criminals by the thousands; dependent users may be forced to commit crimes to finance the black market purchase price of their drugs; the Bill will place thousands of drug users in prisons, where harmful forms of drug use are rampant * the Bill will continue to foster conditions that will lead to thousands of preventable deaths from drug-related HIV infection and from other potentially lethal diseases such as hepatitis and multiple-drug resistant TB; these conditions will kill not only drug users, but those far removed from the drug-using community * the Bill will increase the powers of the state over individual behaviour, seriously threatening fundamental human rights; in the guise of complying with international drug control conventions, the Bill will violate international human rights conventions * the criminal prohibitions in the Bill will not stop, or perhaps even decrease, drug use; it will make the drug use that continues more dangerous, and lead to more deaths from adulterated drugs or drugs of unknown potency * the Bill will do nothing to address the multiple causes of harmful drug use, pretending instead that prohibition alone is sufficient * Canada will continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars annually through the costs associated with drug law enforcement; costs include police, prosecutors, judges, court administrative structures and buildings, prisons and post-release programs for inmates, and the economic and social costs to families who have lost a breadwinner to incarceration * it will distract attention from the much more serious health problems caused by alcohol and tobacco * the Bill will ignore innovative programs being developed in other countries -- Australia, the UK, The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland among them -- to reduce the harms associated with drugs; it will also ignore the growing chorus of voices from around the world calling for an end to a futile Prohibition policy that causes more harm than it prevents. The Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy is a non-profit organization founded in 1993 by several of Canada's leading specialists in drug policy. Its founding members include psychologists, pharmacologists, lawyers, health policy advocates and public policy researchers. Among them they have a total of close to 150 years of work in the drug policy field. The aims of the Foundation include: acting as a forum for the exchange of views among those interested in reform of drug policies; serving as a vehicle for sharing those views and for discussing significant drug policy issues with government, the public, other organizations and the media; and, where necessary, recommending alternatives that will make Canada's drug laws and policies effective and humane. The Foundation does not encourage harmful drug use. Appearing for the Foundation before the Subcommittee: Professor Line Beauchesne, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa Professor Barry Beyerstein, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University Glenn A. Gilmour, Barrister and Solicitor, Ottawa Eugene Oscapella, Barrister and Solicitor, Ottawa Dr. Diane Riley, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto In case you get lost, our home page is located at: http://fox.nstn.ca/~eoscapel/cfdp/cfdp.html